A Celebration & Thousand Island Lake

This week started with a wedding anniversary celebration - our 25th! Phil had flowers delivered and we enjoyed a quiet dinner on the river.

Even the sunset from our balcony was one of the prettiest we have seen.

Later in the week I attended an author's lecture on the book titled, "Stateless in Shanghai" at the Peninsula Hotel on the Bund. The view was spectacular, the English tea a treat, and the lecturer - inspirational. Liliane Willens was a spitfire and definitely set in her ways. Her book is about her life growing up in China from the late 1920's until she left in 1950. A few of us sat up front and were entertained by Liliane, now in her 80's, well after the lecture was over. She was a hoot!

View of Pudong from the Peninsula Hotel- the side of the city where we live

Assortment of tea cakes at Sir Elly's Bar

As we were leaving the hotel, my first Hollywood actor sighting in Shanghai was in the lobby -  Robert De Niro was sitting off to the side of the room where he was inaccessible to the passersby and I did not have the nerve to do anything but stare for a few minutes! My heart beating a mile a minute, but too shy to do anything about it.

Friday had us on the road to Qiandao Lake, called Thousand Island Lake about a 5 hour drive away. The area was once a valley that was flooded in 1959 for a dam project to produce power. The saddest part is at the bottom of the lake there is an ancient city built in 25-200 AD, 26 - 40 meters below the surface. The lake is known for its tasty fish, free of pollution and therefore deemed "organic". Hmmmm.

Islands are actually the mountain tops

We took a boat tour with Phil's work team and hiked on two of the "islands".

Replica of temples at bottom of the lake

Beautiful carvings on the temples

At sunset, our boat captain and his family cooked a traditional Chinese lake meal for us. In the center is fish head soup with bean curd - which I was thankful for because i actually like it and can make a meal out of it.

Sunset on the lake

Dinner being prepped on the back of the boat

Our Captain and Cook

Fish head (and tail) soup with bean curd

There were all kinds of sea creatures including full sized turtles, sea snails, frogs and a variety of fish. Thank goodness for cucumber, tofu and very good sweet potato chips! and Beer!!

We woke the next day and took a 3 hour bike ride around the island through the hectic traffic and onto quieter spots. One was so quiet (on the side of a highway) one of the gardeners decided to curl up on this comfy rock!

Sleeping gardener

At the end of this week we head to Huangshan - Yellow Mountain, for a long weekend. The weather in Shanghai has been relatively clear, less pollution than earlier in the month but it is still nice to get out of the city to breathe clean air and witness blue skies!

Hope you are all enjoying the fall weather, sights, sounds and smells! We truly miss them. As Liliane said, "You don't know what you have until it is taken away from you." Of course, she was talking about freedom and here I am complaining about fresh air!

xoxo

Back in Shanghai

Well, we are back in Shanghai after a long break home with family and friends and are getting into the swing of things.

Not great planning on our parts, but our first week here is a National Holiday in China and businesses are closed so the locals are out in droves. We are attempting day trips and are using the Metro quite a bit but are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people who are also in this crazy city.

Of course with all holidays in China, there are amazing firework displays. The first night we sat on our balcony and watched as Malaysia and China battled it out to see who has the best fireworks.They were spectacular!

Fireworks for National Day

Next day, several of our Air Products friends invited us to have brunch at the new Hillbilly Cafe. The owner is from Louisville, Kentucky and treated us to a true southern breakfast with cheesy grits, cornbread pancakes with pumpkin syrup, homemade sausage and any type of "hooch" or grain alcohol you could think of to be added to your tea. It was a big hit!

Hooch for your Tea!

To get out of Shanghai for a day, we headed to an ancient water town called Zhujiajiao about an hour away. When we got there, we realized it was not the best time to visit during a Chinese holiday. This was the first bridge of many we ventured over being pushed and moved along like cattle.

Entry to town

The main bridge that connected the canals also had its share of people crossing it!

Even though we shared our experience with plenty of other people, the shot below was what we were looking for and we really enjoyed the people watching.

Zhujiajiao canals 

After several hours of pushing through alleys like this one, we decided to call it a day and head back to the city!

So, this morning we woke to blue skies, which is very rare here in Shanghai,  and decided to head out to Century Park to enjoy an early start to our day. It truly is a beautiful break from the the street scene and a short five minute walk from the apartment.

The bridge leading to the park is lined with beautiful flowers and landscape.



We headed to the "aviary" where the children feed pigeons.

The lotus flowers bloom here occasionally - but there has not been much sun since we arrived. There were a few poking their heads above the huge leaves!

There are all kinds of park vehicles you can rent including boats of various sizes, three person bicycles, and pedal carts. There were families setting up tents to settle in for the day. In the background of the photo below is our apartment complex. You can identify them by the colorful balconies that make them look like Lego blocks!

Never a dull moment in Shanghai!

xoxo, Kathy & Phil