It was Sunday morning, and the Shanghai Formula 1 race was on in a few hours, and we all wanted to see it. Unfortunately we didn't have tickets, know where it was, or the best way to get there. Nonetheless, tried to get out there ... unsuccessfully. The taxi drivers didn't even know where it was!
We decided to forgo the race, and instead work on finding accommodation for the night. Xuan's wife Tara was very kind and helped us heaps. She managed to negotiate us a decent rate in a hotel not far from their apartment. It was amazing to sleep in a proper bed again after two nights on a train!
The following day we went to the Shanghai Museum . They have a huge collection of cultural items including ancient Chinese bronze, ceramics, painting and calligraphy.
This is one of the many garments specific to a tribe. The variation and symbolism is interesting.
This is an actual skull cap turned into a bowl. Charming.
This mask was presented was with lots of other scary masks. This one is more humorous then scary, isn't it?
They had staggering documentation and examples of the many currency trends China went through in its history. Some forms of coin took the shape of shovels and keys.
Round coins were also very common, generally with a square hole.
They also used paper notes with decoration of impressive complexity.
Lots of great woodwork.
and pottery. How old is that pot?
Its only 5000 years old, huh?
Back in the old days, porcelain was used as a pillow. Looks pretty, but not very soft.
Princess is looking at the huge ceramics. There was so much to see, its hard to summarize easily. Lots of amazing art and craftmanship!
After the museum, we were both a little tired so we went back to the hotel. As luck would have it the hotel had a tivo-like device in our room that aired the F1 that evening. It also allowed us to pause, fast forward and rewind the race.
Xuan had to work the next day, but Tara offered to give us a tour and show us around the city.
The Bund is an area with lots of impressive buildings. Its part of Shanghais financial district.
Heres Princess and Tara in the Bund.
They have lots of bikes in the cities, so you see them parked in lots of places.
Across from the Bund is the Pudong area, which hosts this pointy building - the Oriental Pearl Tower. China is obviously growing; there is construction everywhere.
We all had dinner that night. It was great to talk to someone we knew, and who understood keewee. Thank you guys for showing us around and being great hosts.
We booked bus tickets next, to head to Beijing in a sleeper bus.
The bus was a bit old and dingy, but we had enough space to lay back.
Toolman considered claiming the seat with the TV. However, it got in his feets way and so he moved.
Which was lucky because it was blaring karaoke videos till midnight! Next stop: Beijing!
1 comment:
Man, that seems like an eternity ago. Good to see a familiar face and too bad we didn't get to the F1.
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