Laundry day in Shanghai. Actually most every day is laundry day. Most people don’t have dryers, we were told, so they have to hang out all their laundry – blankets, jackets, underpants. It does little to beautify the landscape.
This was April 2nd, my birthday. I love that I was in China for my birthday!
In the morning we went to the Bund, an area along the Huangpu River which is beautiful and made me feel right at home: water, skyscrapers, nice shopping area, lovely architecture…it’s a charming combination of the old and the new. I loved it. Later we would come back to take a river cruise and see the buildings lit up at night.
China was a wonderful place to visit – very different from my own culture. It was an adventure, and even though it wasn’t my favorite destination, I loved the experience. I was happy to be on a tour, tho I’d admire you greatly if you explored China on your own. I think it would be daunting unless you speak the language. No one speaks much English there. Not that I go to a foreign country expecting them to speak my language, but often they do, which makes it very handy when you’re trying to get around. And if not, I can get by in Europe because I know just enough French to be understood and enough Italian to say “do you speak English?” For Chinese I learned “ni hao” (hello) and “xie xie” (thank you) and “ma ma hu hu” which you hardly ever have a chance to use because it means “so-so,” but it’s very fun to say. The Chinese language is vastly different from ours and difficult to even mimic. Maybe I could have learned it when I was twelve but I’ve no prayer of learning it now. So, being with a tour group was fantastic.
Enjoy the photo albums and stay tuned for more Shanghai pictures.
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