Old Shanghai

In the center of Old Shanghai was a pond with a zig-zag bridge. I have heard that your negative energy gets caught in the corners of bridges like this, hence the design.

I wish Stan had been with me to see all this, but in a way, I know he was...And while I wasn't sure what these lovely bamboo things were, I like to think they were prayers, which seemed quite fitting.
And we hadn't even made it to Yu Garden yet!

To read about my journey in order, follow these links:
01 - Shanghai!
02 - A Mall and Grocery Store
03 - Custom Dress
04 - The Long Museum
05 - The Quay on the Yangtze?
06 - Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District
07 - Old Shanghai
08 - Dumplings for lunch!
09 - Yu Garden
10 - Storyland
11 - Hot Pot at Cloud Nice Shopping Mall Changning Branch
12 - The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
13 - Art Exhibitions at the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
14 - Workshop: Gel Printing
15 - The train to Hangzhou
16 - Speaking at China Jiliang University
17 - Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party
18 - The Teahouse Garden in Hangzhou
19 - China wrap-up

China wrap-up

Here are some last thoughts about China. One of the most wonderful things were the scooters, they were everywhere. There were special lanes for bicycles and scooters everywhere, but the intersections were free-for-alls to this Westerner's eyes. Truly, the Chinese must be the best motorcyclists in the world.
They often had insulation on them to help the rider keep warm in the wind.

I would love to have one of these in the states!You could also choose to take a small tuk-tuk sort of vehicle.I also had to share some last images of the incredible food in China.Breakfast again...

My fave part of breakfast was the marinated tofu you could add to your congee (a sort of rice porridge).During the fair, we went out for lunch. One day we found a lovely broth poured from a small teapot with pork and greens inside to flavor it.
Another day we found a fabulous Thai restaurant with "sour" seafood broth and seafood served in little buckets.

We also had coconut water straight from the coconut, which was amazingly good.
The meat from the coconut was good too.I especially loved posing with this good luck cat in the mall.And I brought home wonderful gifts and souvenirs for Christmas.All said, Shanghai is a sprawling expanse of people, life, and good food. Time will tell if I get to return to taste those amazing flavors again!

To read about my journey in order, follow these links:
01 - Shanghai!
02 - A Mall and Grocery Store
03 - Custom Dress
04 - The Long Museum
05 - The Quay on the Yangtze?
06 - Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District
07 - Old Shanghai
08 - Dumplings for lunch!
09 - Yu Garden
10 - Storyland
11 - Hot Pot at Cloud Nice Shopping Mall Changning Branch
12 - The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
13 - Art Exhibitions at the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
14 - Workshop: Gel Printing
15 - The train to Hangzhou
16 - Speaking at China Jiliang University
17 - Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party
18 - The Teahouse Garden in Hangzhou
19 - China wrap-up

The Teahouse Garden in Hangzhou

After lunch, we walked around the lovely garden. I'll just let you enjoy like we did...










From the garden, the university provided a private car to drive us back to the airport in Shanghai. Yaxi went with me to make sure it all went smoothly, which it did. It was a long, long journey to get to and from Shanghai, but it all went well - 34 hours of airports and planes to get home. What a trip!

To read about my journey in order, follow these links:
01 - Shanghai!
02 - A Mall and Grocery Store
03 - Custom Dress
04 - The Long Museum
05 - The Quay on the Yangtze?
06 - Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District
07 - Old Shanghai
08 - Dumplings for lunch!
09 - Yu Garden
10 - Storyland
11 - Hot Pot at Cloud Nice Shopping Mall Changning Branch
12 - The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
13 - Art Exhibitions at the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
14 - Workshop: Gel Printing
15 - The train to Hangzhou
16 - Speaking at China Jiliang University
17 - Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party
18 - The Teahouse Garden in Hangzhou
19 - China wrap-up

Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party

Yaxi and I worked hard on this trip. Between the Book Fair and the lecture, we both were ON for several days and talked until we lost our voices. So, by the time we finished the lecture, we were ready to seriously fall over. One of the faculty members at Hangzhou recommended a lovely teahouse in the middle of a garden, so that's where we headed.The teahouse was inside a beautiful garden. It was immediately obvious we were in for something special.
The teahouse itself was made of three lovely buildings.
We had to wait for a bit until a table was free, but enjoyed the company of the women who were preparing greens for the kitchen.We got a bit carried away when ordering and accidentally ordered too much for lunch. Here is what our feast was made up of.
Braised duck...
Crab on rice cakes.
Lotus root stuffed with rice (I've shared this dish a few times - it's a popular one.
Millet sponge cakes...
Noodles with greens...
Okra in a honey sauce with onions
Barbequed shrimp...
Congealed peach nectar with lychee fruit... There was also an oatmeal and sweet corn drink that was simply delicious, but not as photogenic. Everything was so inexpensive, this feat ran us about $40 for the both of us, if you can believe it! At least we knew it wouldn't go to waste - they gave all leftovers to the very happy geese.Afterwards, we took a lovely walk through the garden...

To read about my journey in order, follow these links:
01 - Shanghai!
02 - A Mall and Grocery Store
03 - Custom Dress
04 - The Long Museum
05 - The Quay on the Yangtze?
06 - Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District
07 - Old Shanghai
08 - Dumplings for lunch!
09 - Yu Garden
10 - Storyland
11 - Hot Pot at Cloud Nice Shopping Mall Changning Branch
12 - The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
13 - Art Exhibitions at the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
14 - Workshop: Gel Printing
15 - The train to Hangzhou
16 - Speaking at China Jiliang University
17 - Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party
18 - The Teahouse Garden in Hangzhou
19 - China wrap-up

Speaking at China Jiliang University

This trip began with one mission - go to the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair. That's it. And then it grew, as trips like this do. Yaxi thought her university might be interested in having me come talk to their students at the Art and Communications College. And that grew too. Official letters, stamped and signed by the Dean, Professor Ni, are what got me my VISA. By the time I go to the University of Hangzhou, my engagement had turned into a very big deal. Yaxi had posters made.The university itself was lovely.


Inside was awesome too.
The lecture hall was big enough to fit four classrooms full of students - about 300+ of them!
Yaxi and I took the stage, she translated everything I said into Chinese.It's a different sort of way to give a lecture, more intentional; but it went really well. Afterwards, the Dean presented me with a piece of hand calligraphy, something he's known for. We took a photo of everyone making the sign of a heart with their thumb and forefinger.And all the faculty together.It was quite the honor and I hope I shared some helpful information!

To read about my journey in order, follow these links:
01 - Shanghai!
02 - A Mall and Grocery Store
03 - Custom Dress
04 - The Long Museum
05 - The Quay on the Yangtze?
06 - Old City of Shanghai at Huangpu District
07 - Old Shanghai
08 - Dumplings for lunch!
09 - Yu Garden
10 - Storyland
11 - Hot Pot at Cloud Nice Shopping Mall Changning Branch
12 - The China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
13 - Art Exhibitions at the China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair
14 - Workshop: Gel Printing
15 - The train to Hangzhou
16 - Speaking at China Jiliang University
17 - Hangzhou - Our personal fall-apart party
18 - The Teahouse Garden in Hangzhou
19 - China wrap-up