Shanghai, China – March 25

On our second Tuesday in China our luck ran out. Up until that point the weather had been perfect, not too warm, not too cold and dry. We woke up on Tuesday morning to a downpour. At this point of the trip I was tired and ready to go home. Chaperoning a trip with a group of teenagers is not for the faint of heart. Although there had not been any problems up until then, I was mentally exhausted from having to be responsible for their safety and well being. It seemed as though the rain was expressing my feelings, and I was ready to weep along with it.

Douglas did a little investigation and found that there was a small museum nearby. He convinced me to rally, and knowing that I would regret staying in bed when there was so much to see in China, I got up. By the time we were ready to leave the rain had slowed to a drizzle, as had my mood. I was no longer crying, but I still was not very cheerful.

We left our hotel and headed south along Tianping Rd. and turned left on N. Caoxi Rd. One block later we arrived at the Xujiahui traffic circle.

Xujiahui is an area of the city that was founded by Jesuits.

Continuing south along N. Caoxi Rd. we saw many interesting sites but did not stop as we wanted to get to the museum and out of the rain. Our destination that looked so close on the map ended up being further than we thought it would be. We began to doubt if we were on the right track or if it was even still there. It did not help that we could not read all of the signs on the buildings we were passing. What if it did not have a sign in English? We may or may not have had a bit of a fight before arriving.

The Tousewe Museum memorializes an orphanage that was founded by the Jesuits to teach orphaned Chinese children a trade on which they could survive and/or thrive. Many parents paid for their children to study there as well because it was highly regarded. Many of the artisans of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries came from the Tousewe Orphanage.

The museum is small and not highly frequented. We were the only ones there during our visit, but we found it interesting. The art was good, and the story behind the orphanage was even more beautiful. I took a few pictures before I realized that photographs were not allowed.

On the walk home we walked a little slower in order to appreciate our surroundings more. The gardens along that road were beautiful.

I am not sure if it was because of the rain, but all of the colors seemed to stand out more. I like the shapes of the gardens as well.

It would be a dream come true for me to have the money to commission a large statue in my front yard. I am not sure why I am so drawn to this art form, but statues fascinate me.

The St. Ignatius Cathedral and its library were intriguing, but alas we could not explore them because Douglas was wearing shorts and not permitted to enter. It is now just one more site to which I must return in the future.

There had been a couple of other places that I would have liked to check out. However, whenever I asked Douglas if he would like to go in he responded, “I don’t care.” As I stated earlier, I was tired and cranky and ready to cry that day. I hate when he puts the pressure on me to make most of the decisions in our relationship with that refusal to express an opinion one way or another. Therefore, each time he said that I opted to continue on, but I was starting to get more annoyed each time. I was also a little miffed that we could not go into St. Ignatious’ Cathedral because of his ubiquitous shorts. I should have told him how I was feeling, but I was having one of those moments when I expect him to be able to read my mind because he is my husband. He is getting better at it, but he obviously is not perfect because when we arrived at the Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei he once again expressed his apathy. That brought about a bit of a meltdown from me, and more tears ensued. Luckily after five years together we have learned how to quickly resolve these little tiffs that will inevitably arise. We swiftly made up and put it all behind us in order to explore the library.

There was an art exhibit on the first floor of the library. Pictures were not allowed, but the art was impressive. I purchased an addition to my collection of paintings of women. I just realized that I do not have a picture of it, but I will show it to you when I write about all of my purchases from China. Since I cannot show you pictures of the works inside, here is my favorite piece which was in the courtyard.

After that we returned to the hotel to dry off and change before meeting back up with the students. I took the opportunity to take some more pictures of the hotel, some of which I showed in another post.

That afternoon we met up with some Chinese students from a local school. This time we visited them at their school. It was an opportunity for us to go to an area of the city that most tourists never see. While the students got to know each other better, their teacher gave us a tour of Fudan University where the school is located.

The Fudan University is beautiful. I liked the speakers shaped like little green mushrooms everywhere that were playing soothing music.

By the time we left Fudan, the rain had stopped. A couple of the students wanted to go to the Bund, but most of them preferred to return to the hotel. Here the lead chaperone and I made our biggest mistake of the trip. Thankfully it was not a serious one. He took the three students that were up to continuing the exploration of the city while I accompanied the rest back to the hotel. The ten that were with me claimed to be exhausted and ready to relax. Of course, as soon as we arrived back, they suddenly caught a second wind and were ready to get in trouble. Nothing fatal occurred, and the worst that happened was that four of them had to be isolated in their rooms for the rest of the night. It only meant that I was unable to relax and enjoy myself. We should have taken them all to the Bund.

Thus our penultimate night in China ended as it had begun on a sour note. I was hoping that the next day would be better, but alas things got even worse. Check back next Monday to find out what happened.

If you would like to read more about our trip to China or other recent travels, visit the Travel tab at the top of the page or click here.

Happy Travels!