Shanghai – March 23

From the first day we arrived in China, Douglas had been running every morning. In Beijing, he found it difficult to find a good route and experienced many weird looks as he, a Westerner, ran through the crowded rush-hour streets in toe shoes. Add to that the smog and the fact that he still had pneumonia, and you can imagine that his runs were not that fun. Therefore, he was thrilled to find a beautiful park just half a block from our hotel in Shanghai.

He was excited to share the park with me, so Sunday morning we planned to have a lazy morning in the sun. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day. It was to be our last good morning alone together in Shanghai, though we did not know it at the time, so I am glad that we were able to have this experience together.

 

I do regret that we do not have a picture of us together in the park. In fact, we do not have a picture of Douglas in the park, although there are many of me.

This is a map of Xujiahui Park. We started at the northwest corner and worked our way counterclockwise.

 

Immediately upon entering the park, we spotted a woman sweeping with the ubiquitous brush broom. It is hard to walk 500 yards in China without seeing someone sweeping.

Next up was the duck pond, complete with black swans and cygnets. I had not seen black swans since I was in England years old and found that I am still smitten with their curly tail feathers. As I girl with curls of my own, maybe I appreciate them more.

 

From there we climbed up to investigate this chimney in the southwest corner of the park.

Then we meandered down the other side and across this stone block bridge.

I found the signs throughout the park humorous.

In the middle of the park was an elevated walkway that I thought was striking. Normally, I am more of a naturalist or traditionalist, but I did like this bridge.

At the other end of the stream, we found more wildlife.

Speaking of wildlife, there was a couple making out. It made me think of Italy, where the parks are filled with couple in passionate embrace. There is nothing like young love.

The basketball courts were also popular. Other than Yao Ming, I had never heard of a Chinese basketball player and had no idea that the sport is so popular over there.

At that point, I thought that I spotted a bike shop across the street, and we went to investigate. It turned out that it had closed a while ago, but we did get to check out the neighboring buildings. I love these little alleyways that are scattered around Shanghai.

Entering the park again, this time via the northeast entrance, we came across a tasting of some kind. I would have liked to investigate further, but we did not find anyone that spoke English.

Instead, we wandered on and found people practicing tai chi. I wish that I had joined them, but I was too shy. Rather, I opted to sit and watch and take pictures. Boo! It is a beautiful practice that I would like to learn one day.

Everywhere we saw people practicing different activities. There were also children everywhere. It is obvious that children are adored in China.

After that we sat for a while, and I wrote in my journal. The sun was shining on us, but it was not too hot. We were in a beautiful setting, and there was the sound of someone playing an instrument in the park. It was my favorite morning in China.

Unfortunately, the rest of the day was not as nice. First, we went to the People 7 restaurant. Lunch that day was my least favorite meal in China, and then we were rushed around from one site to the next without any time to appreciate anything. I felt that we spend more time in the subway that afternoon than we did above ground. It was disappointing.

After that we raced through Xintiandi, and I do mean raced. This is another area like Tianzifang that is set up like old Shanghai.

This is the site of the first meeting of the Communist Party in China.

From there we went to Taipingqiao Park. I was told that it is normally quite pretty, but they had drained the lake to set up a stage for fashion week.

Then, we walked to the Bird and Fish Market. I would have liked to spend a little more time there, but we were only given twenty minutes. Douglas and I raced through looking for a Buddha with a bat like the one that he loved at the Lu Xun Museum. We were not successful in that endeavor and did not have time to look at anything else.

The whole reason that we were so rushed is that we were going to play laser tag. I felt that was a waste of our time in China since we could play laser tag here if we wanted to, but I had little input over the schedule. My next trip to China is going to be very different!

Happy Travels!