3 DAYS IN SHANGHAI

I was in Shanghai from August 18 – August 22, but only did 3 days of exploring. My trip from Hong Kong to Shanghai was extremely stressful, but after that experience I feel like I can take on anything. My first night in Shanghai was also difficult, but found a safe hotel to stay in and had a lot of reassuring talks with my parents. My mom thinks of it like surviving in the Alaskan wilderness, but with 15 million of people and 2 overweight suitcases! On Wednesday I walked around a bit more in the evening and found the Bund. I also found my friend Joe, it was so nice to see a familiar face again! He’s studying abroad in Taiwan, and we both go to North Central College.

I spent all of Thursday with my friend Joe and his friend Monica, who was born in Hong Kong, her parents live in Shanghai, and she goes to school in America; but she knew her way around Shanghai very well.  She brought us to some great places in the city, and I found my new favorite drink, milk tea! I had a great time just walking around with English-speaking friends!

On Friday Joe and I explored other parts of Shanghai. We met some very friendly people on the street, by taking their picture for them. We continued to talk (I got to practice my Chinese!) and we ended up going to a tea ceremony with them.  As most people know, tea is a big part of Chinese culture. In a tea ceremony, a woman prepares the various teas with a precise motion and you learn the story behind the tea culture. In the picture you can see the different types of tea that I tried: flower tea, red tea, and green tea.

It was great to feel comfortable around such complete strangers; this is what I love about China. These people wanted to show us the tea culture and were very understanding of our Chinese skills.  For those of you worrying, I am always super safe and smart, just ask my mom 🙂

While exploring the city and its wonderful parks, I found this sign to be quite unique. I basically translates to “in this area there is a service for finding a spouse”. Joe explained to me that in areas like the public parks, gatherings such as this take place. Typically the parents of an unmarried and very busy business man or woman will meet with their child’s picture and resume, and try to find them a match! I thought this was very funny, and if a person isn’t married by the time they’re about 30 that their parents will help with the process and look for them.

I have been eating vegetarian for about 9 months, and I plan to continue. In China it is difficult for the people to understand what a vegetarian is, not many people eat this way in China. Because of my limited options, I try my best to keep an open mind and try anything that’s put in front of me. This dish was delicious with homemade noodles, Chinese cabbage, mushrooms, and other vegetables. A month ago I never would have given this food a try, but I am so glad that I’m trying so many new foods!

It was nice to see Shanghai, but I absolutely love being in a smaller city with family friends right now, it’s just what I needed. I had so many character building moments in Shanghai, I’m thankful that I was able to stay strong and still make some great memories!