Greetings from Shanghai Airlines climbing through 18,000 feet enroute from Shanghai to Guilin, Guanxi Province.
Monday was lost to the International Date Line and it’s Tuesday, late afternoon.
We’re recovering from an “on-our-day” in Shanghai, where we explored the Yu Garden area, located near our hotel. It was more of an acclimation day – a break so we didn’t need to extend our first travel day. Everyone seemed to get a good night’s sleep last night, and woke up energetic this morning.
We enjoyed a full breakfast at our hotel, choosing from a full buffet of western and native breakfast options. Soon after, we were hoofing it outside in search of Yu Garden. It was quite warm as it sometimes is in Shanghai this time of year. It took us longer than it should have to find the actual Garden. It is surrounded by a maze of shops, stalls and restaurants, and since Google Maps wasn’t up to par, we needed to ask directions a couple of different times. We had to navigate the alleys and dead ends based on a series of very general directional waves of the hands of a few police officials and security staff.
We finally arrived at the Garden – it was early, so the crowds were light. The
labyrinth of passages inside the garden was as challenging to navigate as the alleys outside! Inside was really interesting collection of temples, halls, lakes, bridges, rock formations and trees and bamboo gardens. (Dylan reminded me the Bamboo was used to make flooring that was very durable). The Garden seemed to be constructed around the rocks and trees. The decorations on many of the pagoda roofs were interesting and unlike any that we were used to seeing.
We did grab a couple of maps on the way in, but the “map/layout” had NO English at all, and was small and tough to read. We faked our way around and stumbled upon two galleries of ancient art and sculpture. We spent a few moments in the galleries, soaking up culture and cool air (as the rooms were comfortably air-conditioned…did I mention it was a warm today?). Some of the art was a combination of old and new techniques, with a bit of Jackson Pollack sprinkled in. It was certainly with the time to explore.
Inside the Garden, we wandered into a small shop where we snagged some hand cut bookmarks corresponding to everyone’s calendar signs. As we looked around the shop, the size and composition of our family piqued the interest of the shopkeepers.
There were two men and two women who helped us with our purchases. The men were very interested in the children and Lisa explained that they were all born in different provinces and told them of the kids’ birth cities. There were very gracious and generous with their comments (their English was very good) about the family – lots of thumbs-up. On the way out, it took a few moments for one of the men to find the courage and polite words to ask if he could take a few pictures of us – with him, so he could show his own family. We were honored at the request, as we usually are with such genuine interest. Out in the Garden, pictures were taken and phones where shuffled so that everyone got the shots they wanted.
As a result of our several journeys, we’ve grown accustomed to the near-constant stares and whispered comments that follow us around most public places. We get it – we understand the interest, and Lisa and I are OK with it. It can be a bit intimidating for the kids, since many times native Chinese ask them questions, expecting that they will understand Mandarin (or Cantonese). Most natives are very confused when they realize that the kids don’t understand. They’re not really offended as much as confused. Most smile and nod approvingly while some try to communicate in the little English they might know. For their part, we’re very proud that our children have an understanding of why they’re the subjects of such scrutiny, and an awareness of how to react with respect – and that they’re getting to a place, slowly, where THEY are OK with it.
In one of the alleys of the Garden, the kids noticed 2 cats. One was a gray Tabby and the other was white. By their collars, it was clear that they were likely residents. The cats were not spooked at all when Kyle approached for a snapshot and Ashley and Ryan ventured closer to see if they were friendly. Ashley and Ryan actually picked a long piece of grass to see if they could entice the cats into a little game. The Tabby obliged and played for a few moments before tackling the white cat in a leaf pile. They were right at home for certain.
As the temperature and humidity started to rise, and he crowds swelled, we finally found the way out, no thanks to the map! The last stop was a small lake teeming with koi and carp. A couple of children were feeding the fish gently dropping corn kernels into the water. Except that there were so MANY fish swarming the kids that you really couldn’t even see the water! Fighting for every piece of food, the fish were also competing with 3 turtles that braved the craziness. As we approached, we could hear the sound of fish and turtles before we could get close enough too see them!
Outside, we wandered around a few of the shops and found a Museum of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine. Inside we checked out the selection of plant extracts, powders, and animal organs and by-products. It’s amazing what passes for “medicine” in the Chinese culture. One of the staff inside, noticing that we were tourists, asked if we’d be interested in seeing a Chinese Silk “Museum”. We took the bait and he, perhaps sensing a possible commission/kickback on purchases, led us a few hundred feet to a series of silk shops. It was genuinely interesting seeing the process of how silk is drawn on the spools on a very old spooling machine directly from silkworm coccoons.
Before we headed out to the hotel, we consulted Google Maps on my phone. However, due to circumstances beyond my control I was unable to accurately determine the exact location of the hotel.
DISCLAIMER: The accounts of the events described below may not be in 100% agreement with Lisa’s recollections.
Without the aid of a pinpoint location (damn you, Larry & Sergey), but with a general map of the area, we began the walk out of the labyrinth of shops around Yu Garden. We passed several familiar (or at least they were familiar to me) landmarks – some we even passed twice on our journey back to the hotel. We finally made it out to a main street, got our bearings, and headed back to the point we were able to reliably reverse our original path from the outbound walkabout from the hotel earlier in the morning. As we passed in front of a large pagoda arch over an intersection very CLOSE to the hotel, Lisa realized that we had in fact walked right under it 45 minutes prior!! It had not looked familiar to me as we passed it at that time, so we actually turned around and went the other direction, lengthening our return trek by the aforementioned 45 minutes (and approx. 1/2 mile).
So now, forevermore, whenever we talk about the day we went to Yu Gardens in Shanghai, on Tyler’s adoption trip, I will be reminded: “Dad, remember when we had to walk that extra half mile in 90 degree heat because you didn’t listen to Mom when she said the we should turn right at that big pagoda arch, but you turned us around to go the other way?”
Gotta love the memories we’re making every day!!!