A Month of Family May 16, 2010
Posted by freda in China.trackback
First, my mother arrives:
My mother arrived on April 10th for 2 1/2 weeks with us. Spring had sprung,
beautiful flower boxes
and adbundant gardens
the weather was warming up, though still cool and rainy at times, and the city was coming into full bloom. Expo preparation was in high gear, as well, and every day we saw a few projects completed.
The “beautification” of my walking route progressed daily….
construction site wall painted and decorated
planters placed down Puming Lu, one of the main routes to Expo
planters feature poinsettas and marigolds; my driver calls them "Merry Christmas-Expo" flowers!
stringing lights in the trees
sidewalk planters added
Displays around the City:
me and Haibao
I showed mom some of the same sites I showed Elsie (such as YuYuan Gardens, Taikung Lu artist enclave, Shanghai History Museum in the Pearl Tower), and some different ones. One site that was completely new to me was Soong Ching-ling’s home. She was married to Dr. Sun Yet-Sen, and after he died, became one of the most significant political figures of the early 20th century in her own right. There was a very good display of information regarding her life and work to go through first. Then we took a quick walk through the home, which displays pieces of furniture, personal items and photos from when she lived there, and finished our visit in the lovely back yard.
Mom in the garden
Another thing mom and I could do, which wasn’t possible when Elsie was here, was to walk on the newly-re-opened Bund, definitely the landmark associated with old-Shanghai. If you’ve read my previous blogs, you will know Don and I had walked a good portion of the new Bund a few weeks earlier, but mom and I started at the Peace Hotel (which the guidebook says is “the most distinctive building on the Bund, built in 1930 by millionaire Sir Victor Sassoon”), made our way past all the classic 1920’s and ’30’s buildings (including chartered banks, Customs House and the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank, where the entrance is flanked by bronze lions), and all the way to the end (where Don and I had started) to take the ferry home. It was a glorious day for a long walk. I had had Mr. Shi drop us off by the Peace Hotel and told him we’d take the ferry home. Well, he actually pouted!! He was so worried that mom wouldn’t be able to walk that far, or that we might take a taxi home. He said, “no taxi!” and I had to reassure him that if we had any problem we’d call him. About an hour after we were home, he called me to make sure we got home okay! He’s such a good man.
Mom on the Bund walk, with Pudong and the Pearl Tower backdrop
Customs House (with the clock) and the HSBC building, with the Peace Hotel (with the green triangle roof) at the far right
the Pudong skyline - World Finance Centre, Jinmao Tower
a great view of our apartment complex
This is so China!
Backwards? Really??
And these two pictures are so China also!
first he climbs up for a better view
and down he crouches to see better (!)
Mom and I also went to the Shanghai Museum. We picked oneof the rainiest days she was here for this outing. It turned out a large number of others thought it was a good day for the museum, as well (!) and we had to stand in line, outside in the wind and rain, for 20 minutes, as the line of people slowly moved through the inside security check.
lining up in the rain outside the beautiful Shanghai Museum
That was an unfortunate start but, once inside, the museum is really wonderful, displaying cultural relics from China’s neolithic period through the Qing dynasty, a span of over 5000 years, and is divided into sections for bronzes, sculptures, ceramics, paintings, calligraphy, coins, jade, furniture and traditional minority costumes, with the bronzes and ceramics being their highlights. Mom and I only managed a few hours and about half the displays, but I went back with the boys and we spent 3 1/2 hours going through every display.
bronzeware
bronze wine vessel
more bronze wine vessels
bronze water bowl
Ming dynasty ceramics
ceramic bowl
and a ceramic plate
glazed pottery figures
masks
sculpture
Chinese furniture
One day we wandered through the Shanghai Art Museum’s displays, and then ate lunch at the lovely roof-top restaurant, where the views would be excellent on a sunny day!
a rainy view, but mom is spring-sunshine-bright
After lunch we went to the Old China Hand Reading Room, a lovely space opened by photographer and publisher Deke Erh, filled with antique furnishings and stuffed-full bookshelves…
Old China Hand Reading Room
and then wandered along the tree-lined French Concession area streets….
these are Plane trees - the ones I despaired of during the winter, sure they wouldn't bud.
We went to the flower market…
with Mr. Shi
and early in the visit, we went to the fabric market, where mom had great fun having custom made coat, suit and blouse made at one of our favourite stalls….
Sun (pronounced 'soon'), one of our favourite shop owners
And of course no visitor is fully initiated into Shanghai life without a trip to the grocery stores or wet markets. Mom took several pictures in the Carrefour (my usual grocery shopping stop), and the boys supplemented her pictures for your viewing pleasure, because mom wouldn’t go anywhere near the snakes!!
dried fish products
open meat bins
more open meat - really! ... all the meat is 'open' for grabbing
I don't actually buy meat from this store... it's too disgusting!
the fresh frog department
lots of snakes - eww, gross!
I usually by-pass the snakes; they give me the creeps
the dumplings look good
and these ones are so cute!
fruit
lots of great vegetables
what kind of fruit is this??
The day before the boys arrived, mom celebrated her 78th birthday with us. Before going out to a great fusion Thai-Burma restaurant, we took her to the Glamour Bar for a pre-dinner chocolate martini – mmm, delicious!
Mom looking glamourous in the Glamour Bar
Cheers and Happy Birthday Mom!!
Next up: the boys arrive and we all go to Beijing….
freda's world adventures 
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