So much city

(This picture size made the blog look the best...I think you can click on them to see them bigger.)

Answers to questions first:

The subway...cost depends on where you go, but so far each time it's been 3 kuai (=3RMB=3yuan), so like 50 cents I think? Exchange rate is something over 6 RMB for 1 USD.

So, I live in a neighborhood which, as far as I know, lacks any real charm or value. But it IS near bus lines that go into most places in the center of the city. The center of the city, from what I can tell, consists of a bunch of really nice parks, several well-known shopping and historical streets, and the two sides of the Huangpu...one is the Bund, and the other is all the modern-looking skyscrapers. See above. Yes, foggy and gray again today.

Damin and I went to the Bund today, where there were good views of the modern downtown buildings, and I got to look closely at the Bund buildings. The one on the right reads "Hua Xia Yin Hang"...Hua Xia is another way to say "China" (as opposed to the traditional "Zhongguo"), which is something I knew from a story I read in Chinese class. I mentioned this to Damin, and then realized of course that he would know the story, since it is one of China's most famous.

Here's where we ate lunch. I, clearly, am the Rice Boss. We then walked past, like, four billions shops, which is endlessly interesting but also tiring. Stopped in Shanghai City of Books, which is a 7-story bookstore that was crowded like Disneyland.




To the right, we have just one section of the Yuyuan area, which is ridiculously touristy. Made me kind of realize what it would be like being here as a foreign tourist...makes me kind of envious, to tell the truth. Anyway, here is a Starbucks. Besides Starbucks, there are also a billion KFCs, and some but not nearly as many McDonald's.


Sorry, something about DND in big yellow letters is funny to me.








We were on a quest for a place to sit back and drink some tea when we ran into a public performance by this Italian, like, Renaissance flag core and band. They threw their flags in the air and jumped over each-other...it was pretty sweet.



The rest of the day was not too exciting, although I did briefly meet some of the people I'll be working with. More on that when I know more.

Ohhh forgot to mention - I'm borrowing a Chinese phone, and it's amazing...it's tiny, and is also an mp3/mp4 player and camera. I can just tell that once I get a handle on things, I will feel so cool listening to my mp3s on the bus and subway and enjoying what I do think is a really amazing city. Shanghai is wonderful, I just have to patient until it can be mine.