beautiful monotony: Shanghai Day 2: Tripping Our Way Through China

The more time that I spend with Jenn, the more I notice that she is an endearingly klutzy person…and it think that it is starting to rub off on me. I am not typically a klutz, but I am finding that since we are already the center of attention everywhere we go, we are only drawing more attention to ourselves by tripping over sidewalk curbs, door thresholds, knocking over glasses at restaurants, and running into everything. I think that having people everywhere watch our every move and pointing and laughing is making us terribly self-conscious. Anyways, today we stopped at Xintiandi, a recently revived area of town that means “New Heaven on Earth.” It truly was just that. It had a European feel with its fountains, gorgeous restaurants with scenic patios, and alley mazes of charming boutiques. Afterward we headed to the French Concession for lunch at a well know hot pot restaurant called Hot Pot King(hot pot=sort of like Chinese Fondue). The menu only had pictures, so we thankfully had a bit of help from a chef who spoke some English. We, of course, made quite the spectacle being the only foreigners in the local favorite restaurant, but I to say that we always have a great experience ordering from picture only menus. The wait staff is always concerned that we have a fantastic dining experience. The Chinese are truly a proud culture, and they really do everything they can to make sure that foreigners are enjoying their country- which Jenn and I definitely are!

Morning tea at the Westin- every morning I make tea for Jenn while she gets ready and I blog...we have spent so much time together that we are starting to act like an old married couple!

The fountain at Xintiandi

Shanghai Tang, a great little store (but expensive!)

Some of the architecture

The pedestrian courtyards at Xintiandi

Strolling through the French Concession- the landscaping here

(and in the major Chinese cities in general) is unbelievable and perfectly maintained

French Concession

Lots of people wear uniforms here for their jobs, it sort of gives you

this strange feeling of control and standardization.

Hot Pot King for lunch

Raisins and watermelon, in jello??? I have no idea, but it's tasty

mmm...hot pot = yummy

We bought some tea from this lady on our way back to the hotel-

she gave us a present for buying tea from her. She was so nice!

On Top of the World

After the French Concession Jenn and I freshened up for a trip to Pudong to climb the Oriental Pearl Tower, have a drink at the Jinmao tower, and have dinner at Jade on 36 in the Shangra-La Hotel. The view from the tower was amazing, and we were blessed with a pretty clear pollution-free day- the skyscrapers literally seem to extend out into infinity and you can’t see at all where the metropolitan area of Shanghai might end. While we are on that note, I will mention that the pollution here is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before- it seems to be eternally foggy in both Beijing and Shanghai. Anyways, regardless of the smoggy weather, we ended our evening with a blow out amazing dinner at Jade on 36- we both got the tasting and wine pairing menu and enjoyed artistically prepared French influenced food with a fantastic view of the Bund.