China Day 3 - Friday May 20

This morning when we woke up, we didn’t relax. We went right out and started doing things. We left the apartment at 8:00 and the first thing we did was hiked the Lu Pu Bridge, which crosses the Huangpu River. We walked up 367 stairs and then were on the top of bride and could see a ton of Shanghai! It was pretty amazing. The bridge was right in the center of where all the events for the World Expo took place, so we could see tons of the buildings that were built for it. They all had really neat architecture and were really interesting.

We got so sweaty from hiking the bridge that we all came home and then showered. After we were all ready, Amie was home from school and we went out to eat at a restaurant called the Blue Frog. It’s also American food, and is really good!

After lunch, Rob, I, and my mom did some sightseeing. First, we went to the new Apple store in town. It was really cool. All it was was a glass circular entryway with a huge lit up Apple logo hanging from the ceiling. We had to go in the entryway and walk down some spiral stairs to get into the actual store. It was so neat! And computers were $800 more expensive than in the States, so I’m glad I didn’t buy anything there.

After the Apple store, we went to the Shanghai World Financial Center which is the 2^nd tallest building in the world. It’s enormous! When it was being built, it was actually the tallest building, but since it’s been finished, another one in Dubei has been built and is even taller. The building had 101 stories and had a really cool hollow part in the center of the top. We could go up into the very top and look down on the skywalk through the windows on the floor. It was really scary. We bought a deck of cards, and had some souvenir photos taken. :) I love them!

Then we went to what’s called Super Brand Mall. It’s just a mall, but is really big! There’s probably 8 stories and we got some drinks and ice cream from Burger King. We’d been going all day and it was already 5:30. We were exhausted. Amie and my dad met us there and we then went to a place where we could ride a boat up and down the Huangpu River. It was perfect timing too because we got on it when it was still light and by the time we were off it, it was dark and all the cities lights were on. I’m glad we were able to do that. I have some really amazing pictures.

After the river cruise, we came back home and relaxed for a little bit until we were ready for bed. I think I’m already over the jet lag because I was able to stay awake the whole day without getting too exhausted.

The funny stories of the day:

1. When we were in the Super Brand Mall, we were riding down the escalator and Rob caught a Chinese guy staring at Amie and I. We had no clue and were just talking to each other, but Rob decided to stare back at him. When he finally saw Rob, he was super embarrassed and quickly changed where he was looking to be straight forward. Haha, He was just so amazed to see 2 American girls!

2. When we were buying our tickets for the river cruise, it was pretty crazy. There were lots of different ships to choose from and workers were haggling us trying to get us to choose their ship. Well, my dad picked one he thought looked good and went to go buy the tickets. When we were waiting for my dad, Rob turned around and Benny was right behind us. He was listening in on the conversation to make sure we weren’t getting ripped off! I love Benny. He takes good care of my family.

3. When we were on the river cruise, a little Chinese girl, probably in her early 20s, came up to me. I could tell she wanted to ask something, and had her phone out, so I asked her if she wanted a photo. She said “Photo? Yes please.” But then, instead of handing her phone to me to take her photo, she handed it to Rob to take OUR photo! She wanted a picture with Amie and me! It was hilarious. I had no clue, and was totally not expecting it. Haha!

4. On this cruise, there was very limited seating. So for most of the way, we were all standing. However, near the end we snagged an empty chair and were sharing it between all of us. At the very end, Rob was sitting on it, and I was sitting on his lap sideways. When it was time to go, instead of telling me to get off, he just picked me up and carried me halfway across the boat. I heard lots of laughter, but wasn’t quite sure what it was, and when I got down, my mom and sister told me those ladies (probably 5 middle-aged Chinese women) were staring at us and laughing really hard. I guess they thought it was funny. Haha, I don’t quite understand the Chinese people yet.

(I didn’t post pictures this time because they take a lot longer to load over here in China. I’ll make sure and post some later of the things I talked about.)