Today was a full day! We woke up and left our place around 9 to go visit an ancient village called Zhujiajiao about an hour and a half west of Shanghai. It was kind of like Venice in a way. There were little rivers and canals that went down through the village, and boats were moving up and down these rivers.
The first thing we did was just walk through the shops. They had every sort of thing there. However, that also included food. And their food was so stinky! The stuff that stunk was the fried tofu. Supposedly, it’s name actually translates to “stinky tofu.” It was one of the worst smells I have ever encountered. The shops were really neat though, and I’m glad I was able to deal with the smell.
Rob and I bought tons of souvenirs when we were there today. We got a few silk embroidered pictures, some small paintings that show the four seasons of Zhujiajiao, two little paintings of a pig and a dragon because those are Rob and I’s zodiac signs. We also our name in Chinese calligraphy on a scroll that hangs down. It’s really neat. We had it made right there by this little Chinese man in one of the shops. It was so neat my parents got one too. :)
After some shopping, we walked through some gardens they had there. We were able to see some cool Chinese architecture in the gardens, as well as all day long. When we were in the gardens we ate our lunch next to a little pond. We had taken some subway sandwiches with us so we wouldn’t have to eat the Chinese food. I’m so glad we had our own sandwiches because none of that stuff looked good at all. I don’t think I could have eaten any of it.
After the gardens, we took a little boat ride. It was about 20 minutes or so long and took us down a canal that runs right through the middle of 2 streets with shops on them. It and was neat to be able to see everything from the boat. It took us down the village quite a bit, and then we kept walking down even more.
We went to an ancient Chinese post office, and Chinese pharmacy. We did a little more shopping for some small things, and just walked through the village. I really liked this village because it was like real China, and not well developed Shanghai. Even though it’s pretty touristy, it’s kept it’s Chinese culture and is really authentic.
We left there around 3 and headed back to Shanghai. There was tons of traffic on the way back and it took us a lot longer than it did to get there, but I just slept so I didn’t mind.
We hung around my parents place for a little while, and then walked around the corner to eat at the same Chinese place we ordered from the other night. Their food is so good! When we got back, we didn’t do anything and it felt amazing! I was so tired from walking for hours and my feet were sore, so I’m glad we just relaxed.
The funny stories of the day:
1. When we were in the gardens, a group of Chinese women were gathering on some stairs to get their picture taken. We were at the top of the stairs, and on the way down, Rob stopped behind them and flexed his muscles and then started to walk down the stairs. I saw the man at the bottom who was taking their picture laugh and could tell he wanted to say something, but couldn’t figure out what to say. Then all of the sudden, he said “Pause!” and wanted Rob to go back behind them so he could take the photo with him in it. It was hilarious. Then when that was done, one of the women wanted an individual photo with him. I am still amazed at how amazed they are to see us.
2. On our drive home, in traffic we passed a big charter bus full of Chinese men. They were all staring at me, and a few of the waved. So I waved back, and they loved it! They all started laughing and smiling, and I think I made their day. It was pretty funny.
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