Tongli Water Town

On Sunday, Nik and I took a 2 hour bus ride to the Tongli Water town about 80km west of Shanghai that is known for its 40+ stone bridges and 20+ criss-crossing canals. It was a holiday weekend (Tomb Sweeping Day was Monday), so we expected the small tourist town to be overrun with people, and it was. However, out of the 40+ bridges, all of the people were flocking to about 5. So there was plenty of room for Nik and I to escape from the chaos and wander through this well preserved little town of water, bridges, lanes, tradition and grandeur without being disturbed.

Included in our 160rmb bus ticket was the round-trip bus fare, entry into the city itself (typically 60rmb) and admission to several traditional homes that had been preserved and turned into mini-museums. Walking through the streets of the town was definitely my favorite part, but it was amazing to walk through the courtyards, gardens, anti rooms and performance spaces of the once occupied Great Houses. I often wish that wealthy people today would spend their money wisely on significant architecture like this instead of the McMansions we see so much of in America. Don’t get me wrong, plenty of wealthy people do spend their money on amazing homes that will one day be turned into museums, but plenty don’t.

Anyways, here are my photos from the trip showing the not-so-packed areas of town, and Nik has posted several of his as well. This is a perfect day trip. We left the Shanghai Stadium tourist bus station promptly at 9am and returned around 6pm. The ride out passed by several farms that were not yet planted, but were beginning to be overrun with yellow wild flowers. In the city, there are plenty of waterside cafés and snack shops, but there are also several waterside stone benches that are perfect to people watch while eating your own picnic lunch.

One of the side canals from above

Tourist Gondela

Waterside Cafés

Rust on Whitewashed Walls

Inner Courtyard

Red Door

Rickshaw Drivers

Red Flower

Estate Illustration

Roof Detail

Slate Shingles

Koi

Side Street

The City Edge

Makeshift Bench

Mop

Taffy

Nik and me on a bench

On Monday, the actual holiday that happened to be our 3-year anniversary, we stayed in Shanghai. I took Nik to the flower market where we picked out a plant for our apartment, and then we went to one of our favorite outside spots, Zhongshan Park. We found a spot near the bridge that causes a lot of chaos for the little motor boats that people rent to eat lunch, and saw some pretty funny stuff. I didn’t take any photos because we have so many already, so you can look here to find them. The narrow bridge underpass did not disappoint!

After lunch and a few good chuckles, we found a spot smack dab in the middle of the main kite flying lawn and we flew a kite!!! There were three or four vendors selling all sorts of kites, and we picked the smallest one they had. It was just 5rmb (<$1), not too bad for an afternoon of entertainment.

Kite Flying Day

We fly our kite.

She flies her kite.

She flies her kite.

He flies his kite.

Kite flying wasn’t the ONLY thing going on. People were picnicing, playing volleyball, playing with bubbles, reading, people watching, playing badmitton, etc. And we couldn’t go to the park without bringing along our Feather!! Nik and I kicked it around several times, and after a couple hours an actual feather vendor wandered up. This was the first time we had seen a feather vendor at a Shanghai park, so it was quite amazing. We were great for his business, because a few of the people that had been watching us all day ended up buying feathers themselves. The vendor walked over with about 15 feathers in his little bag, and walked away with just 3-4. Not too shabby! In fact, we probably should have bought one because ours is about to die, but we know of a store near the apartment that we can get a replacement for 3rmb.

The Feather

Nik plays Feather with a group of foreigners that bought one from the vendor.

Bubbles

Volleyball

Newspaper

Focus

After the park, we rode over to Itsuki Yakiniku for all you can eat Japanese Tappanyaki and ended the weekend with full bellies and lots of great memories.

Happy Anniversary

Portland 2006

Mt Hood 2006

Portland 2007

Neskowin 2007

Kauaii 2007

Vancouver 2007

Family 2007

Wallace Park 2008

San Francisco 2008

Farmer's Market 2008

Thailand 2008

Wat Jet Yod 2008

Doi Suthep 2008

Chiang Mai 2008

Chiang Mai 2008

Leh 2008

Udaipur 2008

Agra Fort 2008

The Great Wall 2008

Hong Kong 2008

Asia 2008

2006-2009 in Chronological Order

A gorgeous day in Shanghai

This is too funny not to share.

I’m sitting at a coffee shop checking and sending emails while sitting next to the streetside window watching everyone walk by basking in the amazing sunshine, and what is coming through the speakers???

A Duet

“Baby it’s Cold Outside”, a duet between Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart!

Exactly the oposite of what should be playing.

The other most humorous moment in my Shanghai Soundtrack was the other day when I was grocery shopping at the nearby Tesco, and they were playing a gimmicky version of the Happy Birthday song.

On-coming Traffic

For the past week, I have focused most of my time on the job search. I’m sure you’re wondering what I have been doing for the past five weeks if I haven’t been looking for a job, and the answer is tough. I have been looking for a job, researching various companies, exploring the city, meeting new people, updating this website, designing a website for my mom, updating my resume, reformatting my portfolio…..but honestly, I wasn’t doing any of this very well. For some reason I hadn’t mustered the real confidence I needed to actually follow through and do my due diligence to find work. I think I was waiting for something to fall into my lap. I made excuses for why I wasn’t getting any calls from the five resumes I sent out…the economy is bad, I’ve never worked in China before, I don’t have any connections. In reality, I only sent out five resumes. And nothing else. No one would get a job in a completely new continent by sending out five resumes blindly into city where there are architecture offices on every corner. I’m not sure why I thought I would be any different.

Then last Thursday, I snapped out of it. I finally realized I wasn’t doing enough, and then I thought about the past year in terms of the-money-I-didn’t-earn for the first time. That’s thousands of dollars my bank account will never see. The money isn’t what is driving me to get a job, but it is a factor. I am proud that I took the risk and walked away from everything for a little while and I never would have done it differently. The added advantage is that now I am fresh and energized and filled with dreams of Asia…past and present. I have begun to take looking for an architecture job in Shanghai seriously, and the fruits of my labor are already paying off. I don’t have a job yet, but I have started conversations, and conversations will hopefully lead to more conversations and those conversations will lead to interviews and those interviews will lead to work. I am optimistic, and there will be great things for me in Shanghai, I just know it.

On the exploring side of things, Nik and I joined a couple of his co-workers for a Saturday ride around the city. At first the destination was ambiguous. We rode past the Moganshan Lu galleries and along Suzhou Creek, then stopped for coffee and smoothies in the middle of Nanjing Road shopping chaos. We eventually found ourselves riding along the Huangpu River towards the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel. Prior to Saturday, the only time I had ever heard of this tunnel was when Nik and I visited last December and we saw a sign while we were walking around near the entrance. I wrote it off as a tourist trap rip-of, and never thought twice. But let me tell you. If you come to Shanghai, you have to go on the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, it is worth it!!! Talk about wierd Shanghai.

A small scale photo shoot

The photo shoot of the photo shoot

After walking down a flight of stairs into a subway-like tunnel just off of the northern tip of the Bund (the riverside park on the west side of Huangpu River lined with colonial architecture), you enter into this amusement park ride entrance filled with vending machines and jade dealers and viewfinders with provocative pictures of Chinese women. The ticket counter isn’t anything special, but it plainly displays the prices in Chinese and English. 40RMB for one-way, 50RMB for round-trip. We paid our fair and filed through the turnstyles and into the ride entrance. Here’s where I got completely confused. I thought this was just a tunnel where you walked under the bund and there were photos all about Shanghai and perhaps the history of the Bund, but no. It is a tunnel where you ride in a little glass car though an elaborate series of Christmas lights of various colors flashing and spinning while an intercom announces the phase in which you are traveling through such as “heaven and hell” and “metior showers plummeting towards earth”. It was the most bazaar thing I have ever paid money for, and I’m glad I did.

50RMB of round-trip Fun and Excitement

Including stuffed animal vending machines

All Aboard

Maybe this was heaven? or was it hell?

The Bund seen from Pudong

When the ride is finished you end up on the Pudong side of the river with a nice view looking across at the Bund. Because I am recommending that you do this the next time you are here, I recommend that you only purchase a one-way ticket then go to the Super Brand Mall or Century Park or something else in Pudong and take a ferry or the subway back to the city. It just isn’t worth doing the ruturn trip.

Then Nik and I split from the group because he had to go into work. Since he wasn’t going to be long, I found a table at my favorite Shanghai cafe, A:Mokka, to sit and enjoy Saturday afternoon. I started reading Ann Pachett’s book Run, and love it.

One of my favorite spots

The rest of our weekend was uneventful. Sunday we spent most of the day at home with just a short ride through some construction sites and then I got hungry so we headed back to the apartment. Of course, as soon as we locked up our bikes, all of the clouds went away and we were left with an amazingly clear blue sky. But it didn’t last. The clouds were back within 30 minutes, and we were in for the day.

A fleating moment of clear blue skies

On Monday, I spent all day doing research, then met up with a new friend to have hand pulled noodles at a little shop called Noodle Bull on Changle Lu. This place is also quickly becoming a favorite, and will certainly be one of my staple dining options.

Then on Tuesday, I rode over to Xiantandi. If you’ve visited Shanghai, you have probably been there, but I had never even heard of it until last week. Xiantandi is two city blocks of of old buildings that were converted into modern restaurants and luxury shops. The weather was nice, so all of the restaurants had outdoor tables and the inner courtyard seemed like a European beer garden. I like the effort that is being made, but the tables were filled with westerners in suits so I’m sure that most of the prices went along those same lines. Luckily my new friend recommended the bakery, Paul, which sits at the very edge of the complex so I had my lunch there. I picked a smoked salmon sandwich with fresh greens, and it was pretty delicious. Good bread is one thing I miss most about America, so it’s good to know I can find it here!!

Lunch hour in Xiantandi

The back alley of Xiantandi

My final new favorite is this quilt that my mom gave me for Christmas. It is new because it just arrived in Shanghai on Monday, so I finally have something to hold on to from home. The quilt itself has an awesome story because it is the first quilt my mother has ever made (didn’t she do good??)…and I had no clue that she was making it before I opened it on Christmas morning. It now has a permanent home on our couch, and I huddle under it every night. Thanks Mom for giving me my first hand-made family heirloom! It’s nice to have a little piece of you here with me.

Mom's 1st Quilt