Day 38 Third World Shanghai

Today was fantastic.  I was inspired to do a better job of seeing the real, traditional side of Shanghai after reading a blog of another friend who’s in a foreign country, so that’s what I did this morning.  My goals included finding the Wenmiao (Confucius temple), wandering around the alleys of Old Shanghai and taking 100 pictures (this seems ridiculous, but I have not been doing a great job of pictures lately).  Here’s the list of things I ended up doing: 1. Explored the wettest of wet markets.  We’re talking live ducks and pigeons being picked up and examined for dinner, live fish being pulled out of tubs and having their heads chopped off, a myriad of strange vegetables that probably needed to be washed before eating, and big bags of frogs.  Mmmm mmmm mmmm.  It was fantastic.  2.  Private tour with Chinese guide through the Confucius temple.  She just came up to me and asked if I wanted to go through it with her and it seemed like a good idea.  If you ever go to Shanghai, I would highly recommend this place. Hardly anybody was there (compared to Yu Yuan garden- which could be skipped). I’m always amazed by how pretty these Imperial Chinese garden/temples are.  This one in particular was just so peaceful I forgot that I was in this huge, crowded city. 3.  Played peek-a-boo with the cutest baby boy ever. I know I’ve said that before, but he really was the cutest ever.  I had him laughing so hard and hopefully gave him a good first impression of the “bai ren” (white people).  The grandma holding him was also adorable.  4.  Talked to this gorgeous teenage girl who was learning how to cook from her grandma in one of the outdoor kitchens that are so popular in the alleys of Shanghai.  I asked if I could take a picture of what she was doing and I think she thought I just wanted a picture of her, but that was fine too.  She just had the most glowing personality and I just had to tell her how beautiful she was before she was brainwashed by the ridiculous western media that has convinced these beautiful Chinese girls they will never be as pretty as white girls.  This literally makes me sick. 5.  Talked to a lady selling this strange green fruit.  I asked her what it was (in Chinese!) but then she answered in Chinese and I was lost (of course, it’s not like there was anything she could have said that I would have understood). Then she pulled one out and proceeded to show me how to eat the little nut things that were inside.  I broke the cardinal childhood rule (never take food from strangers) and gladly watched my comfort zone stretch to the point of almost ripping.  6.  Said “hello” to probably 20 Shanghainese old men. They think it’s funny/fun/cute/whatever to yell “Hallo!” as I walk by, it actually is pretty funny so I just say hello back and then take a picture of them.  7.  Bargained (and probably got ripped off) at a few antique stores in the Old Shanghai area.  Best buy: my new abacus!! If I told you that I wasn’t coming back from China until I learned how to use an abacus and you thought I was lying (you know who you are), well, you were wrong.  So far I’ve mastered addition and tomorrow I’ll get the hang of subtraction.  I also got some other things, but they’re secrets for right now. 8.  Took 172 pictures.  These were about half of the Confucius temple (SO gorgeous, I just can’t stop thinking about it) and half of the awesome new Shanghainese friends I made (including the live ducks).  I took one picture of myself in the garden, which I thought was sufficient.  I will probably come back to the states with four or five pictures of myself, which I haven’t decided if I’m ok with yet.