This is a nice taste of classical chinese architecture and gardens, and it's located smack in the middle of modern Shanghai, which is growing up all around it.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Yu Garden
Last Friday after school, we headed into town to check out Yu Garden - a 16th century garden built in 1577 by a Ming Dynasty official to please his elderly father (take note, fellas). "Yu" means peace and comfort. Settled in the midst of a crazy, crowded bazaar (imagine crowds like those you see at Disney World during February break, with stall after stall of chinese trinkets), the garden is incredibly peaceful.
This is a nice taste of classical chinese architecture and gardens, and it's located smack in the middle of modern Shanghai, which is growing up all around it.
This is a nice taste of classical chinese architecture and gardens, and it's located smack in the middle of modern Shanghai, which is growing up all around it.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Shanghai Night Sky
Today was a clear afternoon - blue sky is very rare in Shanghai, so we decided to take advantage of it after dinner. We went downtown to the Bund and took a bunch of pictures trying to capture the incredible night skyline. It's hard to describe how beautiful it is. One side of the river is the Pudong side (the new side) where most of the new skyscrapers are being built. John works in the HSBC building which you might be able to see here:
In this shot below you can see the Oriental Pearl Tower - one of the most famous landmarks in the city and on postcards everywhere. A few days ago me and the kids went up to the bigger bubble that you see below the point. It has a glass floor you can walk out on...not surprisingly, I did not go out there. But Madeline and Jeb did just to torture me.
On the side of western side of the river is the original city of Shanghai - called Puxi. Both sides are lit up beautifully at night, and there is a long pavilion that runs along the river called The Bund. Along the Bund are beautiful old 19th century buildings that were built by the French, British and Americans during the heydey here in the early part of the century. In the picture above we are standing along the Bund looking towards Pudong. Here is a shot showing the Puxi side lit up:
And here is a funny scenario that keeps repeating itself wherever we go...parents are constantly asking if their kids can pose with Madeline, Jeb and Hope for photos. It is funny and everyone gets a kick out of the way they look. Here's a little girl posing for her dad, and then John captured the scene as well.
As I'm writing this post, it's about 9:30 pm here and the kids are on skype with Tommy, Lily, Cameron, Austin, Margaret and Phoebe at Grandad's house...as well as the ever faithful video chatter Kari reporting live....9:30 in the morning there and and we are hearing about the huge waves caused by Irene....miss you all very much!
In this shot below you can see the Oriental Pearl Tower - one of the most famous landmarks in the city and on postcards everywhere. A few days ago me and the kids went up to the bigger bubble that you see below the point. It has a glass floor you can walk out on...not surprisingly, I did not go out there. But Madeline and Jeb did just to torture me.
On the side of western side of the river is the original city of Shanghai - called Puxi. Both sides are lit up beautifully at night, and there is a long pavilion that runs along the river called The Bund. Along the Bund are beautiful old 19th century buildings that were built by the French, British and Americans during the heydey here in the early part of the century. In the picture above we are standing along the Bund looking towards Pudong. Here is a shot showing the Puxi side lit up:
And here is a funny scenario that keeps repeating itself wherever we go...parents are constantly asking if their kids can pose with Madeline, Jeb and Hope for photos. It is funny and everyone gets a kick out of the way they look. Here's a little girl posing for her dad, and then John captured the scene as well.
First Day of school, August 18th
Peter arrives in the morning about 7:15 to drive John to work, then comes back to the house mid-day. We're lucky that the kids can walk to school, and we can walk to shops and restaurants in Jinqiao - the area where we live. We also bought bikes last weekend, so we are all mobile.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Arrival, August 10
Over 15 hours later we landed safely at Pudong Intl. airport - time to collect all the bags and figure out how to get to the new house.
Not everyone was happy to arrive....but everyone stayed pretty upbeat. We were ridiculous getting all of our bags...here's a snap shot:
Got through Customs easily and met by 1,2,3 drivers -- each with a minivan. That was a little silly. Arrived here at #37 about 4:30 in the afternoon. Hot, humid, sticky.
Not everyone was happy to arrive....but everyone stayed pretty upbeat. We were ridiculous getting all of our bags...here's a snap shot:
Got through Customs easily and met by 1,2,3 drivers -- each with a minivan. That was a little silly. Arrived here at #37 about 4:30 in the afternoon. Hot, humid, sticky.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Packing Up!
August 9th -- this was our last busy day at home.....26 pieces of luggage packed and labeled....3:45 am wake up call and ride to the airport. Saying goodbye to Chester -- that was hard. Here's just a sampling of our luggage with Hope.
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