eat drink seth liz

I Scream, You Scream

2011-08-05T09:20:00.004-04:00

If You Have a Date in Constantinople...

2011-08-04T21:41:00.014-04:00

We've just learned that it's a lot harder to blog after the vacation, but we'll give it our best shot. We're starting with some snapshots of our time in Istanbul to kick things off and get us motivated.

As always, we love the funny signs.

Here are some shots of the spice market, around town, and a whirling dervish. More to come tomorrow when were both awake.

So long and thanks for all the karst

2009-08-29T03:23:00.000-04:00

After two months, we were ready to leave the construction noise and crowds of Shanghai and set off on a week long adventure. Using her limited Chinese, and an assortment of travel books, Liz worked hard to plan the perfect getaway with sporty outdoors activities, adorable villages, and luxury pampering. We finally settled on a trip to the village of Ping An and the town of Yangshuo.

Despite Liz's efforts, many important details were lost in translation. For Instance: Our hotel, the beautiful LiQing guest house is not accessible by car. We only discovered this important detail at 2am when, after 3 hours of driving and several flight delays our driver parked his car along the rocky shoulder of an isolated dirt road. Sleepy eyed, we pulled our luggage out of the cab's trunk and asked the driver to point us towards our hotel. He flipped on his flashlight and pointed it at a seemingly endless mountainside stone staircase. Guided by our driver and his tiny flashlight, we hauled our luggage up the mountain. After twenty minutes we finally stumbled into our hotel room and collapsed on our our impossibly hard beds. (In the next day's light we saw that we were walking along sheer cliffs!)

Ping An is a cute village stacked in layers up the side of a mountain along the Dragon's Backbone rice terraces.

Early in the morning, we took off on a hike from the rice terrace village of Ping An to the equally beautiful rice terraces of Dazhai. We struggled to find our way using the best map the internet had to offer: a hand-drawn approximation of the surrounding villages. After about an hour, we encountered a giant bulldozer building an inter-village bypass. Just as Liz was about to insist we turn around and find another route, a grandmotherly minority woman popped out from behind the bulldozer and guided us to her village for lunch, which she said was a good midpoint in the hike.

Her house was huge and mostly empty, except for a fabulous entertainment center complete with color TV, satellite dish, and DVD & VCR players. Other parts of the house weren't as advanced, e.g., the kitchen was basically an empty room with a fire pit and wok. She cooked us lunch with her grandson on her lap. She apparently supports a family of 4 with her magnetic personality and novel bargaining technique (Chinese-English translation courtesy Liz):

Seth: That lunch was delicious! So, uh, how much do we, uh, owe you...?

Minority Grandma: How much would lunch be in Ping An? Pay what you think is fair.

Seth: Ok, how's $10?

Minority Grandma: (Shaking head) I don't think so...

Seth: $15?

Minority Grandma: (Shaking head) I'm afraid not...

At this point Liz intervened and bought several of her tchotchkes to smooth things over.

Slideshow: After lunch we walked through the notoriously beautiful 500 year old rice terraces from the Ming Dynasty. (Interesting fun fact: dogs eat rice right off the stalk.)

In Dazhai we took a couple buses back to our hotel in Ping An. We had one of the local specialties: chicken and mushrooms fire-roasted in a fat cylinder of bamboo.

The next day we took buses from Ping An to Yangshuo via Longshen and Guilin. Actually we never got to Longshen. On our way the bus driver stopped and waved down a bus going in the opposite direction. He pointed and said "that's your bus." Apparently the drivers get on the radio and plan your whole itinerary. Cool, eh?

We stayed several nights a short walk up the river from Yangshuo at the Li River Retreat, a hotel run by an Australian expat with a can-do attitude. (We know what you're thinking! Are there any Australian expats without can-do attitudes?) Yangshuo is known for its striking karst mountains, which are the improbably tall and skinny mountains you've seen in ink paintings or the 20RMB note.

Slideshow: Our Yanghuo itinerary: 1. Enjoy the view of some karst outside our hotel, 2. take a cooking class, 3. Go to the light show on the Li River, directed by Zhang Yimou of Olympics opening/closing ceremonies fame, 4. hike from Yangdi to Xingping in the karst mountains, 5. bike from Yangshuo to Liugong, eat lunch at the notoriously good restaurant on the river, 6. hang out with the cormorant fisherman. (Unfamiliar with cormorant fishing? It's simple: tie a string tightly around a cormorant's neck; throw him in the water; grab him when he's swallowed a fish, turn him upside down and shake the fish out.)

Puppy Love

2009-08-24T01:10:00.000-04:00

We are back in the states and slowly winning the war against jet lag. Our adventures in the Middle Kingdom our over but we still have one or two blog posts to release. So stay tuned.

And now for something completely different:

We found this pair during our hike through the karst peaks of Yangshuo. We thought we captured a viral video moment. Unfortunately we were scooped by the Huffington Post's animal adoption videos. What a coincidence!

Goodbye Haibao, it's been weird

2009-08-18T17:13:00.000-04:00

Like most communist countries, China has a central authoritarian figure. This big brother is plastered on billboards and modeled in plastic statues all over the city. We never escaped his gaze, his wild pompadour, and his insane smile. He is the omnipresent Haibao and he's watching you.

Haibao is the mascot of Shanghai's World's Fair. (aka the Expo)

This shot is of the fabulous pavilion constructed for the upcoming Expo. So goes the story, they are also working on fifteen hundred roads, digging new subway lines, and constructing thousands of buildings, all in time for the Expo. Everyone estimates that millions of tourist will flock to this city for this big event. Can anyone tell us what happens at a world's fair nowadays?

In this Slideshow: All Haibao, all the time.

We are currently in Yangshuo. We'll post of few blogposts about our adventures when we get back the states. Look forward to seeing the next viral cat video: this one will blow away the Cat-On-The-Roomba and the Hamster-On-A-Piano videos. We love your comments!

It is all about the Buttons and the Benjamins: Inside the Lujiabang Fabric Market

2009-08-14T10:43:00.000-04:00

Fellow Travelers, Here is our guide to the Lujiabang Fabric Market (Nanpu Bridge subway stop line 8)

Friends and Family, let us know what you think about our fabulous new outfits.

We visited Lujiabang fabric market four times during our two month stay in Shanghai. The market's three floors of small stalls filled with bulk rolls of silk, linen, wool are undeniably tantalizing. The maze is dizzying, but after several visits we got the hang of it.

Here are a few tips....

Get off the first floor asap. The 2nd and 3rd floors are quieter and nicer.

Look for established stalls. We liked several of the the large corner stalls. Ask for a business cards to help you figure out who's the head honcho.

Bring something they can copy! This is not absolutely necessary but it is a huge help. Most stalls are excellent at copying. The clothing we had made from stall samples needed a refitting or two, but everyone nailed copies on their first try.

Don't ask for anything too complicated. We stuck to simple men's dress shirts and jackets, flowing women's skirts with basic waist lines, and classic long coats. Be warned: we saw several examples of suits-gone-bad and their unhappy owners.

Here are specific stall recommendations with pictures of their handy work....

3rd Floor Stall Number 332 This stall made Seth's black linen jacket. It's a gorgeous fit but it took them three tries to get it right. This is a picture of the second try.

YangYongGang 3F No. 389 Corner stall next to the button people. This is an excellent stall. They got everything right on the first try. We bought several linen shirts and linen pants for Seth and a cashmere coat for Liz. (More pictures of their work in the slide show.)

3F No. 301-302 This corner stall has one of the widest selections of silk. They
designed Liz's paneled skirt without a copy and, after one refitting, Liz
was ready to go out on the town.

Ray 3F No. 349 Liz's Green Jacket. This Stall had a few interesting fabrics. They took tons of measurements and tailored a model Liz chose from the store. They didn't need a copy.

2F No. 281 This
stall has beautiful fabrics. They were unable to make a skirt without a
copy, but they did a great job copying the skirt from stall 3F-301. They
even improved the fit.

Lujiabang is filled with specialty stalls including this one which we thought was either intended for five year-olds or hookers but as it turns out they design dance outfits.

It's All About The Buttons. Liz objected to the cheap plastic buttons on Seth's linen shirts and insisted he pay extra for quality buttons from the button shop. The tailor switched them out in a jiffy.

Check out Seth's pink and orange linen shirts. What do you think of the buttons?

In this slide show: Liz bargains, gets fitted, peruses, then tries things on for size.

In this slide show: Stalls, Stalls, Glorious Stalls.

We leave for Guilin in a few hours and we return to Michigan in one week. Check back in a few days for a time release post. Then check back in about a weekfor our final blog posts about our hiking adventure

Counting in Chinese

2009-08-13T17:46:00.000-04:00

Fellow travelers,

Honestly we wished someone taught us this the second we got off the plane. It would have helped so much. The Chinese use hand signals to count from one to ten on one hand. You don't have to worry about tones. You don't have to memorize words. Just get these hand signals down and you can bargain like a pro. 1 through 5 are more or less the same, but a lot of people count three starting from the pinky. Six through ten are totally different.

Six through ten in order

You can get anything you want at the communist restaurant

2009-08-12T18:58:00.000-04:00

A short walk from our place is one of the best (and little-known) restaurants in Shanghai. It sits in a converted villa from the colonial days, surrounded by a heavy-on-the-feng-shui garden and lake, behind a tall iron fence guarded by a large staff of official looking fellows in blue uniforms who look more prepared to turn you away than welcome you to the best restaurant in Shanghai. (Okay, we really havn't been to that many shmancy restaurants so we're short on data points.) When you enter the villa's grounds there's a long walkway leading to the restaurant's entrance, flanked by polite signs telling you to stay away from the gardens. We have heard that this is a preferred hangout for old communist party officials and that you have to be well connected to gain access to the gardens. We would have loved to walk around the whole restaurant but we tourists are confined to a gorgeous little ghetto on the ground floor. There is a full time staff of people to shuttle you to the bathroom and back and to discourage too much exploring.

Photos: Here are two exterior shots of the restaurant/villa, located on Huashan Rd, near the intersection with Fuxing West.

Slideshow: Here are some more exterior shots and some food shots. Seth attempting to enjoy pig's feet (they taste great, but are nothing but bone); ribs;
some non-xiaolongbao soup dumplings; bok choi with fishlips; crab soup served over winter melon. Delicious. By the way, we highly recommend this place for dim sum.

Bonus video:
See the professionals making Xiaolongbao, to the tune of Billy Joel.

Xiaolongbao in Shanghai - watch more funny videos

Stay tuned for a photo essay on the Lujiabang fabric market, with shots of our new outfits.

The Hunt for the Great Tang Bao

2009-08-10T16:18:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, inspired by Anthony Bourdain and other food adventurists, we took off in search of Shanghai's best Xiaolongbao and Tang Bao.

Xiaolongbao (xiao long bao), are a true Shanghai specialty. They are bite sized dumplings filled with soup and housing a small ball of pork. Quality dumplings are served boiling hot. Pop them in your mouth at your own peril. The little balls will explode in a giant burst of hot oily soup. Eat safely by dipping in vinegar, setting on a spoon, biting a hole in the side, and sucking the soup right out. Seth daringly sets his Xiaolongbao in his vinegar dish for a few moments then tosses them into his mouth. He prefers to absorb the flavors all together.

Xiaolongbao are fairly easy to find and we've been enjoying them since our arrival in Shanghai. Long before we arrived, however, we heard about its cousin, the mighty Tang Bao: a massive dumpling filled with hot soup and served with a straw. We were truly surprised to find that the Tang Bao is the Loch Ness Monster of Chinese dishes. Only a handful of people claimed to have tasted a Tang Bao though none could remember exactly where, and most knowledgeable people only heard rumors of their existence. After it became clear that Tang Bao really wasn't all that well known we did a bunch of man-on-the-street interviews and found that most people had no idea what we were talking about. A typical conversation (in Chinese) went like this:

Liz: Where can we get Tang Bao?

Man-on-Street: You can get Xiaolongbao at...

Liz: No, not Xiaolongbao, Tang Bao

M-o-S: You mean Xiaolongbao?

Liz: No, a BIG dumpling with SOUP in it. (by the way, 'Xiao' means little.)

M-o-S: Oh, Xiaolongbao!

Liz: (gesturing with hands around a large imaginary dumpling) Big! Not little! Big!

M-o-S: (shaking head) I have no idea what you're talking about.

Our Review

Here's our first attempt as food critics. We hope you enjoy our guide to soup dumplings. Let us know which dumplings look the most mouth watering. Leave a recommendation if you know of other great dumpling joints.

Jia Jia Tang Bao (Go early. They sell out by 1:00)

90 Huanghe Lu by Feng Yang Lu (around the corner from the Park Hotel)

This place specializes in serving Xiaolongbao hot and fresh. They prepare them after you order, right before your eyes. The dough is perfect, thin and translucent, not gummy and not too tough. The bags are perfectly shaped teardrops, each one pinched lightly at the top. In addition to pork, this place also serves crab and shrimp dumplings. We tried a crab-pork mix and found that while delicious the crab absorbed the soup and left the dumpling a little hollow.

In this slide show: Seth waiting for his dumplings. A very fancy English menu. Crab dumplings. (We ate our steaming hot pork Xiaolongbao so quickly, we didn't get a chance to snap a photo.) Seth wants more dumpings!

Shanghai Ren Jia

Jing'an Temple Area 1600 Nanjing Lu near Changde Lu

Shanghai Ren Jia is located on the fourth floor of an office building, which is problematic because buildings do not have fourth floors. Four is the thirteen of China. Buildings usual skip all floors ending in four and phone numbers ending in four are cheaper, and often sold to foreigners. The restaurant got around the four issue by giving their floor a name rather than a number. See the slideshow.

Shanghai Ren Jia was one of two places we found serving Tang Bao. Our giant Tang Bao were filled with warm soup swimming with bits of pork. The dumpling dough was tough and thick. Like a bread bowl, it seemed the dough functioned just as housing for the soup and was not worth eating. We had a great time drinking them through straws but they are definitely not as delicious as Xiaolongbao.
They reminded us of fair food, novel, but impossible to eat regularly. Asking for Tang Bao in Shanghai is akin to asking where to buy funnel cake or elephant ears in the US. We've all eaten them but who knows where to find one?

In this slide show: We don't need no stinking fourth floor. Finally, a Giant Soup Dumpling! The restaurant's urinal deserves a 6-star Michelin rating!

Din Tai Fung
2F unit 11A South block Xintiandi

These were the best Xiaolongbao we tasted. However, they are ten times the price of Jia Jia Tang Bao's and only marginally better. The soup is rich and delicious. The bags are translucent and pinched perfectly at the top. The bags are so delicate, you must pick them up carefully. A false move and you'll pierce them with a chopstick, popping the bag and causing the hot soup to explode. This would be a fun place to bring a bunch of people and sample all the dumplings on the menu.

In this slide show: pictures from Din Tai Fung.

Yu Yuan

At this famous tourist destination, you can find both Tang Bao and Xiaolongbao. Many stalls sell Tang Bao, which were not served fresh. We found the dough dry and waxy and the soup oily and lukewarm. Shanghai Ren Jia's were much better.

The Xiaolongbao stall across from the giant water fountain is the most famous in Shanghai. You can't miss it. Look for the hour long line, crammed with Chinese tourists. Local Shanghainese are not impressed with this place and, after taking one nibble, we learned why. They're awful: thick, gooey, and bland. On the other hand, it's a real treat watching their operation in action!

In this slide show:
pictures from Yu Yuan Gardens.

Wang Jia Sha
Corner of NanjingXi Lu and Shimen Lu

Wag Jia Sha is a food court with mediocre dumplings. It is worth a stop if you're nearby but not worth a detour. The soup was tasty but a bit oily and the dumpling skin too robust.

In this slide show:
pictures of some mediocre dumplings.

[Insert Your Local Dumpling Joint Here]

Xiaolongbao joints are scattered all around Shanghai. These stands are not known for quality control. In any given order you will find fantastic Xiaolongbao on par with Jia Jia Tang Bao side by side with so-so dumplings.

In this slide show:
Some shots from our neighborhood joint at Gongyuan Rd. and Tianping Rd.

Dante's Nine Circles of Spa

2009-08-07T18:36:00.000-04:00

After two days of hiking Mt. Huangshan's unforgiving granite path, our feet needed a good soak. We found a hot springs spa nestled in the misty mountains, next to a Best Western. We were the first ones at the spa at 9am, and had to wait a bit to use all the pools, which the staff were filling with steaming hot spring water. There were about 15 pools, none of which were filled with pure unadulterated spring water. For some medicinal reason that was lost in translation, one of the pools was filled with cheap vodka heated to 40C by the spring water. Others were filled with green tea and flowers, and one with red wine (which smelled like rice wine with food coloring). Our favorites were side-by-side pools, one with milk and the other coffee grounds. We're not talking about Starbucks, or Peet's, or Zingerman's, or even Green Mountain Coffee. This was a tiny pool filled with 15 canisters of Nescafe! We could pop from one pool to the next very easily, but after the coffee pool it was necessary to rinse the grinds away.

One of the VIP pools (30RMB extra) contained a few thousand "kissing fish" which feed on flakes of dead skin. You pay for the privilege of being eaten by hundreds of tiny fish, jockeying for position around your cuticles and heels and toes. One must be diligent about keeping them out of your swimsuit. The feeling is ticklish, not painful.

We lifted this stock photo from the internet. Our spa was much fancier.

Bonus video: on the top of the mountain we both had brutal foot massages. The boys often preferred to beat rather than rub our feet.

Huang Shan Feet - watch more funny videos

On the last day we took a taxi to the notoriously cute village of Hongcun, which has an 80RMB entrance fee. Inside you can see authentic village houses and authentic village people trying to go about their lives, ignoring the hoards of tourists. Our taxi driver waited in the parking lot while we toured the village. (We strongly recommend hiring a driver for the day.)

Before our late flight back to Shanghai we hung out in Tunxi (15 minutes from the airport). Tunxi has a beautiful old shopping street, which is a great place to go if you have hundreds/thousands of dollars to spend on Chinese antiques.

The Ministry of Public Toilet Ratings

2009-08-06T19:04:00.000-04:00

This post is the second installment of our Funny Signs in China series.
Some of the signs aren't all that funny, actually, but we try not to have such high standards.

No public health campaign is really complete without cartoons scaring the kids. This educational cartoon about H1N1 plays on a continuous loop in the airport. ("It comes from America" is one of the fun facts, which we generously interpreted as meaning "The continents of N. and S. America".)

Five miles into our hike up Mt. Huangshan we came upon public toilets that received three stars from the APTA (Anhui Provincial Tourism Administration).
Unfortunately the sign didn't give any details about how these stars are acquired. How many can a toilet get? Is there grade inflation? Are the ratings distorted by bribes? In my imagination I can see the conversation at APTA headquarters...

APTA Deputy: Sir, the study we commissioned found that tourists in Anhui are terribly disappointed in the province's toilet quality.

APTA Chief: How do you propose that we deal with this situation?

APTA Deputy: What about a province-wide mandate, sir? With fines for violators!

APTA Chief: Yes, but we must use both sticks and carrots.

APTA Deputy: What do you mean?

APTA Chief: Let me tell you about the Michelin Guide's stars...

At the top of the mountain next to our shi-shi hotel we found one of the rare four star toilets, which gave us enough data points to extrapolate the system:

1 star: No feces on floors or walls. A door on each stall.

2 stars: Running water

3 stars: No smell of urine. Toilet paper dispensers and soap dispensers (no toilet paper or soap).

4 stars: Full-time bathroom attendant. Evidence that there was, at some time, soap in the soap dispenser.

5 stars: Soap.

This sign should be installed in front of all urinals!

Smoking is strictly forbidden! ...on this side of the line.

In China we have found there is a deliberate ambiguity between massage parlors and "massage parlors."

Here are some mildly amusing signs

BONUS PICTURES:

In our hike through the tea plantations outside Hangzhou we discovered a centuries-old Buddhist cave that was just dark enough to do some extended exposure photography. (Be sure to look at these in full screen mode. The button is in the bottom right corner of the slideshow.)

Red Rum Anyone?

2009-08-04T17:48:00.000-04:00

For your enjoyment, here are three slide shows from our night on Mt. Huang Shan. The Beihai Guesthouse was built during the early days of Mao and felt eerily like the remote hotel from Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining. It even included a Shining-esque group photo featuring a Chinese Jack Nicholson. To our surprise, we stayed in a cabin tucked away behind the basketball courts, not in the hotel proper. (Remember when you view the photos that there are no roads on the mountain. Everything you see was carried in.)

In this Album: Our accommodation at the Beihai hotel. Who can spot the Chinese Jack Nicholson? Our cozy cabin in the woods which would have been peaceful if our neighbors hadn't stayed up late playing the rowdiest game of mahjong this side of the Yangtze. From our front stoop we could see a hotel under construction in the distance.

In this Album: Stone Work: carved lion and steps with granite railings chiseled to look like wood. (Who has the patience to chisel granite?) The hotel's tent option. We suspect that they do not advertise the tents as "conveniently located on the cement basketball court". Misty mountain b-ball. Padlocks bought in tourists shops and attached to chains all over the mountain. We don't know why. Our post-hike dinner.

In this Slide Show: Seth at 5:30am trying to enjoy the sunrise. Just waiting for the inconsiderate American tourists to stop Bogarting our view. Misty mountain beauty.

A Stairway to Huangshan

2009-08-03T18:49:00.000-04:00

This weekend we flew to the yellow mountains to discover why people say that once you climb Mt. Huangshan, you never want to climb another mountain again.
It turns out that Mt. Huangshan is the single largest stairmaster in the world, if not the universe. From the moment you pay your 230RMB entrance fee to the moment you check into your 4 star mountain top hotel, there is neither the necessity nor the opportunity to leave the steep granite stairway that stretches 10 miles from bottom to top.

The views from the mountain are truly striking and changing all the time as the mist flows through the slender peaks. We kept the trigger on our camera cocked at all times because the perfect photo could be completely swallowed by mist within seconds. We expected to trade the noise of Shanghai for some peaceful time in nature. Unexpectedly, the mountain stairway was packed so full of people we had to sharpen our elbows to push past the crowds like we were forcing our way out of a Shanghai subway car.

We prepared for the hike by packing a full day's worth of provisions, which turned out to be totally unnecessary, because, at predictable 15 minute intervals we would come upon well stocked stands selling water, beer, hot noodles, frozen popsicles and all the tchotchkes you desire. (It's important to note here that everything, including the full-size freezers are hiked up the steep granite stairway. There are no roads whatsoever.) Whoever designed the mountain path had no illusions about respect for nature in China because they stationed stone trashcans every 30 or 40 feet. Even so, many of the hikers could not wait that long to toss their bottles and used cigarette packs. (Smoking on a mountain hike? Yes! And there's even engraved "Smoke Here" signs on the walkways.)

The mountain is shockingly developed. We were surprised that all the food stations are equipped with TVs, radios, and refrigerators, but even more surprised that the highest peaks of the mountain support several hotels and local offices for the police, bank of china, china post, and china telecom. (Again, remember there are no roads or helipads.) How do these establishments get supplies, you may ask? Well, one could conceivably use the cablecars at night to shuttle supplies to the hotels but from what we can tell, everything that goes in or out is carried by a steady stream of laborers with bamboo yokes. Among other things, we saw them carry food and vegetables, used laundry (going down), fresh laundry (going up), bags of cement, steel rebar, floor tiles, tanks of fuel, and crates of water.

More news from the mountain top in our next blog posts. Do you know the difference between a 3-star and 4-star rated public toilet? Answer coming soon!

A day at the salons

2009-07-29T18:02:00.000-04:00

It's inexpensive to treat yourself right in China. Last Sunday we took a trip to the hair salon and foot massage parlor, which absorbed pretty much our whole afternoon. At the hair salon you begin with a frothy in-chair shampoo and head massage which lasts about 15 minutes but seems much longer. The bubbly shampoo froth continues to pile higher and higher and just when the mountain of suds are about to topple over, they walk you over to the sink for a hose down. Then comes the 20 minute head, shoulder, arm, and lower back massage, which sounds nice, but is actually very painful.

Like tag team wrestling pros, the massage and shampoo duo trade places with a hair cutting duo. The hair cutting duo consists of a stylist and their personal sergeon assitant who hands the stylist various hair cutting implements such as serated and straight scissors, blow dryers, and electric shavers.

Some of you know that Liz has been working on growing her hair out for almost a year now. She took a major setback last Sunday, when despite repeating the words 'just a little' 'Yi dian dian', the hair dresser clipped off most of her locks then used a hair dryer to poof up what remained into a style fit for the 60's.

After the hair salon, we made our way over to the foot massage parlor. Unlike tranquil upscale joints in the US, foot massages here are a blue collar affair. An old TV played period piece dramas on CCTV while the masseurs worked on our feet and gossiped away. (We won't talk about how bad CCTV is. Use your imagination.)

We think the masseurs were shocked and saddend by the sorry state of our American feet. Foot maintence is a huge priorty here. We have four foot massage parlors on our block alone and every joe shmoe here ducks in for their weekly foot massage fix.

Our masseurs decided that soaking and massaging were not enough for our feet. So they brought in the big guns and took a straight edge razor to our toes and heels. We closed our eyes and tried not to move as they deftly scraped away excess toe nails, dry skin, and bits of old lint. We walked out without a scratch, our feet as soft as a baby's belly.

Tomorrow we head off to Huang Shan. Legend has it, once you climb this peak you'll never want to climb another mountain in your life. Expect some great pictures of our journey.

The Binkley Files, Part I

2009-07-25T16:39:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Steve and Arleen for guest blogging last week! They claimed to have had a good time here and we have no reason to doubt them.

When our cousin Andrew Binkley the Photographer found out we were going to Shanghai he gave us a small errand. He was in Shanghai at one point making photography and left some of his work at the Yuandian Art Gallery. Recently he asked them what happened to his work but they didn't respond to his calls or emails, which left open several possibilities. Among others: they could have gone out of business, they could have sold his photography and mistakenly given the proceeds to another artist, or the art may be unsold on a shelf in a back room somewhere. It was our job to investigate!

The address Andrew gave us led to a car wash and a half demolished building. After lots of questioning and pointing and wandering we found an agglomeration of small galleries sitting in an old factory. (It apparently produced something very large and heavy and round. All the stairwells were equipped with huge concrete waterslides. See the slideshow.) Liz was chatting up all the security guards and gallery people trying to find Andrew's gallery. When we finally got there, a sign on the door said it was closed for a week! Liz called up the owner's cell phone and had a lovely conversation in Chinese, which I'll try to recreate in English:

Liz: We're at Yuandian Gallery and it's closed!

Yuandian: ...

Liz: We want to see Andrew Binkley!

Yuandian: ...

Liz: Yes, the photographer!

Yuandian: ...

Liz: He's my older brother!

Yuandian: ...

Liz: We'll come back next week to see his photos!

Yuandian: ...

That part about the older brother needs some explanation. Liz's family relation vocabulary is limited to "mom", "dad", and "older brother". She thought the latter was most plausible. (Chinese word of the day: ge ge means older brother. Interestingly, younger brother is a completely different word.)

After that little conversation we strolled around some other galleries. We especially liked the Mao-Nixon painting and the R-rated riff on da Vinci's Last Supper.

Here's the slideshow, with pictures of the old factory-turned-gallery, the gutted buidings and carwash, Liz in conversation, and various pieces we liked. Be sure to view it in full screen mode. The button is in the bottom right corner.

Shanghai By By!

2009-07-24T06:35:00.000-04:00

Final Guest Post By Arleen and Steve........

Man, time flies... Getting on a plane in a few hours. Want to give a shout out to Arlene for the great comments. If not for her, this would seem like a one-way communication. You FOA's that are lurking are urged to pound on your keyboards.

This visit has been a blast. Been using taxis and striking out on our own, getting where we wanted to go and getting back. Shanghai jumps everywhere. 24-7 crowds, traffic and construction. Never been anyplace like this. Took in the yuyan street market on Wed. and wound up spending the whole afternoon there. An endless conglomeration of stalls, stores booths, food vendors and people including an exotic ancient garden residence, tea houses and restaurants. At one vendor of dumplings there was an endless line... supposedly the best dumplings in Shanghai. Oh yea, there are also a smattering of Starbucks, KFC's and they are building a DQ. Even saw a Staples truck delivering office supplies. Crazy!!!

Thurs. caught us taking a tour of the Jewish history of Shanghai... yes, Shanghai had a Jewish History. Met up with a few other tourists and our guide at the Peace Hotel and found the tour was one of the most enriching experiences of our trip.

Last night we all had a farewell dinner at the "Duck" restaurant. Now, we have to go... Thanks Seth & Liz... without you, we would never had this incredible experience.
Elana and Shoshanna, we hope you liked our pictures.

In this Slide Show: Picture of Yu Yuan Market , followed by picture of row houses in what used to be a Jewish neighorhood in Bund area of Shanghai, the offices of the JDC (like Jewish Family Svcs), a public park in the former Jewish neighborhood, After 1941, under Japanese occupation, stateless refugees were confined to a ghetto and the last two photos were taken in the ghetto. We actually visited one of the ghetto apartmens, a story for another time.

The Killing of a Chinese Fruit Fly

2009-07-22T15:38:00.000-04:00

After we came back from Hangzhou we had a small fruit fly infestation. They were breeding in the drains and though they didn't harm us in any tangible way, they made the women of the household very upset, which caused the men to be upset. Liz and Arleen hatched a silly plan to use detergent and incense and whatnot. Seth demanded that he finally be allowed to get a rechargeable 2.3 kilovolt electric tennis racquet bug zapper. Here is a video of the zapper in action.

Death of a Chinese Fruit Fly - watch more funny videos

A Total Eclipse of the Eclipse

Did we mention that Shanghai has a stone gray perma-smog hanging over it? During what was billed as the single coolest eclipse for at least 500 years, we were unable to see the sun or moon. However, at 9:30am we did see the sky go completely dark inside of 10 minutes and for another 5 minutes it seemed as if it were midnight. The most shocking part wasn't the darkness but the sudden temperature drop. We were out on our balcony taking pictures and noticed that the summer breeze started to feel a lot like air conditioning. We can't wait to write a followup blog post in 2509 A.D. By then China will definitely have dealt with the smog situation here.

Eclipse in Chinese is Ri Shi ('Ri' as in 'rip' and 'shi' as in 'ship')

Shanghai Total Eclipse of the Eclipse - watch more funny videos

Dig To China

2009-07-21T13:43:00.000-04:00

Another guest post by Arleen and Steve.

The entire country of China is in a single time zone, Bejing time. This time of year, dawn breaks in Shanghai at about 4:30 AM and it is night time by about 6:30 PM. We go to bed early, awaken early and get sleepy at noon. Our body clocks are still adjusting.

Yesterday, Liz took us to a food court in one of the large malls for lunch. We have never seen such a large food court and probably won't ever see one like this again. The progression of booths were, Asian, Asian, Asian, KFC, Asian, Asian, Burger King, Asian etc. Later that PM we took in an acrobat show. We debated the age of one of the male performers, he looked about 12. He could stand up from a split by sliding his feet together, as if he was being pulled up by a string in the rafters.

Today, we had a half day tour of Shanghai scheduled. We visited a very old part of the city which included a vast outdoor market and a very wonderful garden known as Shanghai Yuyan Garden, which dates back 400 years. We also partook of a traditional Tea Ceremony. After sampling 6 types of teas, we were given a list of which teas cure certain ailments. There were teas for high blood pressure, pimples, gas, weight loss, & more.

Arleen's turn to blog.

As a child spending summers at NY beaches we were told that if you dug deep enough in the sand, you would dig to China. 50 years later, I finally got here. Shanghai is a strange city, hot, noisy, with strange smells & crazy drivers.

A few things that I find peculiar: all the purse hooks in the ladies bathrooms are very high (but the ladies are short), the beds are so hard that I thought that they were just box springs, some restaurants charge for paper napkins.

Elana, Nana is having fun learning to eat with chopsticks, but sometimes if I am very hungry, I just use a spoon.

In this slide show: Yu Yuan Gardens, Tea House, Bear of Pearls, The Ball Castle

The Weekend in Hang Zhou & Arleen Masters Chopsticks

2009-07-20T13:22:00.000-04:00

We stayed at the Ramada Hua Hai in Hang Zhou, a really first class western style hotel. Breakfast, which was included, turned out to be quite a treat. Magnificent would be an understatement. A large room full of stations that included American, European and Asian foods and delicacies. More like one of those weekend brunches at high end restaurants. [ELANA, we ate eggs, toast, juices, coffee, waffles, Chinese dumplings, fruit, but had no rice for breakfast.] We then began our exploration of the Westlake area, which contains many of Hang Zhou's attractions. Though the weather was very hot and humid, we persevered and saw many interesting sites and even took a boat ride. Saturday evening, we attended a show entitled "Impression Westlake" and we really enjoyed it. A cast of 600 with lights and water effects acted out an ancient Chinese Fable.

On Sunday, we took a cab up to a tea plantation, which we believe was the driver's home and he then made and poured us tea. We drank it and then purchased some. Seth and Liz stayed behind to hike the hills and Arleen and I returned to the lake to continue our walk there. It was so hot we had to shower a number of times (fortunately were able to keep our room till 2:00PM) and went through all of the clothes we brought. Caught the train back to Shanghai at 6 PM (modern and fast transportation) and, of course, capped the evening with a Chinese dinner at a nearby restaurant.

The pictures and video that follow will best describe our weekend.

(Guest post from Dad Steve. We only have limited access to our blog. We can post but we can not view or comment on our posts. We can't post a reply, but we still love your comments. )

In this slideshow: On and Around West Lake, Impressions on West Lake Water Show, Museum Shots

Pictures for Elana and Shoshanna

Chopsticks

Chopsticks - watch more funny videos

A Litte Chinese Goes a Long Way!

2009-07-20T03:33:00.000-04:00

Guess we thought we would feel like strangers in a strange land here in China and, while we certainly are different both physically and culturally, it does not feel strange. Liz has completed just about three weeks of Chinese and has developed some limited communication skills. This has been more than helpful in improving our comfort level. Some videos of her conversations will follow in this posting.

It is now about 6AM on Monday July 20 and the sun has been up for a few hours. Since the entire country of China is on one timezone (Beijing Time), summer days in Shanghai start and end early. It's dark at about 6:30 PM in this part of China. Anyway, let's continue our trip to Hang Zhou. I think we left you after our first meal there.

Tired from the trip, our appetites sated, we returned to our hotel. We stayed at the Ramada Hua Hui, which is located about 2 city blocks from the lake and is a first class western style hotel. Cost was typical of what the average motel would be in the USA. Next AM, we met for breakfast (included with room) and were blown away with the buffet. Food stations including an unimaginable selection of foods, American, European and Chinese breakfast dishes. We then headed out to our adventures. The whether was exceedingly hot; but we persevered an visited many different sites. The following videos and slides will cover our adventure.

A Trip to Hang Zhou After Arriving in Shanghai

2009-07-19T17:32:00.000-04:00

Talk about tired... sore feet, sweaty and very, happy. After arising at dark-30 on Wednesday July 15th, we had an uneventful trip to Shanghai via LA, arriving about 24 clock hours after leaving, but also losing a full day as we passed over the international date line put us at Liz and Seth's apartment at about 8:30 PM on Thursday, July 15. Of course, we ran right out to have our first meal in Shanghai and that kind of sets the tone for this blog. Woke up the next day (Friday), met Seth and Liz at a localo park after their morning run and then walked back with them, grabbing breakfast on the fly from some street vendors. Had lunch and later in the pm, we jumped on the train to Hang 'Zhou which is a smaller city than Shanghai (only 5 million) and is a very interesting place with a large lake and numerous hills. Upon arriving at the hotel there, we checked in and, of course, had to run right out to dinner. OK, this was our fourth meal here, so it is time to comment about chinese food in China.

Here goes... There is plenty of food for Arleen to eat. She has been sticking mostly to vegetables; however, has become a little more adventurous as time passes. Oh yea, she is beginning to master the art of eating with chopsticks (WOW!!!). The most amazing thing is how inexpensive the food is here. Our first dinner in Hang Zhou consisted of about 6 different items, 6 glasses of beer & tea for everyone, all family style, and cost us the equivalent of $14.00 for all of us. This took place in a very nice restaurant.

Since it is rather late here, that's it for now... Don't want to bore y'all and we still have to work on the pictures. More to come tomorrow.

Guest Bloggers, Arleen & DadSteve

Blogpost for Elana: Our Biggest Fan

2009-07-16T13:30:00.000-04:00

To our niece's chagrin, we have not posted a blog in the past few days. We hope these pictures of a Mickey D's delivery man appease our favorite critic.

This video is a compilation of quiet intersections in Shanghai.
In just a few hours my parents will show up at our door. After watching this video you'll understand why we are worried about two New Yorkers, with their aggressive walking style, crossing these streets.

On the Road - watch more funny videos

The Way of the Empty Bamboo

2009-07-12T18:06:00.000-04:00

We've discovered that the best way to practice Chinese it to hang out with old retirees in the park. They're there every morning and evening and love to talk. They don't have any particular place to be.

In the park they do all sorts of activities, including playing with a device that resembles a diabolo (a large yo-yo controlled with two sticks and a string) and an old fashioned top. It's called Congza or "Empty Bamboo". Through a translator Seth started talking to "George Hu", one of the Embpty Bamboo players, who said they have a big Empty Bamboo festival at the SJTU Campus Track every Sunday morning at 6am, and that Seth could buy one there. Sunday comes around and the place is swarming with Empty Bamboo twirlers, none under the age of 62. One of the retirees has a few for sale and he tried to give Seth the tourist price but George Hu and Co. stepped in on his behalf and renegotiated the deal. When Liz saw how much Chinese they wanted to speak with Seth, she bought her own, purely as a tool for language acquisition.

Here are a few clips of the empty bamboo. In the first you'll see how it should be done, in the second you'll see Seth getting a lesson from George Hu and the gang, and in the third you'll see that he has learned one trick.

Congza 'Empty Bamboo' - watch more funny videos

We love to see all your comments! It makes us so happy to stay in contact.

Fresh Fish

2009-07-11T19:32:00.000-04:00

We booked tickets and hotel rooms for three trips: Hangzhou water town, Huangshan Mountain featured in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Guilin where we'll travel down the rivers and hike through the rice paddies to explore minority villages. With future adventures planned, we are spending this weekend exploring Shanghai. Today we bought a live fish from an outdoor market. The scaled and gutted fish played it cool for a few minutes until we were out of the market and then tried to flop its way to freedom. Liz dropped the bag on the sidewalk, shrieked, and started looking around for Alan Funt and the candid camera crew.

Here is the fish.

If you are a PETA sympathizer you may wish to skip this video.

Fish and Dish - watch more funny videos

...and here is what became of him. Fried in oil and coated with a thick green onion and peanut sauce, with some bok choy and mushrooms on the side.

Here are a bunch of snapshots from around town.

Accidental Soup

2009-07-09T19:08:00.000-04:00

We've been on the look out for two culinary delights. We've searched high and low for the Big Soup Dumpling 'Tang Bao', a large dumpling filled with hot soup, served with a straw for slurping. We've also searched high and low for Beijing Duck 'Cao Ya', crispy, roast duck.

Tonight, we hit the roast duck jack pot. We found Quanjude (786 Huai Hai Zhong Road), a restraunt that specializes in roast duck.

After some deliberation over whether we should order duck liver, duck gizzards, or duck heart, we choose none of the above and simply ordered some beer, veggies, and one roast duck. About half an hour later, a properly clad chef wheeled in a cart with a caramelized red roast duck. He sliced and diced while our waitress delivered the duck to us in pieces. First she brought a plate of sweet juicy duck skin. Then she brought a plate of rich tender dark meat. Next she brought a plate of thinly sliced white meat. Then she brought a plastic bag filled with a jumble of duck bones.

'Why is did she bring us the garbage?', I wondered. Then I realized that she brought us a doggie bag of bones so we could take them home to make soup. The revelation hit me with a bang and I shouted 'Soup!' in Chinese pointing my finger in the air with pride. In a flash the waitress rushed off to bring us a giant bowl of duck soup broth.

The Accidental Soup

Delicious Flower Tea

Hot Fresh Crispy Pancakes.

The Roast Duck

In this slideshow:Delicious Street Cake, Liz in Heaven, Umbrella Repair Man, and a Common but Hard to Capture Sight.

What part of 'No Frippery' don't you understand?

2009-07-08T17:52:00.000-04:00

This post is the 1st installment of our Funny Signs in China series.

Indeed, we didn't see one frip in the whole place. It turns out frippery actually is an English word.

"LOOKOUT, KNOCK HEAD" in that order.

Ok, the story goes like this: at some point in time someone took someone else's inkslab from this room. And at some later point they returned the very same inkslab.

Beware the angry Chinese fire hose.

Welcome to the Buddhism Store!

We especially like the capitalization here: My Official Hat.

One China, one time zone, one toilet fits all.

This is a surprisingly common sign.

I LOVE THIS SIGN!!!! DON'T BEAT AROUND THE BUSH!

At the end of a long day we went to the oldest restaurant in Suzhou (old enough, supposedly, to have served some emperor or another in some dynasty) and they sat us on the dais ordinarily reserved for weddings and bar mitzvahs.

OK, for you math & LaTeX people out there, the price of movie tickets here are irrational numbers! (And to get VIP tickets you need to solve for tau.)

Here's some closeups of the worms from the Suzhou Silk Museum

Crème de la 1.3 billion

2009-07-07T16:44:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, our summer in Shanghai is financed by the Univ. of Michigan—Shanghai Jiao Tong Joint Institute and, in return, I have agreed to teach the youngsters here an Introduction to Algorithms. The Joint Institute is an exclusive degree-granting institution that recruits the best, brightest, and richest students at Jiao Tong but uses the University of Michigan curriculum, often taught by Michigan professors during the Summer semesters. (Exclusive? Yes, the tuition here is 5 times that of the regular university.)

Before I started teaching I heard a few things from several sources about the Chinese students here:(1) they do a lot of cheating—on homeworks, exams, you name it, (2) they are more prepared and work harder than the Univ. of Michigan students studying here, and (3) they absolutely refuse to speak during class. I don't know much about (1) yet but my guess is that the stories of widespread cheating are grossly exaggerated. As for (2), the Chinese students have a bit more math under their belt but they're not a bunch of whizes. Here's how I know. In the first lecture I give a little quiz to see what they know about probability, which comes in very handy in an algorithms course. Nearly every Chinese student had taken a probability course but got the following question wrong:

A couple has two children. One of them is a boy. What's the probability that the other one is a boy?

(Anyone want to take a stab? Post a comment.) As for (3), the students here absolutely refuse to speak in class, and it's not for lack of questions. In the middle of my 90 minute lecture I take a 10 minute break and am immediately swarmed by 10-15 students with lists of questions. The same thing happens after class. I've tried calling on students during class who are looking confused and they react by silently and vigorously shaking their head. It's apparently not cool to talk in class.

Our aptartment is a couple blocks from the downtown Jiao Tong campus but I teach on the massive Minhang campus in the suburbs. (Minhang is now famous for that recent building collapse.) Given how densely populated Shanghai and its surroundings are, it is truly amazing how large and green the campus is. It's not clear in the snapshots below, but the campus is crisscrossed by romantic canals shaded with weeping willows.

Be sure to view them in full screen mode. The button's in the bottom right corner.

Dancing in the Streets

2009-07-06T18:10:00.000-04:00

To start your Monday, here are some pictures and videos of our trip to the Grand Canal Water Town, Suzhou. We left Shanghai at six in the morning and returned an hour before midnight. We packed in as many tourist attractions as possible. We visited the Couples Garden, the Garden of the Master Nets (Wangshi Yuan), the Lion Grove Garden (Sizi Lin) ,the Twin Pagodas, the Temple Beisi Ta, and Suzhou's Silk Museum.

The Lion Grove Garden was our favorite. We enjoyed trying to figure out why the original garden curator thought the rocks looked like lions. We also had a great time relaxing in the garden's tea house, where we ate tough, dry corn on the cob and salty hard boiled brown eggs.

In this slide show: Water town canal, Twin Pagodas, inside Beisi Ta, Buddha outside Beisi Ta , garden pagodas, rocks that look like lions (what do you think?), beautiful garden lattice work

Everything in this video is actually in the Silk Museum

Suzhou Silk Museum
Seth particularly liked the lovely high-heeled silk shoes for women with bound feet. Adding insult to injury?

If you ever wanted to live in a musical, you need to visit China.
Dancing in the streets - watch more funny videos

Tuck Tuck Terror

2009-07-05T18:28:00.000-04:00

We traveled to Suzhou this weekend, a water town 40 minutes by train from Shanghai. We imagined a tranquil venician town. Instead we found a city almost as crowded as Shanghai. Traveling by tuck tuck, we packed in nearly a dozen tourist destinations in one day. Here's an intense video starring our chauffeurs.

Enjoy! There is more to come. Get your browsers ready, we will blog every day this week.

This video is best in full screen. Click on the button on the lower right hand corner of the video.

Tuk-tukking around Suzhou - watch more funny videos

Accidental Feast

2009-07-02T20:08:00.000-04:00

Tonight we popped out to Tang Yun tea house just one subway stop from our apartment. (At the Hengshen Lu stop on Line 1.) Liz tried out her ordering skills again and unadvisedly answered "OK" to several unintelligible questions posed by the waitress. She thought she ordered 3 small dishes and some tea -- we got a feast covering Peking Pork, bok choy, soups, rice, custards, peanuts, pears, apples, watermellons, bananas, tomatoes, some very interesting aged eggs, grapes, nuts in shells, gooey dried fruit, and two pots of Pu'er tea. (Luckily most of these dishes were on the house.)

Here's Liz in front of the unexpected spread:

You think you like eggs? These eggs are OLD! The whites turned into a rubbery gelatin and the yolks became a moldy green goo a la blue cheese.

We loved them but we can take only so much moldy yolk.

Ok, you know you're poor in Shanghai when the Buddhist monk to your left has a better cell phone than you.

The menu of the foot massage parlor next to our apartment building on Fahuazhen Lu. The "foot pinch" lasts one hour and costs about 8 bucks US.

Here's a blog dessert video for you all who slogged through those pictures of moldy eggs. This is from the arcade in Metro City in Xujiahui.

Dance Dance Shanghai Revolution - watch more funny videos

Boiling, Sugary, Soup Please

2009-07-01T19:01:00.000-04:00

I started Chinese classes three days ago. Now, I get why no one understood me when I was trying to use the transliterations printed in my guide book. Not only did my tones stink, I was pronouncing the base words all wrong.

Turns out that even in transliteration, letters do not correspond completely. For instance, the word 'fuxing' as in fuxing park, featured in the video below, is pronounced 'fooshing' and the word 'ren' as in people, is pronounced 'jren'.

Seth and I were sure we were saying 'tang', the word for soup, correctly. Turns out that, depending on the tone, 'tang' can mean to lie down, sugar, soup, or boiling. Yikes!

Today, I used my newly acquired Chinese to order pork dumplings, 'ji rou'. Hilariously pronounced 'jew ro'. At dinner, I took many of my new words out for a spin. I asked if they had roast duck, chinese cabbage, sweet and sour soup, rice, or, chicken, beef, or veggie dumplings. We only ordered a subset of these dishes. The waitress was getting a kick out of my tongue twisting attempt at proper pronunciation, so I decided to try my luck with my fancy new word 'xiguazhi', 'watermelon juice'. Turns out we were in luck, and the waitress brought out two delicious glasses of freshly smashed watermelons.

Here is your Wednesday morning video. More dancing from fuxing park.

Fuxing dance - watch more funny videos

Your Tuesday Morning Video

2009-06-29T18:29:00.000-04:00

Here is a short video from our Sunday morning trip to Fuxing park. Fuxing park is located in the former French Concession, just a few subway stops away from our apartment. Parks are the place to be on early mornings and late evenings. As you can see from our videos, the parks fill with free entertainment. Dancers, jugglers, singers, guys playing cards (a strangely popular spectator sport), groups of mahjong players, you name it.

There is an outdoor tea house in the middle of fuxing park. I used the point and pick method and wound up with a cup of nearly undrinkably strong green tea. Instead of fighting the crowd to find a free table, you only need to find a free patch of patio and wait for a burly man to bring you a set of chairs, your own glass table, and a hot water thermos the size of a fire hydrant for tea refills. I gulped and watered my leaves trying to dilute the tea, but it remained strong and bitter throughout each refill.

We have loads of pictures and vidoes from the park. Here is one teaser to start your Tuesday morning with a bang.

Fuxing Park Dancing - watch more funny videos

In other news, I started my Chinese classes today. I learned the phrase "so so", mama zuzu, literally "horse horse tiger tiger".

Your Monday Morning Movie

2009-06-28T18:18:00.000-04:00

For your foodies, here are two videos of Shanghai experts.

Dumpling - watch more funny videos

Pineapple - watch more funny videos

Tea House Time

2009-06-27T07:50:00.000-04:00

We are settling in to our new apartment. We found a local grocery store complete with products that resemble peanut butter, yogurt, bread, and milk. We wake up at 5:30 so Seth can catch the bus to campus before rush hour and I can get in my morning run before the heat swelters. Despite mild exhaustion, we've managed to get out and explore the city. There are plenty of night clubs and bars, but we are opting for more extraordinary fare. Last week we saw an acrobatics extravaganza, which felt like watching a game of russian roulette. The evening ended with 8 motercyclists turning circles inside a 25 ft. diameter globe shaped cage.

We've explored two tea houses, where we've selected tiny amounts of delicious tea: pu'er, flower, and lychee nut. One order = one set of tea leaves (which can range from 10 to 1,000 dollars). When refilling, the server pours hot water over the same batch of tea. Last night we drank ten tiny pots of tea over three hours and the tea held its strong pungent flavor through each serving. The 3rd batch was the strongest.

Each type of tea is brewed in it's own tiny terracotta pot and only that type of tea is made in that pot. Instead of serving the first batch of tea, the server pours it over the pot. Eventually (that is after 100 years) the tiny pot absorbs the flavor of the tea and one can make a fresh batch by only using the residual flavor of the pot. Without tea leaves!

In this slide show: In and around the Yu Gardens Tea House, guy drying green tea leaves, and Seth drinking the proper way (actually he should only use one hand!)

In this slide show: Gu Yuan Tea House, mound of 300 year old tea, interesting menu, and a bathroom mirror that fails to blend with the surroundings.

Feasts Fit For Kings

2009-06-25T20:41:00.000-04:00

By popular demand, here is a week's worth of food pictures and some videos. Remember! All these look much better in "full screen" mode. Click the button in the bottom right corner of the slideshow/video.

The Univ. of Michigan—Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ. Joint Institute took all the visiting faculty out for a banquet overlooking the river. Some of our favorite dishes were the pomelo-covered fried fish, the not-as-weird-as-you-might-think steamed chicken feet, the as-weird-as-you-do-think sea slugs, and something that looked like pig knuckles.

In this slide show: a 50 cent lunch. These dumplings are like the Chicken McNuggets of Shanghai (that's for you Poynters). The guy who owned the restaurant let us take pictures under the condition that we included a picture of his sign.

We just got back from a fun cooking class where we learned to make pork dumplings from scratch (starting with flour and water) and fold them into funny shapes. We also learned an unbelievably simple cucumber salad that involved bludgeoning the cucumbers with the side of a cleaver.

Here are some cooking videos, especially for Elana Rose Harr and Shoshanna Elise Harr.

Making a fish-shaped dumpling:

fish dumpling - watch more funny videos

Stuffing the Tofu:

Pork - watch more funny videos

Some random shots around the neighborhood food joints. Our local melon guy convinced us to buy the 1.58Yuan/kilo melon rather than the 1.38Yuan/kilo one. What a salesman! The baked goods under the glass look intriguing but are essentially inedible.

Moving on Up: A Deluxe Apartment in the Sky

2009-06-24T18:57:00.000-04:00

The Great Fire Wall of China has won the day. In our new digs we are unable to see any of the blocked sites, including Blogger. Luckily we found a blogging website that still works in China.

Here's a slideshow of our new apartment in the city. The upside is that it has TWO bedrooms and TWO bathrooms -- the downside is that the second bedroom has no electrical outlets. The upside is that we have a weekly cleaning lady (courtesy the university) -- the downside is that she doesn't touch floors, toilets, showers, or windows.

We're close to our hotel but in a much shi-shier part of town. As far as we can tell, every business on our block is a hair salon, a massage parlor (as opposed to a "massage" parlor), or a fruit market. Liz and I got deluxe haircuts together. For five dollars you get the cut, a 15 minute head massage slash shampoo (in your chair), and a 20 minute shoulder and neck massage.

In the slideshow below you'll see our place, Seth practicing spatula martial arts and practicing for the inevitable day when western toilets are not available. You'll see our neat remote-controlled air conditioner system, our 4 star swimming pool (it would be 5 star were it filled with water) and some shots around the neighborhood. The scaffolding you see there is made solely out of bamboo and stands 6 stories high. The last series of shots are from a neat public park near our new place. Be sure to read the park rules. Among the highlights: no teasing crickets, shrimp, or cicadas (except for commercial purposes) and no feudalistic activities. Public nookie seems to be OK though.

We love all your comments. (click on the tiny gray comment link below to add your comments.) Coming soon, by popular demand: more crazy food pictures.

Shanghai Britney: Videos from the park

2009-06-20T22:06:00.004-04:00

As promised (see last post), here are some videos from our local park. We still don't know what the organizing principle is here. How do the dance troupes get together? Where do they buy the tennis rackets? Who selects the musical score? Are there any bitter turf wars for the shadiest parts of the park?

The Shanghai Britney dancers: hit me baby one more time.

Solo tai chi:

No! no! no! You do the tai chi like this:

The amazing racket and ball dance:

Ministry of Silly Walks

Square Dancing:

Guys playing basketball. (Andy: do these guys got game? Any future in the Houston Rockets?)

Tai Chi Anyone?

2009-06-20T19:49:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we had a day in the park near our hotel. After Liz ruled out doing any swimming in China (see last post) we've turned to pumping iron in our chic urban gym and running around the park (about 1 mile per lap.)

This park is fantastic! Before the heat of the day it is filled with older people practicing tai chi, women's dance troups moving to Britney Spears, old guys doing caligraphy with water on the stones, badminton, basketball, and strange exercises involving walking backwards and slapping the backs of hands.

Below are a bunch of pictures from the park. (Be sure to look at them in full screen mode! It's the button in the bottom right corner of the slideshow.) We'll put up some great videos in the next post.

Here's some guys playing basketball. I don't know how good they are but they're definitely respectable.

Tai chi! Everyone seems to be doing it.

Here are a bunch of miscellaneous shots from the park. In the vending machine picture the first three items are condoms, the rest are candy.

Some ladies practicing a dancing scarf routing and some other ladies doing a tennis racket and tennis ball dance routine. What fun! It sure beats TV.

Terracotta Teapots

2009-06-18T10:59:00.008-04:00

We are conquering jet lag and quickly adapting to big city life. Shockingly, Shanghai is nothing like Ann Arbor. For starters, Shanghai women carry parasols, a custom that I hope arrives in Ann Arbor shortly. With my purchase of a frilly pink umbrella, I am now a near doppelganger of the modern Shanghai woman. Someone asked me for directions yesterday. Now I am working on getting non-tourist price quotes.

In the spirit of soaking up local culture, Seth and I switched from coffee to tea. We are after all in the motherland of tea. Yesterday, I bought some fantastic loose teas at a large shopping center. As I was making my selections, an old man approached and pointed with vigor at the 2 dollar porcelain teapot in my shopping basket. I don't speak Chinese, but I understood his message: Lady! It would be a shame to steep such nice tea in such an awful pot. Soon a group circled around my basket, campaigning for a switch to a terracotta pot. Unfortunately, the terracotta pots are cost prohibitive, but I am keeping my eye out for a good deal.

In our quest to adjust and ignore jet lag, Seth and I are quickly ticking items of our to do list.

1. Eating our first soup dumplings (delicious fresh dumplings with soup and balls of meat wrapped in soft dough) = CHECK

2. Joining a gym (sauna, steam room, and crazy Chinese drill sergeant style yoga classes included) = CHECK

3. Eating our first hot pot soup (boiling soup with raw meat and veggies for dunking) = CHECK

4. Seth learns how to travel to work = CHECK

5. Liz signs up for language classes (I start Monday) = CHECK

6. Liz finds a running track and swimming pool (I am never returning to that swimming pool for many reasons, but mainly because swimmers here hurl huge throat clearing gobs of spit over the side of the pool after every lap.) = CHECK

We miss everyone and our cats dearly.

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Some of the pictures below are rather detailed. Be sure to click the "Full Screen" button (typically a box in the lower right corner of the slideshow) to make them big.

Shanghai Cuisine

Tea, Teapots, and Parasols

Around Town

Seth's Campus, our Gym, and the Giant Glowing Ball which Houses our Gym.

Touch Down

2009-06-16T09:08:00.007-04:00

After over 16 hours of travel and a partial day of sight seeing, we are finally ready to collapse into our Shanghai hotel beds for a coma-like sleep. Our travels started off with a bang. The cab we took to the airport came equipped with a pug passenger, the royal dog of China. Who knew?!!

We had a 2001 moment when, just prior to deplaning in Shanghai, a group of masked men in full astronaut-like white bunny suits boarded the plane to take our temperatures. Luckily no one was suspected of carrying the H1N1 flu and we were only held up for a few minutes. For those who wonder how long it takes 4 people to take the temperatures of 300 passengers, the answer is roughly 10 minutes. They do not use mercury thermometers. Their device looks like a giant laser pointer that shines 4 red dots on the passenger's forehead. It also reads thoughts.

We did not have much time to explore the city today, but we did learn a few things. 1) No matter what type of vehicle the Chinese drive, they are aggressive roadsters. 2) Tourist districts are uncannily similar no matter where in the world they are located 3) When you are sufficiently tired and hungry, the Denny's of China looks pretty good.

4 Days Until Launch

2009-06-11T10:38:00.000-04:00

In four days we ship off for our two month adventure in China. Seth will be teaching some mind blowingly difficult computer science course at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, while I wander around the city, learn Chinese, shmooze with locals, and of course, catch up on my lesiure reading. Great fire wall permitting, we will post pictures, and stories on our travels. So log on, log in, and drop a comment.