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.
How do you tease a cricket?
Anna G. said...
June 25, 2009 at 5:11 AM
nice haircut Seth. Nice pool too, no water AND no "lugees".
Shout out to David (mi hijo) for alerting us to the new site. If I ever went on Facebook, I would have found out too.
arleen harr said...
June 25, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Our g-mail accounts are not working right now. Send your e-mails via facebook and hopefully google will fix the problem soon.
Crickets are so sensitive. They mistake mere chiding for teasing. We exercise caution by avoiding cricket conversation all together.
Mom, you are so good with the web lingo "shout out"! Just add a few emoticons and your set.
sethandliz said...
June 25, 2009 at 9:51 AM
I think we have the gmail working again. I have a whole theory for why it stopped working. It didn't work in our apt and my office, presumably because those were the two spots where I did a lot of research on how to evade the great firewall (the upshot: it's hard.) After I accessed gmail from a different office in the building it suddenly started working in my office. I think the Chinese govt. took this as a formal apology and will lift our email ban. They can be very reasonable.
Seth said...
June 25, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Dear Aunt Liz and Uncle Seth,
"Why don't people wear helmets when they ride scooters? I saw a picture with 3 people on a scooter. That doesn't seem safe."
Love Elana
Elana said...
June 25, 2009 at 3:57 PM
Luxury apt. in the People's Republic!! For shame!!! For shame!!!
Bill said...
June 25, 2009 at 4:59 PM
Elana, we too are shocked and saddened at the disregard for head safety. Aunt Liz saw an accident where a woman on a bike fell and hit her head on a curb. A helmet would have saved the day. Interestingly, many people wear face masks to protect against dust and pollution.
Seth and Liz said...
June 25, 2009 at 8:34 PM
Ed and Sherry want to know what kind of dancing were they doing in the park? We've been dancing to Michael Jackson hits all morning.
Sherry and Ed said...
June 26, 2009 at 3:34 PM
Ahhh dumplings and chicken feet! brings back so many memories, especially of our days dancing in the park with Britney Spears. We're loving the blog and glad to see you're making the most of your time in the Middle Kingdom
Andrew and Wenying said...
June 26, 2009 at 5:31 PM
The dancing looked sort of halfway between a tango and a cha cha cha.
Seth and Liz said...
June 26, 2009 at 7:31 PM
it all looks so lovely...enjoy it..
karen and bob---andy and beth's friends
bob kimball said...
June 27, 2009 at 6:52 PM
The food looks delicious. It was great to see Seth make the fish dumpling with coaching by Liz. I'm not sure about the basketball players. I put a link to the blog on Fodors.com/community/asia.
Andy said...
June 28, 2009 at 3:07 AM
I am a great backseat dumpling maker. Know that you know how to comment we expect your wisecracks or words of wisdom to follow every post.
Liz said...
June 28, 2009 at 4:11 AM
Horridly fascinated still by those fried slugs you had. Those crazy Asian park activites are a hoot. Why don't we do that stuff here?? Instead of mall roaming.
Beth said...
June 30, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Ni Hao, I'm Shanghainese on Fodors and was directed here by gpanda, too bad you'll be back in the States when they go visit. I can tell you are having a blast! From the pix, looks like you are living in Puxi probably in the Luwan, Xuhui, Jingan districts? The best areas in Shanghai.
My sis lives near Fuxing Park and my mom on Huashan Road, I go home every year and lust for xiaolongbao (best at Jia Jia Tang Bao behind the Park Hotel) and red-cooked pork butt (Xiao Nan Guo in the Reijing Guesthouse compound). Make sure you do side trips to Hangzhou, Suzhou and a watertown (Tongli is my fav). The Moganshan is a relaxing mountain resort where the privileged go to beat the heat. Have fun!
Ali - Shanghainese said...
July 1, 2009 at 2:16 AM
Greetings Seth and Liz from your Shanghai neighbor!
Luv your blog and it goes to show it's a small world indeed. I actually was sent your link from a friend now back home in Vancouver who used to work together with me in Guangdong Province (that is, before I moved up to Shanghai three years ago) Heads spinning yet? Anyhoo..the funny part is I actually live right in your hood..just down the street on Anshun Lu. Too funny! Feel free to give me a ring for a coffee or something stronger!
Stephanie
(Shanghai Cat Lady)
Stef Thomas said...
July 4, 2009 at 8:18 AM
LIZ & SETH,
TODAY IS YOUR ANNIVERSARY, WE WANT TO WISH YOU THE BEST OF EVERYTHING.ONE THING THE 2 OF YOU CAN NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT .......YOUR LIFE TOGETHER WILL
ALWAYS BE EXCITING NEVER BORING.
LOVE YOU BOTH ,
AUNT SHERI & UNCLE PETER
Aunt Sheri & Uncle Peter said...
August 15, 2009 at 10:02 PM