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.
Dear Aunt Liz and Uncle Seth, The televisions in the mirror did not look good. Because they did not look so fancy. The teacup was so funny because it was so little. I didn't realize it would be so little. I love you! Love, ELANA HARR (Elana typed her name on her own. I typed the top note as she told me what to type)
We love your comments and are so impressed that you're already typing! Pretty soon you'll have a blog of your own. The teacups & teapot look like they're made for dolls. But the tea is SO STRONG that they can refill the pot 10 times (or more) with the same leaves.
what does "resemble peanut butter" mean? PS, Liz, your bro just told me what an emotocon is. Don't know how to do that so just picture me with a "smiley face"
Hey Seth & Liz, I got linked to your blog from the Fodor’s Asia forums in which I believe your Grandpa posted the link. Anyways I’m Chinese-American from the Metro Detroit area near A2 and just wanted to comment on how your pictures & videos remind me of my country of birth. I left China for MI when I was 4-5 and just seeing the massive economic growth makes me proud of my heritage and people. I personally haven’t gone back in ~5 years due to my hectic schedule but plan to next summer (2010 Shanghai Expo anyone?). Anyways as a fellow Wolverine I was wondering what your role was at UMich during the regular semesters (summer/fall) and this summer? Anyways I look forward to your future posts of adventure from Shanghai! ;-) -A fellow Wolverine who misses his home country & region and dreaming about Shanghainese tea atm…
Now when we try a new dish we ask WWAE (what would Arleen eat). Pork dumplings and the oily peanut butter a probable 'no', but we think you'll love the sea cucumbers (aka slugs). They might be kosher. Ask a rabbi.
Hiya! Shanna and David love the blog! David says: "Shanna and I experienced a tea ceremony with WinYing, it was very special, but I think three hours sounds like way too long a time to sit!" Shanna says: "I can't believe Seth is going to eat THAT! Most impressive! Hahaha." Katheryn says: "Wow, 5:30...A.M.??? das nutz." Also we have one new blog post on our blog. Lovelove.
Hey KIPper. I'm glad that you like watching our pictures & videos. We are able to read your blog (via Gmail reader) but cannot access the comments because Blogger is blocked in China. Go figure. Keep up the posts! Everyone wants to know what's new in Hawaii.
Hey AnnaCG. We have a small backlog of posts to do. Sometime this week I'll talk about what the UM-SJTU institute is like and how the students are. There are some differences to how things work. Small things. For example, if you're teaching and the projector screen isn't down or the projector is off, you call the central projector management office and they turn it on for you. It may be located in Beijing for all I know.
Dear Aunt Liz and Uncle Seth,
The televisions in the mirror did not look good. Because they did not look so fancy.
The teacup was so funny because it was so little. I didn't realize it would be so little.
I love you!
Love,
ELANA HARR
(Elana typed her name on her own. I typed the top note as she told me what to type)
Elana said...
June 27, 2009 at 4:02 PM
We love your comments and are so impressed that you're already typing! Pretty soon you'll have a blog of your own.
The teacups & teapot look like they're made for dolls. But the tea is SO STRONG that they can refill the pot 10 times (or more) with the same leaves.
Seth and Liz said...
June 27, 2009 at 6:24 PM
what does "resemble peanut butter" mean?
PS, Liz, your bro just told me what an emotocon is. Don't know how to do that so just picture me with a "smiley face"
arleen said...
June 27, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Hey Seth & Liz,
I got linked to your blog from the Fodor’s Asia forums in which I believe your Grandpa posted the link. Anyways I’m Chinese-American from the Metro Detroit area near A2 and just wanted to comment on how your pictures & videos remind me of my country of birth. I left China for MI when I was 4-5 and just seeing the massive economic growth makes me proud of my heritage and people. I personally haven’t gone back in ~5 years due to my hectic schedule but plan to next summer (2010 Shanghai Expo anyone?). Anyways as a fellow Wolverine I was wondering what your role was at UMich during the regular semesters (summer/fall) and this summer? Anyways I look forward to your future posts of adventure from Shanghai! ;-)
-A fellow Wolverine who misses his home country & region and dreaming about Shanghainese tea atm…
Will Zhu said...
June 27, 2009 at 11:52 PM
I guess Andy is now "Grandpa". I had to go to the Fodors forum to figure it out.
arleen said...
June 28, 2009 at 1:52 AM
Now when we try a new dish we ask WWAE (what would Arleen eat). Pork dumplings and the oily peanut butter a probable 'no', but we think you'll love the sea cucumbers (aka slugs). They might be kosher. Ask a rabbi.
Liz said...
June 28, 2009 at 4:09 AM
Seth, how is the UMich program? How is your class going? Are there other UMich faculty there?
Anna G. said...
June 28, 2009 at 6:22 AM
Hiya! Shanna and David love the blog! David says: "Shanna and I experienced a tea ceremony with WinYing, it was very special, but I think three hours sounds like way too long a time to sit!" Shanna says: "I can't believe Seth is going to eat THAT! Most impressive! Hahaha." Katheryn says: "Wow, 5:30...A.M.??? das nutz." Also we have one new blog post on our blog. Lovelove.
Katheryn Pettie said...
June 28, 2009 at 11:14 AM
Hey KIPper. I'm glad that you like watching our pictures & videos. We are able to read your blog (via Gmail reader) but cannot access the comments because Blogger is blocked in China. Go figure. Keep up the posts! Everyone wants to know what's new in Hawaii.
Seth said...
June 28, 2009 at 5:39 PM
Hey AnnaCG. We have a small backlog of posts to do. Sometime this week I'll talk about what the UM-SJTU institute is like and how the students are. There are some differences to how things work. Small things. For example, if you're teaching and the projector screen isn't down or the projector is off, you call the central projector management office and they turn it on for you. It may be located in Beijing for all I know.
Seth said...
June 28, 2009 at 5:42 PM