Sunday 10/9

Had a decent night’s sleep. Feels like my body is already in the new time zone. Thanks Nan for the melatonin schedule, it’s working well! Kids wanted to see the swanky hotel lobby:

There’s a very busy intersection right outside the front door. Here’s the view from the stairwell, which no one seems to use. The drivers honk incessantly, it has to be louder than Manhattan out there.

And the street-level view. I walked a couple blocks, then hailed a cab for the drive in to the center part of town to see the Shanghai Museum.

On the way, I spotted this sign outside the entrance to a city hospital. Awesome! Great mental image.

Central atrium of the Shanghai Museum. I was surprised there was no price for admission, just a line for a pretty casual x-ray inspection. Although the guards did have me take a sip from my water bottle, I guess to make sure it wasn’t combustible.

Tons of beautiful art, a feast for the eyes. Ancient bronze implements, calligraphy of many different styles, gorgeous painted scrolls, intricate jade sculptures. Here’s a monkey raiding a bee hive, from the Qing Dynasty (early 1700s).

A 1748 painting of the philosopher Confucius. He has a super-long fingernail, right above the bird’s head，I wonder what that’s all about.

There were so many amazing things. Tibetan mask, about twice as big as the performer’s head:

Leaving the museum, I walked into Renmin (People’s) Park, basically the heart of Shanghai. Not as much fun as People’s Park in Berkeley! It was such a gorgeous day today, plenty of sun and mid 80’s with a light breeze. Click on the photo for a bigger view!

At the busy intersection North East of the museum, they had elevated walkways for crossing to each corner, and admiring the retro-futuristic architecture.

There are also some cool little market streets to the North, where only the locals seem to go. Grubby shopkeepers eviscerating or boiling various items. I was the only foreigner for many blocks. Just walk thru like you do it every day. It’s so much fun being in such a different place, sometimes I had to laugh out loud at the realization that I’m actually here, right now. Goofy foreigners.

On the cab ride back, the skyscrapers just wouldn’t quit. The hotel is in the South West outskirts of town, but it seems like the city just keeps going on and on, highrise after highrise.

I wonder what this city will look like in ten years?