Sunday 10/23

The hotel has some really intricate jade sculptures in the lobby. This one’s about 4 feet tall.

Spotted this family on a moped.

I took a taxi downtown to check out the big shopping street Nanjing Lu.

It was a bit over-developed for my taste. I headed North a block to check out one of the smaller side streets. Here’s a tiny connecting alleyway.

Another interesting side street.

A store selling mannequins.

Panorama at an intersection.

I did some sketching in People’s Park.

I bought some tea in a tea shop, green tea and jasmine tea. They showed me how a chrysanthemum tea flower opens up to reveal more flowers inside.

I walked to the Jing’an Sculpture Park, to check out the modern sculptures.

Outside the park, another fascinating side street.

A woman sleeping on a busy street.

Ike took me out to dinner with his wife and her cousin. We met in Pudong, Shanghai’s new financial center, where skyscrapers are being built all the time. We went to a Thai restaurant called Banana Leaf.

A group of servers sang Happy Birthday to the table next to ours, and noticing I was a foreigner, sang some songs for us too. I requested Blue Suede Shoes, or anything from Elvis.

The restaurant is inside the largest shopping mall I’ve ever seen. Ten stories tall inside.

After dinner we took a stroll along the waterfront. Along the other side of the Huangpu river are the banking buildings of The Bund.

Ike and his lovely wife.