China (part 3 October 24).....makes me smile

Pssst......someone's been lying about China being this godless, hard-core country where children do their bathroom business in public and people spit on the ground. Of course, I'm only in Shanghai. About 10 days ago I was so discouraged about Japan I was close to changing my ticket and going home. I miss my dogs dreadfully and, as I wrote before, I absolutely felt like I was on another planet. Japan is beautiful, safe, culturally intact country with an extremely rich history and I both loved it and feared it. To be perfectly fair, I can't even imagine a lone Japanese coming to a western country without a bilingual tour guide. It would be an even scarier reality than the one I found myself in. Shanghai is a different story.

At immigration there was very understandable English not only from officials but from the taxi drivers as well. After a lot of hugs with Lin and Hayake as well as Naoka it was time to part company.

The ride from the ferry terminal caught glimpses of new and old. The skyscrapers are so sleek and modernistic, older buildings so captivating with beautiful old scrollwork. Every building had a Chinese and English name on it. Shanghai is huge and I felt we had gone a great distance when we came to my hotel. Taxi fare? $30 yuan. Or around $6.

I couldn't wait to shed my bags and explore after the bellhop helped me to my room, I took off on my Chinese adventure. Wouldn't you know I find a Mexican Food restaurant not more than 2 blocks away with a mix of Asian and western faces. "Margarita, please". "We have regular, mango, strawberry, raspberry, banana, and passion fruit.". Huge smile.

I slept in a regular bed for the first time since I left Alaska last night. I love doing as the locals do and even in NYC I slept on a very thin mattress on a Taiwanese native's floor. I have to admit I awoke feeling much better and rested this morning. Or did that have something to do with the masseuse who came to my room about 7 last night? Even bigger smile.

I'm off for coffee and a metro ride to the oldest part of Shanghai called the Bund district. If I'm lucky with my time I'll try to get a ticket to the acrobat show tonight. Biggest smile.