We arrived in Shanghai after a short flight from Fukuoka and met Ting at the airport. Ting is our Chinese friend who studied at Pella Christian High School, where Sarah's dad is the principal. We were surprised at how easy immigration and customs went. Maybe the INS (the US Immigration Service) should come over here and pick up a few pointers. We took Ting's car, driven by the driver, to their apartment and after two hours Mom and Dad arrived beat from their marathon round the globe trip. Even though it was already 8 o'clock Ting's Mom and Dad cooked us a wonderful meal. After the meal we settled into the apartment and gave our great hosts some gifts. You can see Ting's parents modeling the gifts to the right. We have to say that we were extremely impressed with the apartment. Ting's Mom owns a clothes factory that does a lot of business with developed countries and thanks to that their standard of living is quite comfortable. Even by Western standards their apartment would have to be considered luxurious. Finally we had some time to catch up with Mom and Dad after not having seen them for quite a while.

The next day we slept in a little and then were off to see a little of Ting's life in the big city. First we went to her school and met some of her teachers and friends. The school is a "key" school in the area and was in pretty good condition. Next we went to the sky scraper where Ting's Dad works. He is employed at Bao Steel the steel company owned a run by the government. He is a salaryman who works in an office doing "something" Ting said. We noticed one of the socialized parts of China when at lunch time everyone took their spoon down three floors underground and ate in the cafeteria. In the afternoon we went sight seeing at one of the most noticeable points on the Shanghai skyline; the TV Tower. The tower is said to be the third highest building in the world and we got quite a view from the highest point we could go. One of the things we could was a building designed by Sarah's Uncle Rich's firm you can see to the right. It is an impressive looking building and even more spectacular at night when lighted up. We ended the day at a fancy restaurant and had a feast. Upon returning home we had a long discussion about how China is Communist and capitalist. More on this in the reflections page.

The next day we started exploring the capitalism that is alive and well in Shanghai. Ting's mother has gone from being a sewer to the owner of a factory that makes garments to be shipped to other countries. We got a tour of the facilities and Ting's mom gave us some of the fantastic products. They look great. It is amazing what they can all make here and ship to the "West" without leaving a mark of the country it was produced in besides a simple "Made in China" label. After the tour we were off to learn more about Chinese culture. The Chinese are really family oriented and because we are in town it is kind of important to make the rounds and say hello to various family members. So we visited Ting's mother's younger brother's house. It was interesting especially since the brother lived in Japan for ten years and so we could directly communicate in Japanese with him. In the afternoon we went to the Shanghai Museum of Chinese History. Asian countries have such a long and deep history. And because of this they have developed certain cultural trademarks that have developed and changed over the years. Among the treasure we saw the jade, the porcelain, and the religious artifacts from Tibet stood out. The Chinese deserve to be proud of these impressive accomplishments. We joined the brother and his family again for dinner and had yet another feast. As you can maybe tell from the picture Mom and Dad really enjoyed using chopsticks. They said they had digressed since they were in Japan, although they blame this on the fatter, plastic chopsticks which probably are a little harder to use.

At the end of the day we walked along the busy pedestrian avenue you can see pictured. Shanghai is a lively city. The streets were packed with people enjoying themselves as big city people do the world over; shopping, talking and eating out.

The next day was Sunday and we went to church with Ting and her family. Her parents don't normally go but they went on this day to keep us company. We couldn't understand anything but it was interesting to be at a church where people could worship in the open. A British ex-pat said that the church was always full and you had to come early to avoid standing in the hallway watch the service on close circuited TV. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and not doing much of all back at home.

On to the Hangzhou page