Instead of going to school on Tuesday, my class visited the
ancient town of Zhujiajiao! Also known
as the “Venice of Shanghai” and the “Hollywood of Shanghai”, Zhujiajiao is a
beautiful little town on the water.
There are no cars (just boats- like Venice!) and lots of movies have
been filmed in the picturesque lanes (like Hollywood!). We were assigned a scavenger hunt that we had
to complete with a partner and a Chinese student. My partner was Agatha and Audrey was our
Chinese student helper. Walking around
the city completing the 20 tasks was fun at first, but after awhile the heat
got overwhelming and we met up with Richard, Aiden, and their Chinese partner
at the Starbucks. While we were meeting
outside, a woman came up and offered to read our palms (for a price, of
course!). After a little bargaining,
Richard got his palm read. It was really
funny and surprisingly accurate so I had mine read too (apparently I’m going to
live to be 102). No one was able to
finish the tasks just because it was so hot out that walking around outside all
day was next to impossible. I got a
sunburn and was exhausted by the end of the day.
Yesterday afterschool, Richard, Agatha, Tafari, Tyler and I
took the subway downtown to Tianshan Tea Market to buy some tea. It was really authentic and we got to try a
bunch of different tea flavors like Jasmine, Oolong, Green, White, Black, and
Milk tea. On the way home, it started to
rain but I wasn’t concerned. How bad
could a few raindrops be? Well, turns
out it was pretty bad. By the time I got
to Xinzhuang, there was a torrential downpour along with thunder, lightning,
and serious wind. Everyone else got
picked up from the station but I had to run all the way down the block to get
to my bus. It was pouring and the
thunder was so loud I was afraid I was going to be struck by lightning. As I’m splashing through a few inches of
water towards the parking lot I noticed that none of the buses are there! I stopped in a convenience store and called
Ivy. Turns out the buses weren’t
coming! Completely soaked, I hailed a
taxi and told the driver my street in Chinese and just prayed he understood me
and knew where he was going since I didn’t understand anything he said to
me. As a foreigner, taking a taxi here
is always an adventure. I made it home,
drenched. Of course I had missed dinner
and we hadn’t had time to eat downtown so the Chinese version of Ritz Crackers
was my dinner. Yum!
xoxo
sar
Audrey, Agatha, and I in Zhujiajiao.
On one of the 37 bridges.
Fangsheng Bridge; the most famous bridge in Zhujiajiao.
Exploring a garden.
Tianshan Tea City!
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