Qibao

Today I went to a place called Qibao, it is one of the suburb areas of Shanghai. It took me about 45 minutes or so to get there by metro but it was worth the trip. The area has an old town, with classical Chinese architecture with two canals and a few bridges spread throughout the area. I brought my camera there but unfortunately I left the battery in my dorm. There were a lot of interesting things to take pictures of too. Outside of the old town area there is a huge shopping area that spans a few streets. I walked through and found the meat and vegetable market, these are usually interesting to look at. At many of these markets they keep the meat out without any ice or cooling which is different than what you would see in the states. I saw pigs feet for sale and whole animal livers along with the more familiar cuts of meat. Also outside of the old town there was a small park area with a public stage where the news was being protected and music was playing. Some of the older people were dancing with each other and parents with their children. A few people were rollerskating around the area as well. Someone was trying to lay cones down for something related to rollerskating and all the little children who were walking with their parents kept picking them up as the parents tried to have them put the cones back down.

The old town itself was interesting. It was lined with food stalls and different stores all over the place. There were narrow allies lined with different shops and packed with huge amounts of people. The bridges across the canals were crowded with people taking photos. The water was a murky green and was littered here and there with trash. The outlines of the buildings were all lit up with white rope lights. There was a temple the area as well but it was closed by the time I went by. There was also an open area were music was playing and everyone was doing a coordinated dance lined up by rows. A woman here who seemed close to my age walked up to me with an older woman who was presumably here mother. The younger one told me her mother was sick and I didn't really pay attention to the rest and just walked away. Most people asking for money or who are trying to sell things specifically look for foreigners and will walk pretty far to get to you, especially in the more touristy areas.

I found some place than had won some award that seemed legitimate for its food. It was a small place that was known for its crab soup and dumplings. I ordered some shrimp dumplings and ate them by the canal. They were the best dumplings I have had here so far. I got them just as they were finished cooking, the inside of the dumpling was juicy, the shrimp was soft, and there was some beef mixed in as well. I also had milk bubble tea for the first time (or I think it was bubble tea), I got Belgian chocolate flavor, not a very Chinese flavor but it was good.

On Saturday of the previous weekend I went to the Shanghai Science and Technology and Museum. It cost me 60rm to get in (a bit less than $10). The place was huge and had a lot of cool displays. In some aspects it was similar to the Carnegie Science center in that it had a lot of interactive displays for kids. I took a ton of pictures so will show you a few here.

There was a robot exhibit with a lot of interesting things. This first one was one that could solve Rubik's cubes. You could mix it up however you wanted and the robot would then solve it. The longest I was able to make it take was about a minute.

There was a robot that was supposed to do archery but it wasn't functioning. The range was still open for humans to try though. I shot my first bow and arrow here. I only hit the actual target once out of 3.

There was also a robot that played the piano. It was set up for people to pick songs and then singe Karaoke while the robot played the music. Karaoke is a really huge thing in China. There are places that are multiple stories high all for karaoke. I might give it a go while I am here.

Here are a few pictures from a ride that took you through the digestive track of a human being. It was really amusing, I took some video of it but will just show the pictures here.

 And some more random pictures.

I also have some pictures from outside of the museum, the area is called century square in English.

I also included a scenic picture of a sweet potato I purchased from a street vendor. I was never usually a fan of these but I found it to be quite yummy indeed.

Right now I am on break for the Qingming festival, also known as tomb sweeping day. It is a time where a lot of people travel somewhere scenic. The weather gets nicer around this time which is partially why the holiday is set at this date. Traditionally Chinese people will visit their ancestors graves and put some food on the tomb and burn paper money (not real money). We get three days off of school and I am pretty sure a lot of workers get off as well. Tomorrow I am going to travel to a place called Chongming island with one of my Chinese friends. I am told it is quite scenic He has never been there before either so it should be interesting. I will include pictures of this place in my next update.

That is all for now, I have been a bit slow with my updating lately but these things happen.