Shanghai

Jade Budda

Janell, Lauren, Ben and I are in China.  Kay doesn't like to do things twice. We met our group
and went to the Bund (financial district), saw the jade Buddha and it was a lucky day.  the first day of the month they are to go and offer incense offerings to the Buddha.  You buy different incenses depending on the blessing you wanted.  Light the incense, do several kowtows and throw your incense into the large fire.  Lots of people were there and no extra fires (I was worried about people's hair as they didn't seem to worry about how far away they were from others)  then we went to and went to the Yu Gardens.

Sunday I hired a guide to take us to church and then take us to some lesser known Shanghai sites.

We met Sunny and she escorted us to the church but had to leave us at the door because our church has a policy of honoring the government and agreed to not have an active presence in China.  There is a ward for ex-patriots but the locals are not welcome.

We had a great time and Ben actually met  his best friend's sister who invited us to dinner.

Church

Our guide came back and took us to the Marriage market in People's square.  Mothers and grandmothers who are worried about the marriage of their family have advertisements for them on umbrellas.  No pictures on their advertisements of the future brides or grooms.

Tianzifang art area was a fun place to walk.  We ate a twisted potato cut and cooked on a stick, Chinese pizza and steamed buns.

The vegetable market was our next stop.

The silk museum blew our minds how a

Marriage Market

strand of silk that is thinner than a piece of hair is made by putting 8 cocoons with their strands of silk together. they had two ladies there showing how strong the silk is. a small piece the size of a winter knit hat is stretched to be the size of a queen sized bed.

our tour ended with Sunny with a walk through the antique market and pet market.

We were dropped off at Taylor and Jen Price's home.  We ate with them.They have been here 6 years and doing well. The ward was well suited for them and they are happy in Shanghai.  It was fun meeting them and Ben catching up!

Tiangzifang

We got a cab home. To get the cab, one of Taylor's friends took us in his van and chased down a cab and got us in.  40 min later we were back. Ready for our 4 day Yangtzee Cruise.

Vegetable Market

Silk Cocoons

Making 1 thread with 8 threads together

Janell pulling the silk

Lauren buying a steamer at a restaurant supply store

Sunny negotiating

buns

The pet market where we saw crickets used for fighting

Taylor and Jen Price Home