Shanghai, China – March 26

March 26 was our final full day in China and alas it was not a good one. My one goal for the day was to visit the Jade Buddha Temple. We woke up bright and early. I was tired but happy that it was not raining as it had the day before.

Unfortunately, I did not pay close attention to the names on the subway stop, and rather than getting off at Changshou Rd, we disembarked at Changzhong Rd. I immediately felt that something was wrong, but I ignored my intuition and allowed Douglas to convince me that we should just look down one road and then another and another and another…

All in all we spent a couple of hours walking through an industrial area of Shanghai. The good part was that although it was obvious that we were tourists and lost, we never felt unsafe. At least we can say that we saw the “real” Shanghai!

We also found a grocery store, and we able to purchase the Longjing green tea for much cheaper than the price we were quoted in the village. I also bought some chrysanthemum tea. I gave one packet to my mother, but I still have not opened mine. Does anyone want to come over for chrysanthemum tea? It is delicious.

Douglas and I also stopped to get our picture taken in a photo booth. I mean, why not? What else are you going to do while wandering around lost in China? We look terrible, but it is my experience that in ten years I will think that I am stunning in that photograph.

We did manage to make it back to meet up with the rest of the group on time. That afternoon we headed to the Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar.

Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar are what I expected of a bazaar and left me disappointed in the gardens. The locale is crowded with people trying to get a great deal and the shops were packed.

I might have enjoyed this area more had I had the time to explore the garden, but we only had a short time to shop. Douglas and I raced around from shop to shop trying to find a Buddha with a bat like we had seen at the Luxun Museum. I did take a few moments to take pictures. I found that looking up was much more pleasant than looking around at eye level. Is that not the fanciest Dairy Queen you have ever seen?

I truly did not harbor much hope that we would find the Buddhas with the bats, but we found not just one but two!

 

I even noticed bas relief of bats on the ground along with other beautiful designs.

Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar is a place for a hard-core shopper. I did not belong there in the least, as I hate shopping. However, from my years of travel around the world, I have at least learned to bargain. Not only did I get a great price on the Buddhas, but this is where I bought the dress I wore to my cousin’s wedding. The humbling part was that I am a size large in China. In fact, the saleswoman even giggled behind her hand and suggested, “Maybe an extra-large. Hehehe.” Grrrrr. Whatever, I think I look great in it.

After making our few purchases, Douglas and I spent some time looking around the gardens. As I mentioned before, they were rather disappointing, but there are other gardens that you have to pay to enter. We did not have the time to explore those. I expect that those were a lot nicer.

There is always beauty in the details in traditional Chinese architecture.

I did like the zigzag bridge, though I did not appreciate how hard it was to take a picture with so many people getting in the way. Selfies are big in China as well.

Douglas did manage to take a couple of me.

People watching was also at a premium here.

Overall, I would recommend a quick trip to do some shopping and check out the garden, but it is not a place that I would plan to spend a day. For me, despite the crowds, the visit was worth it just to see the smile on my man’s face after he found his Buddhas!

Our last dinner was at an Uighur restaurant. We had enjoyed the first one so much that our guides thought that would be best for our last dinner in China. The restaurant was beautiful.

The food seemed as delicious as any that we had sampled in China, but for some reason, I was not able to eat much. That reason was about to make itself known.

On our walk back to the hotel, we passed by Xujiahui Park. The fountain was beautiful at night.

Douglas had noticed people dancing in the park on one of our first evenings in Shanghai. He had hoped to bring me there to dance, but there had never been a good time. On our last evening, he was thrilled to have the opportunity to dance with me in the park.

Even the most reticent of our students went out to dance for at least one song. They started out dancing with each other, but then some of them went and invited a local to dance, while others waited for an invitation. Most of the people dancing were much older than our teens, but that did not seem to phase the kids.

It should have been my favorite time in China because I love to dance, but I was not able to enjoy it as I should have. My intestines were beginning to rebel, and I knew that we were going to have to get back to the hotel soon. I made it just in time.

I will spare you the details of what came next, but I will say that I spent the next four hours or so in the bathroom. By three a.m. Douglas was at his wits end with my crying and uncomfort. He looked up a pharmacy online and ventured out on his own to try to buy medication to help me.

It would be worth millions to have a video of Douglas at that pharmacy. The drugstore door was locked, but there was a small window through which purchases could be made for emergency situations like mine. Despite not speaking a word of Chinese, Douglas somehow was able to convey my symptoms to the pharmacist and not only obtain the medication, but decipher how much I should take.

I only wish that I could see him on the darkened Shanghai street pantomiming diarrhea and vomiting in front of revelers returning home from the bars. He is my hero.

As morning dawned on our last few hours in Shanghai, I lost all hope that I would be able to visit the Jade Buddha Temple. I was visiting the bathroom less, but I felt scared to venture too far from it. I was dreading the twenty-four hour plane ride I would have to take that afternoon.

Luckily, the worst of my symptoms had passed by the time we needed to depart for the airport. Pale and weak I slept most of the way back to New York. I did leave my iPad on the plane, and I am sure that it was because I was completely out of it when we arrived. Things could have been much worse.

Thus ended our epic trip to China. I would have liked to end on a high note with a visit to the Jade Buddha, but it was not meant to be. At least there was dancing! I will leave you with the picture of a building that caught my attention on the walk to dinner that night. I could not figure out how to fit it into my story, but I did not want to omit it from the post. Isn’t it unique?

Happy Travels!