For the past semester, Daddy has been flying to Shanghai every other weekend to teach there. With only three trips left in the semester, we decided to make a family trip to spend a little time there. And so we winged our way there (Alex wanted to know where her personal in-flight entertainment system was - we haven't really done much short sector flying).
Divide and conquer was the name of the game as we split into two separate rows - Sebastien with Daddy and Alex with Mummy. Sebastien is now old enough to be required to have his own seat - and he will sit in it only if Mummy's lap is not conveniently located.Once we checked into the hotel - it was obvious that it would take some work to move the kids from the bed. We don't watch tv in Xiamen and so having a television in the room in Shanghai was amazing for them - and had them transfixed!
We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out our little part of the neighborhood on foot.We had decided that the best night to see the Shanghai Acrobats was that evening - and so off we trekked. It was located in the ritzy part of Shanghai so lots of upmarket shops and all of it decked out in Christmas lights. Lovely - but no time to dawdle! The show was spectacular.
Some initial fears of Sebastien and Alex becoming quickly bored were soon dispelled - again we divided and conquered with Mummy and Daddy taking a child each. After the start of the show, the Chinese musical chairs started as the audience rearranged themselves to get better seats by taking empty ones that had better views. An interesting thing to watch and, eventually, Mummy was convinced to move too.We got back to the hostel - and hit the bedtime routine. The entryway for the hostel had these two delightful rams that Sebastien was besotted with. He liked to "ride" them but contented himself with just patting them most of the time. The other thing that both kids were mesmerized by was the light "show" in the foyer with flashing lights lighting up the ground.
Bedtime was fun as the shower had a window that looked into the bedroom of the room - lots of face pulling!
The next day saw us trying to find the Jade Buddha Temple - and instead saw us exploring the People's Park 
where we met the Expo mascot "Haibao".
All too soon it was time to return to the hotel - Brett was teaching in the afternoon and Sebastien still very much rules us with a two hour nap in the afternoon each day. That night Mummy dragged the family to an alleged expat hangout that was kid friendly. And yes, taxis here also have seat covers which means no seatbelts for the back seat.
The kids were ecstatic - the dearth of playground equipment in China has made them go crazy every time they see some - even if it is dusk with mosquitos everywhere and is wet from rain (and the equipment is situated on concrete covered with outdoor carpet...and no padding). 
Disappointment ruled for Mummy - the pub was just expensive and not at all what we were led to believe. Daddy eventually realised she was angry about it and shut up.The next day Brett taught in the morning so we went to meet him at the building where he has the classes. All went well on public transport and we arrived half an hour early - long enough to enjoy a snack while we waited.
Then we headed off to a wonderful seafood lunch with Prof Ma and his wife Jessie. We spent a quiet time at the hostel after that because the next day was going to be long! (Alex had both Koala and Puppy along for this trip.)
We visited the People's Park again - but spent a little more time checking out the various nooks and crannies before heading on to the Shanghai Museum. 
We didn't want to be too late to the Museum as they only accept 5000 people each day - and we had no idea how popular it was. We had brought a stroller with us as Sebastien could walk, but not for the extended time we would be walking this day. Alex enjoyed pushing it around while Sebastien toddled along behind. 
They were very interested in seeing what was in this Chinese couple's stroller. 
They got a kick out of hiding from us too.
The introduction to the park made Mummy laugh. 
Even better were the rules governing usage of the space - please take the time to click and get a larger image to read it - Mummy enjoys it every time!
On the short walk to the Museum, we had to navigate a rather large flock of white birds that were obviously used to being fed in this area. Alex and Sebastien had fun chasing them - but don't worry, this was outside the People's Park.
There came a time when they decided to take a break and just set themselves down on the ground - solidarity. No mind for how dirty the ground is - and people's amused glances. You might notice how rugged up everyone else was...and how lightly dressed Alex and Sebastien were. A common occurrence.
We got in, rented an audio guide 
and decided to tackle a floor before heading to lunch - and then doing the rest after lunch. Mummy was pretty taken with the architecture. 
Sebastien was pretty taken by all the animal sculptures on the outside. 
Lucky that Mummy packs some interesting things in that purse of hers!
The game we played with Sebastien was looking for animals on things - he was particularly interested in this dragon. He is always particularly taken by dragons...and lions...
The audio guide was good - even better was that it allowed us to play a game with Alex where she was looking for the little audio numbers then calling up the audio for that thing for us. 
It kept her somewhat amused, but only for an hour or so. All too soon a little voice piped up "I'm boring of all thing!" And so it was divide and conquer time again. This time Alex scored the camera! The museum was divided into sections and we managed to see most of the currency,
seals (one of Alex's photos),
calligraphy/painting (where everyone was "adept" at their chosen methodology),
furniture, 
and brass sections
as well as a little of the porcelain section. Then it was time to head off again - Daddy with the two kids first and then Mummy caught up as she wanted to buy a postcard from the shop. The underground passage across the main road was very low - the bike parked here gives nice perspective for that. It proved an excellent "echo-er". 
Mummy rang Daddy to work out where exactly he and the kids were - the park is surrounded by these wonderful buildings so she thought he'd be able to say "I'm in the part of the park closest to the...building." 
But no such clarity. Nevertheless she found them - and this was what greeted her:
Apparently Alex had been throwing a tantrum - so was being dealt with. Sebastien was upset at Daddy for treating Alex like this and was trying to get Alex down, and the little Chinese girl was just fascinated by these crazy foreigners. It was interesting to see that many of the trunks of the trees had been "wrapped" in burlap - presumably for the "winter".
We headed home (in the dark) after a long day - Alex was particularly difficult to deal with as she was a Miss. Crankypants and it was peak hour - so lots of people. We were thankful that the hostel was within easy walking distance of a subway station - it made transportation easy.The next day we were leaving back to Xiamen. We had just enough time to try to find the Jade Buddha Temple, again. This time it was raining - but success!
We were met at the entrance by an official looking English-speaking guide who told us a little about the temple and then shepherded us up a set of stairs to a shop...of course. At least it was still in the temple. We did spend some time admiring the carvings - they were beautiful. Even more amazing that they are all carved out of one piece of wood.
Getting some luck from rubbing a happy buddha belly.
Downstairs was a gentleman doing calligraphy for tourists - even though we indicated we weren't going to buy anything he wrote some for us as a gift. He spoke English and told us of tours he had done in the West demonstrating his art - he had a little photo album on the table with images from the tours. He also told us in strict confidence not to purchase anything from a particular vendor as they were of poorer quality and high prices - perhaps a little local politicking going on. But we had fun.Mummy loves how temples have bells hanging below eaves
The tiled rooves looked interesting in the rain.
Alex wanted to get a closer look at one of the rooms where there was a large Buddha - as a working temple, people were praying so it was interesting for Mummy and Daddy to explain what was happening. 
We headed off to the airport and had to sit on the tarmac for an hour while the tower sorted some things out. But we got to watch the "Swine flu" information video again which made us laugh as it unrepentantly indicates US as the source of this scourge. Here is a screen shot - but unfortunately not of the particular bit about America...I shall try another time!
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