My granddaughter, Brooklyn, has a project at school. She is to send Flat Stanley somewhere, could be up the street or around the world. She needs to have pictures of Flat Stanley while he tours the area he is currently visiting with his host family. This weekend we entertained Flat Stanley in Shanghai. He arrived here on Thursday evening. I spent Friday preparing him for his big weekend.
So Flat Stanley spent all day Saturday out and about Pudong running errands with us. We must have looked like crazy Americans with a paper doll and a camera…snapping pictures all over the place. We did get quite a few stares. You can learn more about the Flat Stanley project by googling 'Flat Stanley'. He has an official web site.
Here is the result of our outing ....… the letter to Brooklyn from Flat Stanley.
Dear Brooklyn,
I am having so much fun here in Shanghai. Your Grandparents have given me a tour of their everyday life. We went walking which took us to some of the sites of Pudong, but I also ran some errands with them. I have labeled the pictures in the order that they were taken. Hopefully this will give you an idea of how life is for your grandparents. All the pictures were taken on our outing on Saturday.
This is the entrance of your grandparent’s apartment compound. In English, it is called Central Apartments. I guess it has that name because it is in a very central location in Pudong.
The bridge you see is only used by people. No cars are allowed to travel over this bridge. It takes you over the river and to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.
Here I am taking in the city skyline from the bridge going to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. The museum is a really big building with all kinds of interesting exhibits. We did not have time to stop and go in, but you can see the main entrance. Through the windows is a very large balloon.
This is the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum
There is a very large underground shopping mall that everyone told us about. It has a little bit of everything. All are at bargain prices if you are willing to negotiate with the vendors. When you come with your parents this summer I am sure your Mom, Aunt Jennifer, and MawMaw will go there.
While we were walking to the shopping area with the Carrefour, we passed by the Pudong Expo Center. They were having a big dog show there. There are several dogs going into the building. We noticed the sign and decided to stop for a picture. We are on the steps to the Expo Center in front of the sign for the Pet Show.
While still on the steps of the expo center, we decided to take another photo. See the city skyline in the background. This is the financial district of Pudong. The building where your grandparents had to go to get their residence visa is right around the corner. Shanghai has more skyscraper buildings than any other city in the world.
We browsed through a new supermarket that just opened, called Bit Supermarket. They had lots of imported food from the United States and Europe, but it was very expensive. You will see me with PawPaw checking out the bags of salad. There is also a picture with MawMaw browsing the sauces to see what might be available. Everything in the store is so shiny and new. It is on the lower level of the mall. This is very different from the grocery stores in Texas.
We went across the street to a restaurant that you grandparents had never been before. It was called Ajisen Ramen. It is known for its soups. It was very crowded and we were seated next to a very interesting couple. He was from Austria and she was from Japan. They had lived in Shanghai for 3 years. Unfortunately, we were enjoying ourselves and we forgot to get a picture with our new friends.
After lunch, it was time to head to the Carrefour for a few groceries. MawMaw had been getting Chinese recipes from the internet and needed ingredients to make one of them. She tells me she wants to learn how to cook Chinese food while she is here in Shanghai. That way she can prepare some Chinese food for you and your family when you come. There are so many different kinds of vegetables and fruits. The Carrefour is much bigger and busier than the other grocery store and not so shiny and new. This grocery store is largely for the local Chinese as well as the foreigners. Most of the products are in Chinese, but some of them have both English and Chinese writing. The produce section is huge with many varieties of fruits and vegetables. It was very crowded with so many people trying to get their groceries.
The meat and fish section is just as big. There are many tanks of water with live fish swimming in them. Little do these ‘fishies’ know that they are going to be the guest of honor on someone’s dinner table in the next day or so. And there are so many types of fish and sea creatures on ice in the cases as well.
After the exhausting grocery trip, we stopped for ice cream at the Haagen Dazs Ice Cream Shoppe. The Belgium Chocolate was delicious. PawPaw is holding it for me… he even sneaked a lick. We bought 2 small ice cream cones and it cost 62 yuans. That is about $10 which is a lot of money for two small dips of ice cream.
In the evening we went out walking again. We ran into my cousin Flat Harold. He decided to join us as we strolled along the river walk. He loves being in Shanghai too. He is in a few of the pictures. We look very much alike…only his hair is brown.
We walked across the bridge and along the river until we got to a very busy street, then crossed back over the river and walked the other side. It was really cold out, but I did not wear a coat… but MawMaw had a scarf and 2 coats on. It was exciting to see what Shanghai is like at night in the Pudong district. Here are a few pictures from our stroll along the river walk across the bridge. Aren’t the blinking lights wonderful and festive?
I decided to stop under a tree and rest a minute to take in all the night lights. There are trees like this all along the walk way. We saw 2 cats while we were there. That is me under the tree.
When we were coming back on our side of the river, we saw several restaurants that we had not seen before. We stopped to take in the Korean Bar-B-Que Restaurant. Maybe we will get back and have a meal. I am very curious how Korean bar-b-que compares with what we have in Texas. It will be really hard to taste better than Texas bar-b-que.
When we got back to the entrance of the apartment compound, there was a Chinese man selling fresh fruit. At first we were hesitant to buy from him, but another couple from the apartment building came out to catch a taxi. There are always taxis down by the entrance waiting for people who need to go somewhere. They told us how wonderful the fruit tasted and we should buy some. So we bought some strawberries and bananas. They were so yummy. How great is it that you can walk to the entrance of the apartments and buy fresh fruit every day?
I learned that Shanghai is divided into different districts; each has something unique about them. The Pudong district is also referred to as Pudong New Area. This is the district that was developed last. The World’s Expo was held in Pudong in 2010. There a lots of museums, sculptures and gardens. It is really beautiful here.
It is almost time to leave for Texas. Thank you so much for sending me to Shanghai, China. It was an experience of a life time for me and I know it will be for you too when you come this summer. Your MawMaw and PawPaw were great to take me around PuDong and share their life here with me. They said to tell you how much they miss you and love you.
Your Friend,
Flat Stanley
Flat Stanley
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