June 18

Class. Weeeee Chinese. And yes, I was 45 minutes late. We asked our teacher all about the Dragon Boat Festival, which we are planning to attend tomorrow. We’ve even gotten classes cancelled for it. That might not have been necessary, since the majority of us have never missed any class so one day wouldn’t be a big deal, but I guess for the sake of the two people who have missed 3 or 4 days already, we got permission first.

Since this was the non-English speaking teacher, he didn’t know what we were talking about, so I had to draw him a dragon boat.


In the afternoon we decide to go to Old Town. We also made plans to do a Huangpu River Cruise that night, which had been suggested because the Bund is apparently very pretty at night. We arrange that through the hotel, an 8 o’clock hour-long cruise, and plan to meet at 7:30 pm, since not everyone is going to Old Town first. The four of us that are catch a cab to some famous dumpling restaurant. We get the set menu, despite it including spring rolls stuffed with crab ovary. It ends up being quite good actually, as do most of the other items. Yet another successful meal in China.





Making dumplings





We then walk around the surrounding area, which is filled with shops, because there are still some gifts and souvenirs that we “need”. An hour or so later, we are carrying a bunch of crap that we bought for our friends and family, and are out of money.



Stringing pearls in a shop


Tea


We also walk a street of antique shops, but on the way there walk through a street of locals, selling food and washing clothes. China presents a real juxtaposition with the mix of old and new.

Kid sitting in rickety cart…playing on a cell phone






Every good traveler has a map and a camera (I’m holding these for Frank)




Then we go into a fish/bird/animal/insect market. It is odd. Crickets in little wicker boxes, the cutest kitties and puppies you ever did see, and birds that say “ni hao” (how are you?) and “tai gui le” (too expensive).









We then catch a cab down to the river, but our driver can’t find the address, so get out too far away from the cruise place and have to catch another cab. Luckily, cabs are cheap here. We find the cruise boat place, but have an hour, so we decide to step into a bar called “I <3 Shanghai”.



We order half-priced drinks because it’s happy hour. Chocolate martini for me. People also get the “I <3 Shanghai” shirts (in Chinese). I don’t think I had enough money with me to buy one, so maybe I’ll go back another day. Frank buys a round of Absinthe shots, so now I can say that I’ve had some of that. It’s rather disgusting, tastes somewhat like licorice, and you can literally feel it course through your veins. No hallucinations though.

Absinthe


Yum yum


We added four shots to the chart, making 150 (I think Frank got it to 152 later)

And yes, that does say Republic of Texas



Girls in the ceiling


We make it to the cruise, feeling all warm and fuzzy. We’re not late, but people have already filled the top deck with chairs. So we opt for the lower deck, out in the front, which is a small area that no one has claimed yet, so we pull out 6 chairs and have a seat. The cruise was fantastic. Boozing and cruising, that’s what LSU Tigers do. We took lots of fun pictures, the lights were gorgeous, the breeze was nice, and we almost forgot that all surrounding buildings pump their sewage into the river.



The Bund


Pearl Tower




After the cruise we headed back to the I <3 Shanghai bar, since it was only 9pm. We left a few more drinks and shots later, around 11pm, and we almost made it home without anyone vomiting. Crashed, even though it wasn’t even midnight, but we were pretty spent.

And remember I said we’re supposed to do Dragon Boat Festival tomorrow? Well, we had spoken to the concierge about when and where all that stuff went down, we found out some disappointing news. The Dragon Boat festival is apparently all week, but the actual race isn’t til Saturday. So we have a day of classes cancelled, but no longer have plans. I think a trip to the zoo is in order. I have vowed not to leave this country without seeing a panda.