First Day in Shanghai

It’s 6:00 pm and we are winding down from our first full day in China. Claire has done great so far – she woke up this morning very happy and anxious to get out and see the sights. She has been able to communicate with the locals but both Mike and I are sad to see how hard it is for her to find the words she is looking for. Whenever she does speak Chinese she gets lots of attention. She keeps asking us why everyone keeps staring at her. It’s funny for her to see her country through the eyes of a little American girl. What seemed normal to her 1 ½ yrs ago catches her attention now.

We started the day by being the first ones down when the breakfast buffet opened at 6:00 am. As usual Claire managed to “out eat” Mike. Our next stop was the Carrefour, a local Wal-mart type store. We loaded up on snacks, kid books and dvd’s (gifts for Claire’s friends at the orphanage). We were sure to get pictures of the meat department and of the live turtles and frogs. We have been teasing Claire all day that she could have her choice of either a turtle or a frog for dinner.

Our hotel is located in a business area but the subway station is very close. We were able to hop on the subway and find our way downtown without any trouble. We wandered around People’s Park this morning and then strolled down Nanjing Road, a pedestrian street full of restaurants and shopping. We walked all the way to the Bund River where we got on a people mover which took us under the river and to the other side. We were able to see the sights from the Pudong side of the river before getting some ice cream and heading back to the room.

We are heading out to find some dinner and get some fresh air. Then tomorrow we’ll take the train to Yangzhou to join the orphanage reunion group.