Adventurous Monday

This past Monday was Tomb Sweeping day. It is the equivalent of Memorial Day in the states. Chris and the kids both had the day off so we decided to venture out and about.

If you look up a picture of Shanghai, it will most likely show a bunch of high rise buildings with the Pearl Tower in the middle. The Pearl tower is like the mascot of Shanghai. We thought that would be a great place to go and show the kids. The Pearl Tower, not many years ago, was the tallest tower in the world (1500 feet) but no tower carries that title for long these days.

First we took a 30 min taxi ride to the nearest subway station and jumped on the number 2 line that goes under the huangpu river to the west side of Shanghai. It was so exciting for everyone to descend below the city, get our tickets, go through the turn style and get on our train. All the kids were just giddy with excitement. We got on the train at the end of the line so we easily got seats, but as the train progressed on to the next stops, it became seriously crowded.

The kids didn't care that everyone was staring at them. They just loved being "brave" and standing up to hold the pole while the train was going. There was this one grandpa who took no less than 15 pictures of Sara throughout the ride. A group of girls also wanted their picture with Sara. Little did we know that was just the beginning of the photo ops for the day.

We got off the subway and walked right over to the tower. Chris stood over by the entrance with Sara and Anna, while I took Gabe and Emily over and bought tickets. After we got the tickets I looked around for Chris and found him surrounded or I should say, found the stroller surrounded by people all looking inside. It was so funny! We managed to get away and inside to the elevator. We went up to the second observation level 863 feet up.

Once inside the observation deck, we could look out over Shanghai. It was amazing! We didn't get to observe long before the picture requests started. People would just walk up and pick Sara right up. She didn't cry but she also didn't acknowledge their existence either. People all over China have pictures with this very straight faced American baby boy. Yes! I said boy. That is the joke in the family. Sara can be dressed to the hilt in pink and still everyone says what a cute boy she is. Today at McDonald's we got the kid's meals with two girl toys and yes, two boy toys. Ah I digress. Back to the tower.

A lot of people wanted pictures with Emily too and like a champ she just stood there and grinned. A few families wanted Emily to stand next to their same aged sons for a picture. This one dad made his son put his arm around Emily and when the picture was done, the kid ran for the hills. It was hilarious.

Gabe didn't enjoy the Pearl Tower so much because he's a bit scared of heights. He wasn't going to rest easy ( stop whining) until we were on solid ground. Although, once we were down and eating lunch, he said, "That was so cool going up that high in the Pearl Tower. Let's go again." Of course, now that he's not staring down 860 feet at the city below, it's all cool.

Taking the Subway back was really fun and the kids loved it as much as the first time. I think we'll be taking it more often to the city. The rest of the day we spent at the school with our friends the Smith, just playing soccer. All in all it was a great day.