Shanghai -- Old Town: Yu-Yuan Market

Our first site when getting off the bus!! 

First stop--- lunch!
Too bad you can't see the smile on Clark's face
 (sitting at the table to the left of the counter)
when he got his McNuggets!!
And... yes.... they deliver!!

 

What we would call China Town, they simply call Old Town.

 

The architecture is fascinating!

 

I loved the lanterns! 

A beautiful ceiling inside one of the breezeways! 

 

There were shops of all kinds tucked here, there, and everywhere.

Another Starbucks!! 

The Nine ZigZag Bridge
Nine is the number of long life....
Ghosts can only walk in a straight line, not zigzags!! 

View from the bridge 

One of our visits in Old Town was this Chinese Tea Shop.
He explained about a few teas and we got to taste a few, including the blooming tea!

 

 

 

Then we got to do some tea shopping, then back downstairs for some pearl shopping!! 

Xi'an -- to Shanghai

Hard to believe with all these apartment buildings that farmers today have no money to buy a house. They have to dig a hole in the mud to make a mud cave house.... Many have no electric and have to use candles!!

 

A paddy-wagon!! 

 It was crazy to see the mass of wires
 just kind of hanging there!

Doing morning exercises on the sidewalk. 

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport

 

We thought these sleepboxes were pretty cool!!

 

 

Hello, Shanghai!!!
 

Apartment towers, of course. 

In 2010, 7 million people attended the Expo.
The China Pavilion is the only building left standing, as all others have been torn down. 

A gray day in Shanghai.....
But, we're off to Old Town for shopping and tea, to visit a garden, and we'll end the day at an acrobats show!! 

Xi'an -- Art Museum and Bell Tower

We had a brief afternoon stop at the Xi'an Art Museum.

We all thought these shadow puppets were fascinating.

Not sure if it was more their brilliant colors, that they were jointed, or that they were made of animal skin...... 

Was it ironic that my goat and Rodney's rat
were side-by-side???
(Our Chinese birth years...) 

I was intrigued by the dragons on this vase!

The best part of our art museum visit was our calligraphy lesson!!

Can you believe Rodney would write such things?!?!?!?!
(It was his idea I write that ;0) 

Clark did a fabulous job!!!!

 

After our return to the hotel following the dance show, we had just enough time to venture out for a bit of exploration and to get a closer look at the glorious bell tower. We had seen one of the original bells used in the tower on display on the city wall.

 

We popped into Starbuck's and grabbed a coffee for the walk back to the hotel. 

Only one more city and three more days left in our trip...... Shanghai!!! 

Xi'an -- Tang Palance Dance Show

We had a dumpling dinner consisting of so many different types of dumplings we lost count! They just kept bringing the baskets out! We were on a time crunch, so I didn't take time to take pictures of each basket, which was really a bummer considering each type of dumpling was in the shape of a different animal or flower!!!  

We had our dinner upstairs, then those of us that opted for this extra 'stop' were escorted downstairs to the
"Shaanxi Grand Opera House"
where other visitors were finishing up their dinner. 

Then, it was time for the show!!
The MCs-- the Emperor would speak in Chinese, then the Empress would translate in English.

"Hua Qing Palace" 

 

"White Sleeve Dance"
This was beautiful to watch! 

 

That looks like the Wild Goose Pagoda!! 

"Spring Outing"

 

"Spring Orioles Song (a Pal Xiao solo)" 

"Watching Bird and Catching Cicada" 

Now this guy cracked us up!!!!
 He would make these Donald Duck-like whistle sounds!!

"Masked Warriors"

 

 

"Feather Dress Dance" 

"The Great Tang Rites and Music"

It was a very enjoyable show!!!!

When it was over, Sunny says to us--
"Come! Take picture with Empress!"
She took us out to the lobby and moved us behind a roped off area. The lobby was already packed with people waiting for the next show (I guess every showing is pretty much sold out!!). Sunny left for a minute and comes back saying, "Empress in toilet!" So, we waited just a few more minutes. Then, Sunny gets all excited, "Come! Come!" Rodney and I were in the front of our little group as we followed Sunny. She placed us next to the Empress, we handed her our camera, and she took a few shots for us. The people in the lobby looked at us for a second, then the next thing we knew-- all these cameras were being pulled out and flashes going off--- they were taking pictures of us!!! We felt like we'd been paparazzied!!!

Then it was back to the hotel to get things ready for an early morning relocation to Shanghai!!!