Last days in Shanghai

Last days in Shanghai

After Isabelle and Phoebe had left we moved to a new apartment. I say apartment, but really more like a well equipped half of a garage with a lick of paint! A come-down from our 16th floor Christmas apartment in more ways than one. It was quite comfortable except for the temperature. Having a wooden roof it was very difficult to keep it warm and the bathroom unheated with outside temperatures around 7C! On the plus side it was very quiet, being in one of the old 'lanes' so we enjoyed the isolation from the traffic and building noise. It was also much nearer to Oliver so we could make the most of seeing his family before we moved on to Australia (where we are now in fact and sheltering from temperatures around 40C. It's tough all this travelling! More to follow on all that.)

The weather did get a bit warmer and the sun came out before we left so we were able to go out with Oliver, Sasa and Theo. We visited the Jade Buddha temple in Shanghai which was similar to the Longhua temple we were at for New Years Eve. Many elaborate and huge statues of Buddha and other deities as well as the Jade one itself. There were still many people praying and making offerings. We felt quite like intruders being only there as tourists. Many women wanted to see Theo and crowded round the pram whenever it stopped. Some people made comments questioning whether the temple was a good place for a baby since they can see spirits and might be frightened. They also didn't approve of Sasa's black shawl with skulls on, used as a cover over the pram, not so much because of the skulls but because the spirits like bright colours. Fortunately she had another more suitable one to cover the pram.

We enjoyed our last few days with Oliver, Sasa and Theo and seeing a bit more of their friends and family. Finally our time in China came to an end but was brightened for us and Oliver by discussing their plans to visit England in April, pretty soon after we return to UK. With that in mind, we prepared ourselves to swap from Northern Winter to Southern Summer. We collected a load of wintery clothes and other stuff no longer needed for our travels and packed them off to UK by surface mail. We will see whether they arrive home before we do.

New accommodation (the white shed on the left)

Sasa and her attentive student play the Guzheng

Jade Buddha Temple - praying for new year luck

Jade Buddha Temple - one of many altars

Jade Buddha Temple - family outing

Theo's admirers

Jade Buddha Temple - Coi feeding frenzy