Sights and Sounds

This past weekend we spent riding the Metro. We took it to Shanghai Stadium and IKEA. We went to a metro stop near Eric's workplace, trying to figure out which line closest (not line 4, which was the one we were on). We then rode to People's Square and walked down Nanjing Road to the Bund. And then, from Nanjing Road back home.

There's always something going on here. On the street corner of North Cao Xi Road and West Zhong Shan Road near Shanghai Stadium, we saw this man selling rabbits and hamsters to passersby. Look closely at the picture. There's a hamster in a wheel on top of the stack. Here's a man buying a white rabbit for his girlfriend.

Further on down the street were people selling corn on the cob and hot baked sweet potatoes, cakes, watches and jewelry, umbrellas. All sorts of things. That sort of thing I expected. I was surprised to see people vending pets on the street corner.

The metro is easy to use and cheap. It does get crowded and you really need to push your way onto and off the cars. There was one station where my purse got caught on someone exiting and I simply could not move through the crush of people. Eric needed to grab me and pull me through before the doors closed. At another stop, we exited with about 85% of the other people on the metro. I was again wedged, this time by 2 women with several large shopping bags and again needed Eric to pull me through. I saw one man clinging to a pole in the car, trying desperately not to get swept away by the tide of people exiting the car.

We also went to People's Square again. We walked down Nanjing Road to the Bund. The weather is starting to improve. The sun was out and the day was quite nice. I'd like it to be a bit warmer, but I suppose in a few months I'll be whining for cooler weather.

We just got Mugsy out of quarantine. More on that later.