Leisure

Living in China, we are experiencing a different quality of life than what we had back in the U.S. Labor is cheap (the USD:CNY exchange rate also helps) here so it isn't unusual for expats to have personal drivers, maids, and custom-tailored clothing. And most of us are living well within our means.

Eric had a couple of suits tailored earlier this spring and was thrilled with the results. I was happy that his shirts actually fit him. It's hard to find things to properly fit a tall, skinny man. We went back there recently to have him fitted for a couple of summer suits.



I have never in my life seen Eric so excited about clothes shopping. We have some friends (a married couple) who have had clothes tailored at another shop by the fabric market and we are planning to go clothes shopping with them soon. I can't believe I just wrote that we are going on a couples outing clothes shopping and that Eric is not only willing, but excited, to go. The husband has also had shoes made and managed to buy about 30 ties for 10 kuai each (that's about 1USD per tie).

Later that Saturday, I went on a midnight bicycle ride with the Expat Professional Womens group. There was a group of 20 people, some with their own bikes with the rest of us with rentals. It had been some months since I had last been on a bicycle and I was a bit unsure and wobbly at first. Having short legs also does not help. Shanghai never truly sleeps. The traffic diminishes but there are still many people out and about.



The guides led us to Old Town and through dark and narrow alley ways. Mind you it is the middle of the night and not only do we have to contend with no street lights in some of these alley ways, we also have to navigate through narrow passageways clogged with rubbish, bicycles, mopeds, and furniture. I nearly hit a wall trying to negotiate a tight corner. We rode past startled Shanghainese people, some finishing laundry, others enjoying a late night meals, still others managing their still-open businesses, and one man emptying his bladder. Our passage evoked laughter and one person commented in Chinese about how the 'laowai' (foreigners) certainly enjoy riding their bicycles. We rode on to the river and boarded a ferry to take us across to Pudong, where we continued to ride for about an hour before heading back to the ferry. We stopped by the Pudong river walkway and was surprised to see it flooded. Eric and I had been there the previous Saturday and the river was nowhere near the flood point.



That's all water covering the bottom step there. The water is somewhere between ankle- and knee-deep. When we rode back to the ferry to take us back to the Puxi side of the river, we found that the ferry was inoperable for a couple of hours due to the high river levels. It was about 1A at that point and we were stranded in Pudong with 20 bicycles. The metro was closed by then and it was too dangerous to attempt riding back on any of the roads due to homicidal car traffic. A couple in the ride group lived in Pudong and we stored all the bicycles in the parking garage of their apartment complex until they could be picked up the following morning. Those of who lived in Puxi pooled to take taxis back home. I hope to take Eric on the next bicycle ride.

Sunday we went to an indoor downhill snow skiing site with Penny. The place is located in the south part of Shanghai. We took the metro to the last stop south and then a short taxi ride to the skiing center. Admission includes equipment rental (coat, snow pants, gloves, boots, skis / snowboard). Eric and I took some of our own cold weather clothing like hats and gloves and socks. We made sure we had socks for Penny as she got a bad blister from ice skating without socks.



The ski site is all indoors and consists of three tiers. There isn't a proper ski lift as we Americans would recognize. Rather, there is a moving walkway to the first tier, much like those you see in airports.




There is another lift to the second and third tier but most people choose to stay on the first. The place was pretty busy and if you're new to skiing or getting yourself reacquainted, the crowds can be daunting. The slope isn't particularly steep but we enjoyed ourselves.

I wore my raccoon hat. I put it on and walked through the busy Grand Gateway mall and the subway with it on. Since the ambient temperature was in the 90's, I took it off during the remainder of the metro ride. I wore it on the ski slopes. Needless to say, it drew a lot of stares.


There I am with Penny.

So much activity over this past weekend has given me the excuse of being lax in my exercise regime. I'm planning on joining a yoga class but can't find one that meets in the mornings. Next week I'm starting Chinese lessons and hopefully I can better understand all the questions I'm asked on a daily basis.