Spring has finally arrived in Shanghai.  The streets are lined with flowers and the trees on our street have started to bloom.  The weather has been lovely, as April seems to be the most pleasant month of the year.  It is going to get hot and humid soon.  Here is a link to the pictures for our first couple of months with captions for explanation.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105315223482012434599/ChinaPart1

We had our first small adventure away from Shanghai.   It started with our apartment elevator jerking, then stopping in the middle of the 13^th floor and we thought ‘this might be the shortest adventure yet’.  It was a false alarm and we made our way an hour by metro, a 15 min walk, an hour ferry ride and then a taxi to the resort on Hengsha Island.  This is a small island off of Shanghai that is known for its nature and clear air.   The theme of the weekend was ‘more trees than people’ and that is what we got.

The resort we stayed at was comical as it was old and worn down but the name was Angel Resort Vacationland, ha!  It poured rain for the duration of our stay, no one at the resort spoke any English and there was nothing around the resort.  But alas, we had a good time.  We went there to escape the crowds of people and we definitely did this.  We went for a 2 hour run in the rain along a desolate road with trees, flowers, goats, ducks and part of it was along the coast of the island.  At dinner the menu was completely in Chinese and no pictures!  We just pointed and hoped for the best.  We ended up with one vegetable dish, one meat dish and one soup.  We are pretty sure the meat dish was pigeon though.  Then came the task of trying to get a taxi back to the ferry but Zane, being resourceful, drew a picture of a taxi and boat for the front desk to call for us and  it worked!

We have also discovered Sherpa’s, which is a delivery service in Shanghai that deliveries food from almost any restaurant, beer, wine, cigarettes, and ice.  There are guys on scooters all over the city with their Sherpa’s outfits on delivering at all times of the day and night.  They charge a delivery fee depending on how far away the restaurant is from your house and you order it online.  Convenient and dangerous as its easy to spend too much money.    We want to bring this idea back to the states.

Faith has prevailed on the package from my parents finally getting to us.  They sent us a care package through UPS at the end of February.   The Chinese customs department got a hold of it, requested detailed documentation from me each week for 4 weeks, then UPS declared it abandoned.  At this point we pretty much gave up hope.  But then 6 weeks later it magically cleared customs and arrived!  We are so excited for the snacks and coffee from home!

Qiabo is ancient canal area only about 20 mins from our place.  It is known for the crazy snacks you can get similar to Snack Street in Beijing.  Zane tried snails, clams filled with pork, fried crayfish and more.  We got some amazing pics as it was sunny and beautiful in Shanghai that day.   Click on the link to enjoy the pictures from this adventure.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105315223482012434599/Qiabo

Here are a couple of pictures from Jing’an Temple as well.