We're Back ...

Well, we had the trip of a lifetime and I'm glad I went. We may never come across the opportunity to go to China again, but I would sure love for my kids to see and experience it. It's definitely a world away, with its own culture and excitement. Not that I'm a world traveler or anything, but it's definitely the first time I felt like the minority. Not many people speak English, and if they do, it's limited. I'm fascinated by their handwriting, their food, and their customs and culture. I'm not quite sure I can share every single thing we did with you, because there was so much and my time is quite limited now, but I'd love for you to see some of China. It was my plan to blog as I went along (which would have been much easier), and I apologize if you have sent me a message through Facebook and I have yet to respond (I will, I promise), but apparently the Chinese government does not permit Facebook, Youtube, or Blogspot in their country. My email was sketchy at best. But we were able to Skype with the family pretty easily. We'll see how far I get. One thing Greg does love about traveling to his meetings is all of the countries that are usually represented (in picture above, the US, France, Sweden, and China). It is really interesting. If you seen the last Olympics that was held in Bejing you have obviously figured out that the Chinese love their lights. The skyline of Shanghai is a must see at night. Twinkling lights everywhere and manicured bushes almost makes you feel like you're at Disneyworld, not to mention the crowd of 22 million that live there (that would not be including visitors). The Chinese are very nice people. And although they could not speak English (or it was very limited), and we could not speak Mandarin (or Shanghanese as it is there), they tried their best to figure out what the heck you were looking for! The best way to get around Shanghai, if you're a local, is by bike and scooter. And there's always the Metro and taxi, which both were fairly cheap. We did both, but the taxi ride is a must do. We were actually so glad when we arrived in boring Atlanta and not hearing horns blowing constantly. The taxi ride would put NYC to shame. And it's much, much cheaper. And of course none of the taxi drivers could speak a lick of English. No surprise there. But they have come up with a great alternative for foreigners like us. At your hotel you get a card that has all the hot spots to visit while in Shanghai, with all of the addresses written in Mandarin, and then they have the hotel address on there as well. So you point out the address that you want to go to (which is in English as well), and the driver will take you there. When you're ready to return to your room, you point out the address to the hotel. Pretty good way to get around, huh? Requires no conversation. And speaking of room, ours was very nice and comfortable. Lots of apartments EVERYWHERE! Later I'll share with you a few fascinating things we did while we were there. But for now I will leave you with a glimpse of Shanghai at night ...