Jingle Bells in Shanghai

So back to my Sunday… I made my way back to the museum and went for bout number zwei. I did the Ming and Qing Furnature Gallery, Chinese Painting Gallery, and the Chinese Seal Coin Galleries. It was very informative, nice, and enjoyable, albeit so cold and congesting due to the blasting air-cond. Including a pause for green tea and cake I enjoyed it.

Afterwards I sat with the crowds a bit, in front of the musical (classic?) water fountain and was met by a young Chinese man who asked me if I liked the new modern angular building across the street – and proceeded to let me know he thought it was great. He also pointed out the State Theater, adjacent. Then he asked me if I liked music, and started singing Jungle Bells to me! (I had also heard Jingle Bells in the World Mega Store and as a street-cleaner tune!)

Once again, I managed to cross the huge crazy street by running across next to an old person, and made it to Pizza Hut for an expensive Western meal (55 RM) of veg individual pan pizza and a pot of tea. By the time I left, It was packed and people were waiting in line to get in at 6 p.m.

I was so exhausted and somehow managing to cross that street once more, amidst street vendors hawking food, watches, umbrellas, and a million other street crossers, rickshaws, full taxi’s, buses coming at you from all angles, a huge video billboard playing fashion show runs in the center of a six-cross street intersection– and finally in the midst of all the wild horn hooping hubbub, I gathered my senses and hopped into a taxi that was heading in my direction, right in the middle of crossing the street.

Sunday 12 September 1999