There are no pictures, there are barely any words.....

This is a terrible and tragic story. It begins quite nicely, three girls out walking to Yu Yuan Gardens for some shopping. We were chatting and trying to keep warm by walking quickly - it was cold with an icey breeze at times to remind you it was still winter. We had a map but none of us had our reading glasses so the small streets on the map remained a mystery. We had been walking for a while and realized, twice, that we had gone in a circle and had passed this street or that shop earlier. It was not a problem, our program for the afternoon was a walk, no one had to be home at any particular time so we just enjoyed being together and being outside.

We had stopped to try and read the map with the small streets and heard this awful scream. A long and wailing scream. I looked across the street toward the scream and saw a man with his hands covering his mouth looking up. I turned to look in the same direction and saw nothing. I saw nothing because the tragedy had happened. A person, don't know, man or woman, had jumped from the top of a 30 story building. I found this in the paper this morning.

Click on the highlighted area and you will be directed to the Shanghai Daily Newspaper.....I think.

About 5 minutes later, 10 men, ambulance and police, were running into the building to the back garden area (I guess where he fell) to scoop him and well......

I cannot explain what an awful feeling it was to know what had just transpired, my whole body was weak, sickened at the thought. So sad. I thought wanted to cry but no tears, just this huge wave of emotion and sadness.

When does the shopping stop...........

As I have mentioned there is a lot of construction going on in Shanghai, a lot of tearing down of buildings. Well this was one sight I'll never forget, a building being torn down around the shop and they were not leaving until ....well ......until the building was gone? Heck I don't know, I do know the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) would frown at this situation.


This is my friend Gaby, she and I were taking a walk when we saw the "shopping".

Christmas Gold - Chinese New Year Red

For the Christmas Season, which the youth (18 - 30) celebrate, these wonderful golden ornaments were placed on our street. By the way the celebration of Christmas has nothing to do with religion, it a time where they go out with friends and exchange cards. As always in China nothing is wasted, everything that can be, is recycled. So for Chinese New Year, Feb. 14 - Feb. 21, the street ornaments have been painted red. Red being the lucky color for New Year. Isn't that great!

Now We Know.

Sometimes you just don't know how to respond.
This menu was at the Cheerway Restaurant at the airport.
I wonder who has the cool tips. What could they be?
Maybe if you are seated in the "cool" section you are informed of the cool tips.
Oh well....TIC.....this is china.

Tearing Down Shanghai

Shanghai is changing rapidly and for many reasons. First there is new money and people want to move up, buy new homes. Lots of great real estate speculation and tons of new construction. Also Shanghai is getting ready for the World Expo, what use to be known as the Worlds Fair, and the government would like to have Shanghai look it's best, so out with the old.

During the time of Mao and all his various movements the one thing that was not done was create more/new housing for the people. From 1950 - 1970 the population in Shanghai went from 4 million to 10 million and no new housing. Instead, at the time, if you had a home with 6 rooms, 6 new families probably moved in, each family getting their very own room. Remember the government now owns everything, it is a Communist society. There was a common kitchen area and probably no toilets. The water source was outside the house, sort of a garden pipe. And yes your bathroom is a chamber pot. Not too many of these places left but I have seen a few. These homes were once beautiful and they were part of the architectural history of Shanghai. As the government began "leasing" land to real estate speculators and companies, old buildings were torn down and new high rises were being built. The government gives you money and a new home if your home (room in the home to be accurate) was torn down. This is a great deal! Sort of.... your new apartment has a 70 year lease. You have to leave after 70 years as the property reverts back to the government. But you get hard cash too - about $100,000. There is some formula to it all. Here is an interesting story about one case of begin "bought out".

The woman on the top floor is named Pan Yong. She lives in a four-story building with a living area of 480 square meters (about 5,000 sq ft.!) in the Minheng district of Shanghai. Both Pan Yong and her husband Zhang Qilong were born in this district. In the 1990’s, the couple went to study in New Zealand and obtained citizenship there. In 2004, the two returned to China. Zhang renovated the rural house of his father and moved in there. In 2008, Pan Yong received a notice of demolition from the Hongqiao Airport Traffic Centre. This disrupted the tranquil lives of this family.

According to the notice, their house lied within a construction zone and therefore they must move out because their house will be demolished. It was calculated that Pan Yong will receive 761 yuan per square meter for relocating the house and 1,480 yuan for land acquisition. In total, Pan Yong was going to receive a total of 673,000 yuan in compensation. This equals about $100,000.

Pan Yong said: “I told them that I will give them 700,000 yuan and they are supposed to buy a house that is more or less like mine. I told them to buy one for me. They said that it was impossible.”

Pan Yong lives in the Minheng district near the Hongqiao airport. The current housing prices in this area is as much as 15,000 yuan per square meet. Pan Yong’s house should also be able to fetch 4,000 yuan per month if rented out. Therefore, she thought that the compensation did not meet market level. The family decided that they will not sign the agreement because they won’t accept the assessment.

Pan Yong said: “You can’t take away my lamb and hand me back a chicken. You can’t just say that the chicken looks handsome and it can lay eggs, and expect me to take it. I don’t want it. This is unacceptable.”

Here are some pictures of what was once a very beautiful neighborhood.

Hot Pot - Beijing Style

Yummy yum. It's been so cold here, average temperature 35 degrees, so Hot Pot seems to be the perfect meal. We went to a very local restaurant with some of Tony's office mates. It was a good time and the was food great! We would never be able to go to this restaurant without a Chinese person as the menu does not have pictures or English translation. You have to be able to read Chinese characters to order. For 7 us to eat and drink came to $100 and we ate like kings! This hot pot restaurant was different from some others that we have been to in that the pot was a different shape. Usually we have seen just a nice big pot in the middle of the table with a heat source under it. This pot had a cone in the center and inside the cone was charcoal heating the soup around it.

For those of you who may have forgotten, soup is ordered and set in the middle of the table. It's a clear soup, usually chicken base and if you want you can also ask for spicy soup. Tony really likes that one. I use to like it but I find I can only eat a little as my mouth gets too burned up from the spicy peppers. Now I go for the plain soup. Then you order all the things you are going to put in the soup. This is like fondue only much healthier. Popular items are, sliced beef, mushrooms, all kinds of green vegetables, tofu (which has no taste, and I have tried all kinds), noodles, fish balls, small dumplings and well anything that can be cooked or heated up in boiling soup can be added. You stick in your stuff and then scoop it out and yum! There are all kinds of dipping sauces to dunk your 'boiled' food in. I mean let's face it boiled food can be a bit bland. The sauce really makes the meal. After you finish cooking up all your items you then end the meal by having some very flavorful soup.

Tony's New Tux

What a nice way to start the year, buy a new custom made Tuxedo! It took about 3 weeks to make and 2 fittings. We are going to a St. Patrick's Ball in March and Tony has a holiday office party next week. I think they are celebrating Chinese New Year, but it could just be an office party. No spouses to this affair, which is normal for Chinese office functions. Oh well.

Doesn't he look nice! How about that beard! It's about a month old now and looks great! Tony says he may have to shave it off because of some important meeting coming up in Feb.

Christmas Pictures

Our second Christmas in China, who would have thought. It's been some time since I have written here on my Blog. The main reason was that I could not access it. I now have a program that allows me to surf the web and access all the sites that the Chinese government does not want their citizens to look at, remember I live in a communist country and the government here tells it's population what it can and cannot do.

Shanghai is pretty cold these days, about 30 degrees or so everyday this week. I may have mentioned this before, the cold is a wet damp cold and it really goes right to your bones.

We are looking forward to our trip next week to Vietnam. We will leave on Thurs. 12/24 and return Sat. Jan 2, 2010. The weather in Vietnam should be between 75 - 80 degrees, a nice change from the cold. We plan on visiting Hanoi, Halong Bay and Danang.

What's been going on?

Here we are at the airport lounge in Singapore!

What's been going on? Well, I have been unable to access my blog for over 3 weeks and I can only assume that the government here in China has put a block on the blogger account. I cannot access any blogs that are posted through blogspot which is the site I use to post. I hope to figure something out soon when I return to China so I can keep blogging.

I am posting to you via the lounge at the Singapore airport at 6:30am Tues May 26. We are headed out to Bali. Tony decided to book us on the midnight flight in economy class. He was so uncomfortable in economy that I do believe he will never travel economy again on flights longer than 5 hours. I managed to doze on and off and am now completely tired and unrested and wide awake due to the tasty coffee offered up here at the lounge. We will catch a plane at 9:30a to arrive in Bali at noon. Total distance from Shanghai to Bali 3,605 miles, total flying time 6 hours 30 minutes, approximately. Tony is working on his homework and I am just tickled to be able to read my friends posts and post a blog myself.

Tony was away in the States for 2 weeks and I was busy teaching and visiting with friends and of course missing him. Tony had a wonderful time at home, he flew a bit, went to TJ's graduation, spent time with both Lisa and TJ and enjoyed the spectacular weather that Richmond was having.

Only 3 more weeks of teaching, I cannot believe that it's almost finished. What a great experience it has been. I have learned so much about China and it's culture. I have been asked to teach again next year and am waiting for the contract papers. I am so glad for the opportunity.

Dad will be here June 8 with Alieen and Charleen and I am excited and eager to see them. We should have a grand time while they are here. I am planning on coming to the States this summer on July 11 and returning to Shanghai on Sept 3, plenty of time to see friends and family!

Letters from the students

I mostly get emails that are asking for an excused absence but this one really brightened my day.

Dear Mrs.Mollica,

I'm Spring, your student in Friday1-2.
First, I want to say a big thank you for you have given us such a lot of knowledge. Especially the poem Dream Big, I really like it very much. It always encourage me to accept the challenge.
Secondly, as a junior student, I was chosen to be an exchange student a few weeks ago. So I'll go to North Carolina State University for my graduate study next semester. Thanks to the poem, it helped me to make a decision when I hesitated whether I should go abroad for my further study.
Thirdly, May 1st holiday is coming. Enjoy the holiday~I want to recommend some good places for you. Inner Mongolia is my hometown. There are a lot of beautiful sceneries, such as XiangShaWan Desert where the sands can create many kinds of sounds, and several famous prairies where the sky is much bluer than Shanghai. Hope one day you could have a trip there, and I'm quite pleased to be a tourist guide for you.
Best wishes^^Spring Lee


I am interested in going to see other parts of China, I wonder how I would get in touch with her if I go out to the far reaches of China - no phone service out there and it's lacking the other basic necessities of life, sometimes I wonder why I want to go see all that, but I do. I guess it's because I want to see how other people live.

Here is the most recent leave of absence email....

Dear Mollica:

I am writing to apologize for my absence from the English class next Monday without asking off . It was very rude of me to do so .

You know ,it is the International Labor Day so we have 3 days holiday. I went to my hometown--AnHui province .But unlucky , I have got high fever today .You know , in rcecent days ,there is the disease influenza .So ,i can't go back ShangHai by train .And I have to heal in AnHui Province, and I think I will go bake to ShangHai in 3days latter . I have ask for leave from my tutor and the Business and Management Seminary.

I know , in this term , I have ask for the sick leave 3 times.It will bring some trrouble to you--my teacher.I feel terrible sorry for it .I also need to tone up with more exercise and a change of diet.

Sorry againe for it!

Best regards!

Yours: Aimee(2080573)

2009.5.3

Snazzy picture of Tony

Tony asked me to take a picture of him for a marketing something or other. This was not the first shot......even though I am a fantastic photographer(what?) we had a couple "do overs". This one was the best, how about that twinkle in his eye!

Oh here is a shot where is has stars in his eyes!!

Mahjong madness

I took a quick snapshot of myself with the computer camera, do I have a bit of a dazed look...it's the mahjong calling I may be addicted.
Yes I am learning to play mahjong and it's quite fun. A bit like 14 card rummy only more complicated. You play with 14 tiles and there are 3 suits and many wild cards. My driver thinks I am a big gambler now that he knows I am learning to play. Here in China if you are playing mahjong you are gambling.

I bought my own mahjong tiles - heavy little suckers. I play every Wednesday from 12 - 3, it's a nice group ranging from 8 to 12 to ladies who get together. Mostly Aussies but a couple Americans in the group as well. I am still learning so I am kind of a drag to play with, so many questions, but the ladies are all good sports. I generally walk over to the apartment of whom ever is hosting the game day, takes about 30 minutes and since the weather is wonderful it's a very enjoyable walk.

And fortunately the weather continues to be wonderful so here are some shots of Shanghai.

Lift off.......

Right so when are we leaving for Bali ? May 25 - May 30.

Where in the world........

Woo Hoo, we have planned a trip for ourselves. Just us, alone on a beach. Do I sound happy!?! We have been talking about going somewhere since we arrived in China. We think we are so close to so many interesting places but we are not close, we are just closer than if we were arriving from the states. Asia is HUGE, and everything is far away from China, so when we began talking about a trip we started to realize everything is 6 or 8 or 10 hours away. Tony travels so much that I felt bad about getting on a plane to go somewhere for pleasure, I mean the guy just wants to sit still sometimes. And do you blame him.

This past week for example, Tony left at 4:30am Monday April 20th to go to India and is returning 11:20pm Sunday April 26th - it will be Monday April 27th when he walks into the apartment. So you see why although we would like to go away frequently he just physically couldn't, he needs some rest time, non travel time. Then of course we had the kids, one at Xmas and then April so we had to budget our vacation time accordingly and I do work so that factors into it as well as Tony's work schedule which as I have explained is very hectic. We finally just said, lets make a plan and do it!Bali is our destination!
Bali, the land of the........hmmmm I better look that up. Well the pictures on the internet show beaches and warm sunny weather. So maybe it's known for that!

I found these great little sandals for 100 RMB and was told by my Chinese friend that I paid 50RMB too much. Ugh. So instead of paying $14.00 I should have paid $7.00. The store keepers just refuse to give the Westerns the same price as the locals. The merchandise is never marked so you have no idea what the real price is, the shop keeper assumes(rightly so) that you have no clue and what ever she says is the correct price. I will tell you that she started the negotiation at 550 RMB or $82.00 so I felt pretty good about getting her down to the 100 RMB, but still not low enough I am told. The whole process of shopping is very tiring, OK interesting and intriguing when you first arrive in China but wearisome now. I prefer to go to the department stores, but they don't have any good ones and then you pay too much for the same crappy merchandise. It's a strange process here. But cute shoes, no? They will be perfect for our trip.

The International Boat Show Shanghai

The international boat show in Shanghai was held right across the street from our apartment building. Here's a picture of the convention center from our window. Saturday was such a nice day that we asked some friends to join us to see the show. Part of the show was outside and part of the show was held inside the convention center. The building is about 50 years old and was the last hurrah of the Russian/China partnership building something together. Can you see the boats in the picture above?

Notice the communist star in all the photos.




Here is where you filled out your form to enter the show.

Liz and Tony's second home. This is Tony's favorite sail boat and I have to say it is quite lovely inside. Very roomy. 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, almost like the apartment we are living in now only 1/3 the size!
Our friends Gaby and Julien. We found this little spot at the show, it felt like a German beer garden so we opted for a beer instead of a coffee. The weather couldn't have been better!
Tony's new 'dream' toy. He just stood in front of this little boat for 10 minutes and you could see him dreaming about the river and what fun he could be having!

YuYuan Garden

Another BEAUtiful day here in Shanghai. We wandered around in the YuYuan Garden and enjoyed the flowers, trees and ponds. Shanghai is your typical concrete jungle so it's always nice to see green.

Public Etiquette

China is dirty and the people here have what we westerns consider disgusting habits. They will not sneeze into a tissue but instead let it spray right out. They think that sneezing into a tissue and putting it in you pocket (if you have no where to throw it out) is extremely vile! Sneezing gets the germs out - let it out man!! Also they spit, they spit loud and often. They pull up from the gut and let it fly. I have thought, in the course of my stay here so far, that one day I was going to end up with a lugie landing on the top of my shoe. I mean with the quantity of people and this habit that everyone has, it's bound to happen. And it has. I have been the recipient of a hawker right on the back of my leg and at the Great Wall no less. There were soooo many people I suppose it was inevitable.
I guess we can say there is such a thing as unconditional love...is he a good husband or what!This is the face of someone who is just DONE with visiting the wall, I think I am actually gritting my teeth here.