China -- Where Octopus Is Welcome

Sydney's Chinese proverb

We arrived before dawn on a grey, smoggy morning, steaming upriver into Shanghai with high rises in either side of us. Hundreds of ships -- tankers, tugs, freighters, and fishing boats -- shared the waters with us. Navigating the traffic was a tremendous feat. 

We were told this is the busiest port in the world, and certainly the hardest for our captain to enter on our voyage. At one point, our ship played chicken with a barge that was anchored in the middle of the river. The barge won. After hours of maneuvering, we docked right across from the iconic, space-age Pearl. 

In order to understand what happened next, let me tell you a story.  Three years ago, we welcomed a beautiful Chinese girl into our home for Christmas.  She was a couchsurfer. Sun Yu quickly became part of the family as we celebrated the holiday together and spent several days exploring secondhand shops, volunteering with the homeless, and eating way too many desserts.  Sun Yu came back for Austin's birthday in February, then surprised us again in the summer with another lovely visit.

This past Tuesday when we pulled into Shanghai, Sun Yu was waiting in the port -- a vision in a red, full-length, faux-fur trimmed coat. She looked like a Chinese princess.  Sun Yu came all the way from Beijing to spend two days with us.  We were honored and overjoyed.

After dropping off our backpacks at the Mingtown Youth Hostel, we promptly made our way to Yang's Fried Dumplings.  The last time we were in China, Austin and I fell in love with these homemade little pillows of dough filled with pork and broth.  We couldn't wait to introduce the rest of the family to them.  Between the 6 of us, we ate almost 40 dumplings!

Imagine a slightly crispy, slightly doughy pastry with green onions and sesame seeds on top. When you bite into it, hot pork broth squirts out, usually on your clothes or the person next to you. You try not to drop it with your chopsticks. By the time we were done with lunch, every single one of us had broth on our pants, jackets, or hair. It was totally worth it! Charlie decided they would make excellent paint ball bullets.

Serendipitously, we discovered a man on the side of the street selling tiny turtles.  I asked in horror, "To eat?!" Sun Yu looked just as horrified and said, "No!" 

Now when given a chance to buy a turtle in Shanghai, of course you have to take it.  Charlie picked out a little grey one whom the kids named Penelope, and brought her back to the youth hostel.  Penelope loved the little fountain and fish pond in the courtyard.  Charlie put her in a Heineken ashtray for safekeeping while we went to get changed, but when we returned, Penelope was gone!  She is still on the lam today.

Next stop -- Yu Gardens, a most beautiful Chinese garden with rockeries, pools, and lovely arches and sculptures.  Even the kids were enthralled. We finished by walking to the Bund, the riverside part of Shanghai with incredibly modern buildings. Unfortunately, it was freezing cold and windy, so we caught a bus back downtown to a yellow-lantern-adorned Chinese restaurant, where we enjoyed eggplant in sauce, duck, fried yams, noodles in broth, and many more delights.

The next day after far too many delicious pastries for breakfast, we spent the day in the People's Park. This is a large, lovely park in the center of Shanghai, a true respite in a smoggy, urban city. With leisure time that only comes on vacation, we explored and played and had a ball.  We tried every piece of exercise equipment they had.  Charlie and Kerry played basketball with some Chinese guys.  We went on some carnival rides. The kids had a running race. We even saw a housing demonstration. 

After a while, it was time for what else?  More of Yang's Fried Dumplings!

Sadly, we said goodbye to Sun Yu as she headed back to Beijing.  She truly is like a sister/daughter to us, and we can't wait until our paths cross again. We've decided to formalize the adoption process.

Kerry was fighting a cold, so we opted to stay out of the wind that afternoon and watch "Unbroken." We all enjoyed it very much. The only funny thing was that the Japanese portions of the movie were subtitled in Mandarin, so we never knew what they were saying.

After Shanghai, we flew to Hong Kong where we stayed with dear friends on Discovery Bay, a lovely expat enclave a 20-minute ferry ride from downtown.  Kerry and Scott Hull were roommates in the mid-80s in DC. Scott now lives with his wife, Danielle, and adorable kids in Hong Kong. What a blessing to be in their beautiful home overlooking a resort-like beach and bay and to enjoy delicious food and friendship together.

The next day, Kerry and Sydney succumbed to the cold/cough combo while the boys and I headed off to visit Suen Douh camp, an hour north of the city. Our wonderful friend, John Bechtel, started the camp almost 50 years ago, and it is a very special, meaningful place! About 100 kids from around the area were playing games, picnicking outside, and eating Popsicles. My boys challenged them to ping pong and were thrilled to win a few games on Chinese soil. After doing the ropes course, they asked if they could attend the camp! When Charlie played karrom, a form of billiards, he came from behind to beat the camp director, a delightful man named Wingo Kong. 

Wingo and his colleague, Eric, took us to a fabulous dim sum lunch at a floating restaurant. Austin ate more than anyone, particularly any form of dumpling or pork bun they brought out. Dim sum means heart point, and they say you love it so much, it goes right to your heart. Austin's heart sure was bursting! He was our best eater in Japan and China!

Suen Douh Camp in Fanling

When we finally returned to the ship in Hong Kong, we discovered it was docked right next to the Star Ferry on the Kowloon side, an excellent and historic location in a fascinating  city. We were amazed at the money and the sheer humanity in Hong Kong. People queued up in long lines just to get into Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci. An entire floor of a mall was dedicated to designer baby clothes. (My favorite was the baby Versace store.) Three massive, gorgeous chandeliers illumined an otherwise dark black Abercrombie & Fitch. We jostled with thousands of people making our way through the streets, as neon flashed everywhere around us.

Our last day was Sunday, and we visited a wonderful English-speaking church that meets in the YMCA. 

Now we are back on board the ship for two days, then we hit 90 degrees in Vietnam and Cambodia!

P.S. We would sure appreciate your prayers for good health as we head out to sea again. We must learn to pace ourselves. We (and the rest of the ship) are fighting either the flu or a sinus infection. It's tough to travel when any of us is not 100%!  But God is able to strengthen us and restore us to health, and we are praying for that.