Shanghai Museum & my two teachers

At 10:00 Rebecca and Helen appeared at the apartment complex; Rebecca hailed a cab (they gave the driver the day off since Mon/Tues are holidays here in Shanghai) and we took off for downtown. Helen indicated our first stop would be lunch since our destination for the day, the Shanghai museum, would take 2-3 hours and doesn't offer lunch inside.

We arrived at one of the new towers in downtown Shanghai and headed towards Kinwang Restaurant, a chain of Hong Kong based restaurants. Taking a look at the menu, we soon learned it was still "breakfast", so we sipped tea and talked until they began serving lunch at 10:45. This prompted a discussion about one difference between Hong Kong and China. Helen and Rebecca explained eating times between the two are very different. More like Spain, Hong Kong folks eat multiple times throughout the day and don't think about dinner until well after 7:00 p.m. In China, lunch time begins at 11:00 and goes through 1:00 with dinner at 5:00 – 6:30, usually.

After careful examination of all our dining options, my hosts selected a great collection of Hong Kong style food: marinated squid, salad (nothing like American salad), fresh steamed vegetables (carrots, peppers, celery, Chinese peas, lotus root, and fungus), BBQ pork on the bone, sweet and sour pork (the only Chinese dish I've had during my stay that looked and tasted like 'American Chinese!'), a bowl of noodles with big shrimp/pork filled dumplings as dessert. Upon inquiry, Rebecca was delighted to learn I had discovered and liked Chinese milk tea (I had bought it packaged in Wuhan), so all three of us enjoyed this and raised our cups in a toast to our day's activities.

We left around 12:30 for the museum, about a 10 minute walk from the restaurant. Designed like an old steamer (explained in the previous post) we entered to find it a favorite holiday destination of other Shanghai residents. Helen got me the English audio guide so I could understand all three levels of historical items collected in this one huge building.

We worked our way upward examining artifacts of all types stretching back over 2,000 years. One room housed an impressive jade collection. Another featured Ming and Qing furniture. Other rooms were dedicated to other themes: ancient sculptures, Chinese ethnic minorities' arts and crafts, ancient carvings and seals, Chinese paintings, Chinese ceramics which included early porcelain...the list goes on! One of the many benefits of enjoying the collection with Rebecca and Helen is they could answer so many of my questions. A great example of this was my lesson in peaches and bats.

Looking at a very pretty and ancient vase in the porcelain exhibit I asked them, "There must be a reason why the artists chose to feature peaches and bats." Helen and Rebecca explained a peach is a symbol of 'long life' and bats symbolize good luck. That's what the artist's message was to whoever received the vase. Today, when a Chinese person gives an older person a gift of peaches it means the wish is for him/her to have a good life.

Another example of my teachers' lessons involved a bird called the Phoenix and a dragon. These two symbols used in tandem—we saw one of its first uses on an artifact that dated to 50 BC—hold a special meaning for a couple. The Phoenix represents the woman and the dragon the man; together these symbols mean luck and happiness. One more lesson...I noticed a plate with goldfish on it. The meaning of giving someone with a goldfish design on it is the wish for life to be better and better.

Rebecca, Helen and I had a great day together talking and sharing. I am so very appreciative that they both gave up two of their New Year's Day holidays to spend it with me. Thank you, my new friends! :)