Day 5

Monday class began. We had a quick lecture in the morning and then had a tour of the city. We visited a park with lots of interesting shops (the buildings were gorgeous). It’s tough to commit to buying anything when we have yet to get to the cheaper spots of the city. Then we went to the Bund to see the river and the view of Pudong (the financial district across the river. There are many very tall buildings with 80+ floors). We then had the opportunity to stay downtown as our welcome dinner was canceled due to a 3 day mourning period for the victims of the earthquake. In fact, at 2:28 on Monday there was a 3 minute moment of silence. Very interesting to be here for this tragic event. We then wandered the city and found a random restaurant and had a great meal – fish, the best shrimp ever, and some great vegetables (for instance, spicy beans like Fusion!).