Seeing the beauty of Shanghai

For our next full day in Shanghai, we set out to see the area of town called The Bund. Again, we weren't really sure what we were going to find, but it was beautiful.

The Bund is right along the dividing river in Shanghai, and I think the pictures we took really speak more about it than anything I could write. (Some of these pictures are mine and some I borrowed from Emily and Lauren.)

Oh, also, it was my 23rd birthday that day, and the girls had bought me a pair of hilarious Happy Birthday glasses the day before, so I decided to wear them around Shanghai all day.

The view of the Pudong district from across the river. Beautiful.

I'm in love with this city.

Then, the birthday glasses came out.

The three of us troopers.

Beautiful, beautiful Shanghai. Clean Shanghai. I love you.

On the other side of the river, where we were standing, were
all of the buildings from "Old Shanghai".

It's a toss up between what buildings I liked more - the old
or the new.

Everyone loved taking pictures with this bull. Apparently
it's modeled after the one on Wall Street.

This man's expression speaks volumes about
how he feels about my glasses. And my shoes.

But he wasn't disgusted enough to move.

Next, we spotted something promising --
The Bund Brewery!

Sadly, this was the most exciting part about it. It was just an
overpriced bar.

With wit.

And, of course, LOVERS CLOTHES. 

My goal in life is to find an obnoxious set of lovers clothes. I don't know who I'm going to give them to, but it will depend on the size it comes in and the level of absurdity.

After sightseeing along The Bund, we stopped in at the local Subway for a sandwich. Make fun of me all you want, but we've been SO GOOD about eating only Chinese food while we're in the Shiz, I think that I deserve some western food every once in a while. There is not a single Subway in Shijiazhuang. I have had a total of two sandwiches since arriving here - one on the mountain and one at this Subway.

What I find interesting about China is that everyone, everywhere, all the time, is eating a noodle bowl. And I don't mean a bowl of freshly cooked noodles. No, no. I mean a bowl of instant noodles. Think Instant Ramen, 24/7. We were eating Subway sandwiches next to families eating bowl o' noodles at the next table. There are hot water machines all over the city in convenience stores, etc., for people to cook their noodles in. I just think of all the sodium in those things, and it gets me pretty grossed out to think of how often people eat them.. A lot of my kiddos tell me that they eat them for breakfast in the morning. I hope that those are the kids that live in the dormitories, and that kids who live at home don't have parents who allow that. But, hey, it's China, so really - who knows.

Later that night, the three of us went to Zapatas, a Mexican restaurant in Shanghai. We'd all been craving tacos (me especially) and figured it was a great place to celebrate me turning 23, aka old. It also didn't hurt that it was Ladies Night, and all the ladies got free margaritas.

Zapatas was a beautiful outdoor restaurant with margaritas that were approximate 95% tequila. That's all I have to say. Here are some pictures.