Gan Bei!

First contact with the wonderful folks from the Shanghai Watercolor
Society.

Tonight I had dinner with Professor Ping Long, vice president of the
Shanghai Watercolor Society, and three charming interpreters. From the
left is LunLun, mr Pauljackson, Sissi Zhou, professor Ping Long and
LunLun's mother.

Obviously communication is tricky, but we are all handling it in
stride. My Chinese vocabulary is up to about 30 words and a few simple
phrases. I have not even begun to recognize the alphabet. LunLun is a
high school student who has studied English more than I ever did.

Turns out we aren't going to Lu Mountain until Monday, so I have an
extra day to explore. Tomorrow I will hop on a train for Suzhou,
otherwise known as the "Venice of the East". It is a canal town, with
lots of traditional Chinese archtecture. It ought to be fabulous if I
can find my way there!

On Monday I have to meet the traveling group from the Shanghai
Watercolor Society at a different airport and we'll be flying to Lu
Mountain. Hope I can find that airport!

Navigation isn't very easy, and none of the cab drivers speaks
English. Some of the street signs have an English translation, but not
always accurate.
It's a good thing having a great sense of direction. I can already
navigate the heart of Shanghai with ease. The outskirts are massive
and I haven't even wandered out that far. I managed 20 miles of
walking around downtown in two days.

Can't wait to see what adventures tomorrow holds!