Hopped a train for Suzhou this morning to check out the why they call it the "Venice of Asia". Venice it isn't. There are a bunch of canals, but that is the only common thread. They did have a leaning tower, but that would actually compare to Pisa, not Venice. I visited the North Tower,…

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…

Shanghai now tops my list of cities with scents. There is an amazing variety of smells eminating from the streets, from the sickly sweet smell of deisel to the most aromatic cuisine.. For those with a heightened olfactory palate, walking around Shanghai can be overwhelming, but is an adventure that will grow on you. There…

Exotic animals are everywhere in Shanghai. Lots of little street corner vendors sell birds, turtles and singing crickets. I've seen a few dogs and cats too, just not by the bucketful. The singing crickets are cute/noisy, but they hardly compare to the cicadas, whose sound drown out the traffic noise and make the city sound/feel…

Wow! The army of lighted drums was cool! I want one of those! I expected the fireworks to be spectacular and was not disappointed. Made my hair stand straight up. The whole city was lit up. I didn't understand a whole lot because almost all of it was in Chinese, but the visuals were spectacular.…

To get to the Yuyuan Gardens I went through the Old Town market. Distinctive ancient Chinese architecture makes this area incredibly picturesque. The crowds were lighter today. Most everyone is at a wedding or watching the Olympic opening ceremony. 22,000 Chinese couples got married today. Apparently 8 is a lucky number. Triple lucky today!