On the shore until next spring.
Pumpkin patch closed for the season.
Cold frame in Greenhouse for the winter. Hope it works...

FIRST WINTER FOR THE GREENHOUSE

Summer Palace & Lama Temple

Long Corridor - the beams along the length of this 2,388 ft walkway is decorated with over 14,000 scenic paintings.
The Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha
The grounds of the Summer Palace covers 716 acres and has 3 lakes.
There is a 55 ft statue of Maitreya (the Future Buddha) carved from a single block of sandalwood. We could not take a picture of it.
Lama Temple

Great Wall of China

It is an amazing experience... The day for our visit was warm and sunny, however there was still snow on the wall.

Bug Museum

We went to the Bug Museum, however there was a lot more then bugs. All kinds of random animals were in this place. Pia is playing with the toy alligators in the toy shop. She is not afraid of anything. I was more scared of the bugs then Eric and Pia were.
Pia riding on top of the gecko.
One of the many turtles were in this tank. As you can see Pia loved this turtle.
Eric is standing in front of the lizard tank. I did not get a picture of the scorpions, however they were huge and freaked me out.

Jade Buddha Temple

There was a fish pond in the garden of the temple. In order to take pictures of the fish you had to buy food for the fish. These were some very hungry fish...
A view of one of the temples from the outside. Take note of the modern building in the back ground.
This is one of the many Buddhas in the temples. They all have plates of fruit in front of them. Different Buddhas mean different things, wealth, good health, etc.
This was a sign above the stairs. The Chinese people had no problem.
These two look like they are happily married. One of the best parts of the temple was the tea room. They gave you different samples of the various teas and each one had different health benefits.

Walk To School

Doug and the driver, Mr Yao Jun were out of town today visiting the plant that is being built outside the city. Since we had no driver we had to walk to Pia's school to pick her up at noon. These are pictures that I took along the walk. You see people with their little wagons behind their bikes with cardboard, bottles whatever they can pick up along the way. I am not sure were they go with this and what they get for it.
This was a vegetable, meat and fish market. We were the only non Chinese in here so I was afraid to pull out my camera and take close up shots of the various cuts of meats and fish. They eat every part of the animal and I mean every part. Pig ears, pigs feet, chicken feet, beef tendons, etc to name just a few. The fish is crazy. They have tanks full of eel and a number of different snake fish. Also huge bullfrogs and turtles. Even the shrimp are scary looking. I have never seen any of these fish in Ross Allen.
Window repair shop.
There are fruit markets all around the city. We have been brave enough to even buy the bananas, apples and oranges. No one has gotten sick yet. This was a fruit and flower market.
Anybody want to buy a broom????

Warning signs along the sidewalks in the apt complex. I have been very careful not to fall in. Not sure what is in the hidden ditch.

Putting dirt in the planting area of the patio. They first put in peat moss and then covered it with black dirt. As you can see the dirt came in very small bags and it took them some time to empty all those little bags. Eric & Pia are planning on planting veggies when the weather gets warmer. The weather has been cold and in the 30's. Today I even saw snow flakes.
Pic taken from the kitchen window. Across the street new apt buildings are being built. The little make shift shacks with the blue roofs are were people are living. There are the very wealthy and then the very poor in Shanghai.
Shopping mall we went to on Sat. On the top floor is an indoor ice arena.
Pic of maids (Ayi) bathroom in the apt. It is off the laundry room which is off the kitchen. The size is 3 1/2 x 5'. Good thing the Chinese people are small.

While Eric was in school the girls went shopping at the Antique Market. Followed a woman down an alley to a small room and we bought Coach purses. Now that we know how it works will do better at negotiating next time. Have seen some beautiful MJ set however they do not have jokers.
Near the market is the Yuyuan Garden, these displays were for the Chinese New Year. This guy looks like he celebrated way too much over the New Year.
One of the many displays in the water. Lots of tourists in this area.
Eric's serious face for his first day of school.
Eric's first day of school with his smiley face and his school uniform.

Lantern Festival

On Sunday morning there was a Lantern Festival in the apt complex. It was fun watching the different performers, however did not understand a word of Chinese.
The dragons were the best.
Early Sunday morning I took a jog along the river that is just down the road from the apt. Saw some interesting boats that people live on. Also it is strange how the people stare at you and a number of Chinese men made it a point to say Hello to me. There were many beautiful apt buildings along the river.



I wanted to eat here for lunch, however no one else was hungry for duck. I am going to check if they have carry out.

Wash Day - Everyone dries their wash outside. I now know why because the dryer in the apt. takes all day to dry.
Took a walk this morning. Had lunch at McDonalds and ice cream at Dairy Queen.

This a a street cleaner. You see them all over the city with these strange looking brooms. They are even brave enough to sweep in the middle of the street.

Jing'an Temple

More pics of the Jing'an Temple. I found it interesting watching the people as they performed the many rituals. One thing for sure they were throwing lots of coins into the many containers that were in the temple.