Duo Lun Road

We had torrential rains last night in Shanghai that were still heavy in the morning. The question? How to get to breakfast at the Experts Restaurant. Well, I had an umbrella, a nice travel one that someone in Hong Kong is now enjoying. I left it along the harborfront and when I came back 10 minutes later, it was gone.

I had a friend when I was at Auburn who commented that it was easy to lose a good pocket knife, but since he got a cheap one he just couldn't manage to lose it. Even if he left it lying around someone would fetch it and return it to him. So I bought a cheap, plaid umbrella at the Guest House and headed to breakfast. I wonder if I can lose it. It's ugly enough that I may try.

After breakfast I knew that, despite the rain, I had to find a bank to convert some extra Hong Kong dollars I had. Lots of places don't accept credit cards.

Banks in China? They all seem to be named along the lines of "China X Bank," where X is one of: Merchants, Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, Construction, etc. I opted for X = Construction. On entering there's a little machine that dispenses a number, but the problem is that there are different numbers for different lines and the proper selection is made when getting a number from the machine ... with directions in Chinese.

The security guard noticed my difficulty and kindly offered help ... in Mandarin. He smiled politely when I said "wo bo hui shuo pu tong hua" (the most helpful phrase I learned before coming here ... I don't speak Mandarin). He placed his hand on my shoulder and guided me to a teller who spoke English. I completed my transaction and thanked the guard again as I left. Xie xie.

I made it back to the Guest House ... thoroughly and completely soaked by the rain. But Shanghainese seem to manage just fine in whatever weather. Rain doesn't stop bicyclists, who simply ride with ponchos over them and their handle bars in a way that's common to all, and it apparently works.

I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon resting since I couldn't manage to arrange more meetings. In the evening I went out with my Mongolian friend to see part of old Shanghai ... the Duo Lun Road area. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even more fascinating was a little "village" called Li Nong (which literally means "inside road"). If you didn't know to look for it you would never notice it. But once through the narrow entrance there's a calm little community of families living in very tight quarters. I got several smiles from curious children, and tried to imagine what it would be like to live there.