The sun finally comes out, but it is still hazy because of the smog. My room is the designated Internet Room for the morning. Charles comes and sets up his lap top. I continue my work on Chinese contract & criminal law while people come and go using the Internet.

    The above pictures are views from my room. The picture on the right shows the tops of apartment buildings. Note the variety. Builders in Shanghai show amazing creativity when it comes to building tops. No one has yet given me a good reason why this is so. Does anyone know? The picture on the left is of a Tai Chi group. The strange thing here is everyone seems to be doing their own thing--not typical for Tai Chi.

    When Charles comes to pick up his laptop, he takes me to the China Eastern Airlines office to change my ticket to Kunming. Like many things in China, ticket changes have to be done in person. Both Charles and our cab driver have a difficult time locating the office. Apparently street numbers aren't consecutive. Further, the office is in a cul de sac in the back of a hotel. At any rate we finally arrive. The office reminds me of a government office in Eastern Europe before the wall came down. Lot's of people milling around, bureaucrats working slowly and enjoying their power, run down facilities, etc. We take a number and wait! To Charles surprise, all announcements are made in Shanghaiese, the local dialect. How does an airline with international flights get away with making announcements in only a local dialect? After we have waited patently for about 45 minutes, a bureaucrat comes up to us & asks what we want to do. Charles explains and we are directed to a man without a line. In 15 minutes, we have changed the ticket--no charge! We walk out under a dusty trellis with hanging plastic grapes.

    Back at ECNU, I run into a group (headed by Ann Huss who is now vertical) going to lunch. We go to a nearby restaurant & have a delicious meal. One can eat well in Shanghai!  

   Mr. Wu picks us up and takes us to the Shanghai Museum of ancient Chinese art. The building is stunning--the circular top represents the sky and the square bottom the earth. Both the building and

    I am only able to visit two floors but the collection of jade, antique Chinese furniture, calligraphy (regular, cursive and running) and paintings are stunning. I have fallen in love with Chinese landscape painting.

    Mr. Wu whisks us away. He is supposed to be taking us to Nanking Lu, the main pedestrian shopping street, but instead with a twinkle in his eyes takes us to Xin tian di (Heaven and Earth Plaza). It is fantastic, but this may be an American's take on it! The American architect Benjamin Wood (protégé of Benjamin Thompson, designer of the Faneuil Hall renovation) uses Shi Ku Men (stone framed door) architecture from the beginning of the 19th century to develop an upscale shopping and residential district that is a maze, but very pleasing to the senses and low density, a rare thing in Shanghai. The first picture below show unrenovated Shi Ku Men and the other two the Xin tian di renovations.

    As we exit Xin tian di for a banquet we are hosting at the Jin Jiang Tower, an orange moon appears in the purple sky--who says pollution doesn't have some a advantages. 

    Our banquet is on the top floor of the Jin Jiang Tower which, as you might imagine revolves. There is a jazz band (pretty bad) and a buffet. It reminds me of something out of the 1950s. The views and company are delightful.

    To top off the evening, Mr. Wu drives us along the Bund. It is spectacular even the kites have neon lights!

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