French Concession Tour

We competed in an intense scavenger hunt with other expats in Shanghai who have become close friends with my family. It was necessary to travel all over the city using public transit such as the metro, taxis and TRUCKS?! Yup, that's the boy's team riding in the back of the truck, apparently they could not attract any taxis as well as the women's team!

To complete the scavenger hunt we had to:

• Spit marshmallows into cups, mimicking the Chinese hawking of a loogie. Something that you just never get used to seeing or hearing no matter how long you are living in China.
• Singing an American themed song in the Metro Station
• Haggle a low price for T-shirts for each group
• Take a picture with a Mickey Mouse Statue in the background
• Order bubble teas for each person and the last team to finish their drinks are the winners.

Rubbing Buddha's Belly

Wooden crab chairs

Secret door

Koi Chair

Not an unusual sight in China

The kitchen of a 17 family house

Extravagant tea making process

hmm.

There was a lot of interesting and unique furniture to be seen on our French Concession Tour. The interiors of the French Concession Buildings had a interesting combination of French and Chinese culture. The French Concession was, and still is, considered a very prestigious club to be a member of. I really liked how the windows shaped the exterior views of the outside.

We stopped in at a tea store and had samples of the tea that they had been preparing. They taught us that in Chinese culture drinking tea involves three steps. First, slurp the tea and hold it in your mouth while inhaling through the nose in order to appreciate the aroma of the tea, then swallow. The second gulp, slurp another third of tea this time holding the tea in the mouth and then sloshing the tongue around in order to activate all the taste buds and appreciate the taste of the tea. On the third and last gulp you are to slurp the tea and swallow it right away.