We visited Chuck's son and family in his Shanghai apartment on the 32nd floor of a complex with 5 other buildings. We went for a walk to a drugstore about 8 blocks away. While sitting on a bench outside the drugstore, we watched people go by. There are no fat Chinese people. They walk, ride bikes or motorbikes. They drive and walk everywhere. In a city of 20 milion people, not many traffic lights. We ate lunch in a Pizza Hut. It was very good, but not much red sauce.

Even though we could not understand any language, we could tell when the boss was giving orders to the waitress. We observed ladies walking wearing not so comfortable shoes and lots of high heels. It didn't seem to bother them, they kept on walking.

As we were walking, we felt being stared at. We were told it was because we were the white people. We went to an underground mall. It was at least 8 blocks long and down several flights of stairs. A side street from this mall led to a subway. All of this was underground...

We were told there are two Catholic Churches in Shanghai. One strictly for the Chinese people. It was not appropriate for other nationalities to attend that church. We had to find the one for Americans to attend.

Restrooms do not carry toilet paper. You had to carry your own. An Asian toilet is an experience all by itself.

Cars drive everywhere. There is a special lane for the bikers, but we frequently saw a car drive in the bike lane. Cars did not go fast, but they did keep on moving...even when we had the light to cross the street.

Chinese Trivia

Populations: Beijing - 14 million; Shanghai - 20 million; Chong Ching 34 million, Yi-Chang - 4 million, the smallest in China and the tour guide bragged about Yi-Chang being modern for 5 years. He was so proud of that. Also, in all these huge cities, few traffic lights.

Gas was $11 a liter.

There are 13 billion people in China, with 16 different minorities.

The Chinese were very respectful of us. They actually were enamored by our presence. Frequently they asked to have their picture taken with us. One man bragged about having a picture of our American president on his wall. He had his picture taken with each of us, and I sent it to him.

The people working on the boat and the tour guides were all Chinese. They used these jobs to improve their English.

Single family dwellings were 4 million...these houses, which we never did get to see, had a driveway, front yards and trees just like Canada or United States.

Bicycles were used like pickup trucks. Many were three wheel bikes with a trailer about 4x6 between the two back wheels. These special bicycles were piled high with all different kinds of things. There was one with 11 computer monitors arranged and tied on. Another had 21 - 5 gallon water bottles full of water perfectly balanced and ridden by one person. Another had a father pedaling, mother sitting sidesadle on the back holding a baby...putting a pacifier into baby's mouth. There were ladies in high heels and short skirts riding bikes. There was a rider who had flat pieces of cardboard at least 5 ft square and piled at least 5 ft. high. I saw a lady with huge bags of empty pop bottles piled on her bike close to 4 ft. high and 8 ft. tall. I saw a guy hauling steel building materials...I saw a guy hauling 3 4x8 sheets of half inch plywood. These folks didn't seem to be struggling, just riding along to their destination.

And they had cell phones. They used them walking, riding their bkies, even riding their motorbikes.

Airports