Jim and Emma arrived in Shanghai after a week of sighseeing in Beijing and Xian. Sam went to meet them at the airport and almost missed them! He realised that he is more used to being met and this was his first airport pick up. He ended up at international arrivals at the wrong end of the terminal! At least he now knows where to go to collect Kaytie, Alice and Charlie next week!
As the Emmison's arrived we whisked them off to the Fakes and Fabric market. Jim was measured up for a couple of shirts and a pair of shorts and Emma developed a longing for a Mulberry bag!
They were pretty tired after nonstop sightseeing in Beijing so they spent a gloriously sunny and unbearably hot day by the pool on their first full day. Luckily they were not too tired for pre-dinner drinks in the pub with me!
After a trip to the world's highest observation deck the following day, William, Oliver and I introduced them to the delights of dumplings and in particular, Shanghai's famous dumpling the Xiao Long Bao.
The afternoon was completed with a boat trip during which the biggest storm I have seen in Shanghai broke out! Oliver, William and I had sensibly declined the boat trip and had gone for an ice cream instead. When we picked them up they were pretty soaked, much to the amusement of William and Oliver. The rain was so heavy that a road on the way home had virtually become a river!
Jim and Emma spent a day sightseeing in the old part of Shanghai on Thursday. They met Sam from work and he took them on the Shanghai metro in rush hour! However, the crush was soon forgotten as they sipped cocktails overlooking the lights of Pu Dong. I joined them and we took them for an 'upmarket' Chinese.
After a busy (it was PACKED!) morning at the aquarium on Friday, Emma and I hit the market one more time where her bag longings were finally satisfied. We had sent the four boys to the pool so there was noone to curb the spending! In the evening we decided to try out local cuisine and went to a Shanganese restaurant round the corner where there were some interesting items on the menu.
We didn't stay out too late as Typhoon Muifa was on its way and we had strict instructions from our compound management to clear the garden of anything moveable!
On what we thought was Jim and Emma's last day we showed them the delights of the Carrefour fish counter and more of the area where we live.
We then spent the afternoon at the pub! That evening we discovered that their flight had been cancelled due to the typhoon but luckily they managed to get on the Monday flight.
On the Sunday we visited the Shanghai History Museum. It gave and interesting and sometimes biased account of the history of Shanghai and China. If museum signs are like this it would be interesting to see the text books!
Early on Monday morning we said goodbye to Jim and Emma. We were sad to see them go and Sam took them to the airport and returned with Kaytie, Alice and Charlie!
