Well, we don't know how successful the business part of our trip to Shanghai was, but we had an interesting time anyway and continued to build a friendship of sorts with the Chinese business people and their families. We took a taxi from the airport and boy, what a ride that was--we were zooming by people, changing several lanes at a time and coming to sudden stops. My sudden intakes of air didn't seem to bother the driver--he just kept driving. We did get a good look at the tall buildings and bridges of Shanghai. One bridge we crossed had an exit that looped around like a coil and we went around and around three times before we got to our road. We were so thankful to finally arrive at our hotel--an old hotel that was the tallest building in China until the 1980s.
The next morning we went out to explore a little bit before our afternoon appointment. In the morning after a late breakfast, Akihiro and I went out for a walk. We were going to try to go to the post office to send a package to Li-san's brother and sister. Well, anyway, we got directions to the post office from the hotel, walked out the front door of the hotel and were immediately confronted by a young man trying to get us to go to his shop where they sell bags, watches, clothes, etc. We said "no thanks" and said we were going to the post office. Well, he said that the post office was in the opposite direction. I didn't believe him and so continued to go the way the hotel said. Then his friend came who could speak better English. We fell for it, so we decided that it might be an experience. As I thought about it, I figured out that they wanted to take us to a post office close to their shop. They said the post office they would take us to would be closer than the 5 minutes that the hotel had said. Well....about 15 minutes later we arrived at the post office. Well, these two guys who had accompanied us to the post office really wanted to show us their shop, so we decided we were up for an adventure. We turned onto this little alley and went into these little rooms where they had lots of brand name stuff for sale. Akihiro saw a brief case and thought maybe he would try bargaining for that. I hate that system, but he had a lot of fun with it. He thought he got a real bargain for a "Mont Blanc" briefcase (a copy) at about seventy dollars. Well, when we got back to the hotel and talked to one of our Chinese "friends" we found out he could have got it for about 1/3 of that price. Oh well. He likes it and had fun buying it.
That night we went out for dinner with the Chinese guests to a Thai restaurant and they served us shark fin in a good sauce. It was really good and easy to eat--much easier than the chicken foot! We sat at the traditional Chinese style table with the glass plate in the middle that turns around. I got to meet one of our Chinese friend's neice who speaks very good English. We had a nice time.
The next day we took Akihiro's mom with us to show her the bargaining place. Akihiro thought it would be fun to buy some souveniers--like a Rolex watch--for grandpa. So after much bargaining which Akihiro loved, we got 5 "brand name" articles for pretty cheap. That afternoon we went to see some of our Chinese friend's properties and development areas. It was amazing to see the new towns they have built--very nice, new and beautiful. There is still much poverty though. The changes have come very rapidly--it appears like too rapidly for people to adjust. Some parts seemed like the border towns in Mexico, yet others were like beautiful resorts. It is hard for me to reconcile it all! We also got to see some rush hour traffic--interesting to see whole lanes allotted for bicycles and motorcycles. This picture isn't very good, but you can get the point. Traffic was crazy--kinda like Mexico--lots of honking and it appears that traffic signals and stop signs are somewhat of a suggestion rather than the rule.
That night's supper was really interesting! When we walked in we saw these plates of various pig parts. I was glad that this plate didn't end up at our table later!
What did end up at our table was pig ears (actually not too bad), turkey knuckles, mountain turtle and veggies, jelly fish, and some other more "normal" foods. I think Chinese people must like the texture of soft tissue type things. The best thing we had was these little balls of sesame paste that were wrapped in dough and fried. The outside was crispy and the inside was warm and sweet. I ate my fair share of those and our host saw that I liked them and gave us some to take home.
Pig ears!
This lobster was for sashimi--it was very fresh--in fact as I tried to take the picture, his long pointers moved towards me! I tasted it, but prefer my lobster cooked! (Not that I have it very often!)
We didn't get to ride the magnetic levitation train on the way from the airport because our flight was late, so we rode it to the airport early Wednesday morning. 300 km seemed really fast, but it was amazing how fast it was when it met the train going the other way at the same speed--whoosh--no time for a picture or even really see it. It was somewhat exhilerating and we tourists thoroughly enjoyed it (despite the grins from the regular travelers!). 
Thought this was interesting--can you guess what kind of restaurant this was?
Our trip to Hakodate with Akihiro's sister and parents was nice--lots of doctor talk with Akihiro and his sister both being doctors--and lots of good food. We caught a few fish and I even caught a shark! (Actually it was a baby one--about a foot long!) Akihiro's Dad said they were fairly good to eat at that size, so I chopped it up and we will try it tempura style!
Today was a big catch up day for laundry, etc., but it was just nice to have a "normal" day! I remember my dad saying that you go on vacation so that you appreciate home more--indeed that is true!