Our Christmas tree and Santa spread. Christmas photos were supposed to be Lee's blog topic, but she has waited too long and lost her privileges.
The kids with some Christmas morning treasures, which was actually held a few days late due to our Hong Kong trip (which was where we bought all of the presents anyway).
These were for sale all over Hong Kong, but I've never seen them in Mainland China. Click on them for a good look. I'm not sure what that has to say about cultural differences. I didn't visit the homes of any locals, of course, but dare I imagine convenient underwear dispensers on bathroom walls?
These are from a few months ago, on our very first foray into Shanghai. This is in the area known as the French Concession (or the "Former French Concession" for those who are sticklers for their anti-imperialism vocabulary). In other words, it was the part of the city that was on long term lease to the French government during the days of empire.
In their day, the concessions all had "extra-territorial rights", meaning that within their boundaries, the laws of China were superseded by the European laws. Today, that is held up as an example of the humiliation of China, and therefore a rallying cry among ardent nationalists. I really do sympathize, but the fact is that even the local Chinese did their best to keep themselves under European jurisdiction, rather than face the arbitrariness (and brutal punishments), of the Chinese Imperial courts.
In any case, this area of the city really does look like a blend of France and China. It is quite pleasant.
5 comments:
can you find a good croisant(sp?) in the french connection? I figure if anyone would find one it would be you--is there an air of supioriority(again SP?--what can i say it is late....)that reigns in that area? Inquiring minds want to know.....
You absolutely can, and they are the real deal. There is a French boulangerie (bakery)chain with a strong presence in Shanghai. They employ live professional "boulangers" from the mother country. Good stuff.
Don, go find the American school in shanghai! Also, my grandfather was John Abner Snell, can you by chance look around for anything on him? He was a medical missionary for the Southern Methodist church. was buried there in Soochow. He was loved there. but I don't know if they cover things like that up at this point in history.
I just heard a piece on NPR about the French section of Shanghai, specifically about a nightclub that was really famous that is about to be torn down. Super interesting - I love foreign sections of cities!
the christmas morning picture with thier treasures made me sad to have not seen them for such a long time---- i'll sure be glad to see everyone---we'll have a big arizona steak fry --it will sure be fun to all be together-- love g pa
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