I've skipped out a few of the fun things that we did amidst all the travelling and exploring. The second weekend that we were there, the IPO hosted a Welcome party for us and our buddies. They had a program in which some really talented students sang and played a Chinese traditional instrument. They also had a live band. After that we played a few games and then broke out to visit the different stalls that were set up. There was one where the students taught us Chinese Calligraphy, one where they taught us how to play a musical instrument, one where they tuaght origami, one where you could play a chinese version of Link 4 except you link 5 and a challenge involving bouncing of a ping pong ball on a bat. It was a fun 3 hours.
The IPO also took us to visit a wet market which is an open air market with lots and lots of stalls where they sell EVERY food item from spices to fruits, from vegetables to fresh poultry meat and fish. You point to the live fish you want and they'll take it out and give it to you right then and there. We saw all parts of all the animals they sell. I was a little grossed out especially when we were walking through the seafood section. I had to cover my nose and even eyes. The market is very crowded and I think everyone shops at the wet market irrespective of socio-economic status.
After the wet market we were taken to our cooking class. That was a lot of fun. We split into 2 groups and one group started off with making dumplings and the other cutting and cooking. The woman teaching us how to make dumplings didn't speak English, so we had translators. I was told by the translators that the woman teaching us said that I was the best at making the dumplings dough and everyone else was horrible. That reinforced my desire to be a chef when I grow up.
We also went to the Shanghai World Financial Center - third tallest building in the world
photoshoot on the way to the SWFC
View from the 100th floor
Another thing that everyone who goes to Shanghai has to do is visit the Expo. We reached an hour before it opened and we weren't anywhere close to the front of the line and it was pouring. Yup, that's how many people want to visit the expo. There's no chance of seeing the Chinese pavillion unless you are first in line which will only happen if you get there at 5 am.
We visited a bunch of pavillions- Spain, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Lebanon, the space pavilion, GM pavilion and a couple others. Spain was my favorite. Waiting in the lines was kept eventful because people kept trying to push past us. If we weren't alert all the time and didn't form a wall people would just push past us. It was annoying but we started making jokes about it. The worst was when mothers would send their tiny children to dart between our legs and go ahead of us. Then we wouldn't have any choice but to let the mothers ahead. It was quite a struggle to maintain our position in line. We survived though. We also spent around 14 hours at the expo and we weren't anywhere close to being done.
Line at the Expo
Spain Pavilion
Coca Cola Pavilion
The IPO office also took us to an acrobat show which was really good. It was very entertaining and in one of the acts there were 8 motorcycles zooming around in a ball that didn't look like it could fit 3.
The last thing we did that was hosted by the IPO was the Farewell Party. It was a great party! We got there and had some delicious food. After which all the kids were given mock awards. We then gave gifts to our buddies. Czahreena and Amanda made farewell speeches. Copp thanked them from our side. If that wasn't enough to make the mood sentimental, Joe Lu made a Farewell video that left all of us feeling very sad that we had to leave. Then swoops in Vincent with an 11 minute video that he made of all our adventures in China that brought tears to more than a few people's eyes. It shows exactly how great our experience was. Follow this link for the video.
Thanks Vince =)
Good bye China. Hopefully, I'll be back soon!
Nayana
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