Exploring My Backyard - Shanghai!

As part of my plan to explore on a daily basis, yesterday, I recruited Elinor to seek out the Confucius temple here in Shanghai. We took a new metro line (Line 8! Whoot whoot!). I got to practice my Chinese a lot, as I had no idea where we were and furthermore, no idea where we needed to go. The Confucius Temple is nestled in a quiet Shanghai neighborhood in northern Puxi (Puxi meaning west of the Huangpu River). We saw an adorable primary school, delayed a child from getting beat by his mother, and did some window shopping. Elle posed with some ridiculous mannequins.



For 5 kuai, we gained entrance to the temple, which is maintained by the local municipality. To say that the Confucius temple, which served as the first library in Shanghai, is not a popular tourist attraction is an understatement. God bless Communism though, because for all two visitors, they had atleast 3 workers for each of us... none of whom could give tours in English.



The signs are pretty informative though. Apparently much of the temple was destroyed over the centuries by wars and fires. It was restored during the Qing Dynasty around 1830s. Over the years it served as a library, a school, and a place of worship.



Today it is wedged amongst Shanghai's many residential high rises.



We used the empty attraction as a photo shoot for us. In case you're wondering, the timer on my camera works just fine :)



Today, we went on a group field trip to the 2010 Shanghai World Exposition staging center. There they have a museum like exhibit that tells the history of World Expos as well as shows the plans for Shanghai's expo. I cannot even describe how much work they have done in Shanghai and are planning on doing to prepare. It promises to be a phenomenal event. China is ready to show the world what it is capable of. The pavilions alone are awe-inspiring.



I am most excited about the Technology and Urban Best Practices Center. This is going to be where all the countries unveil their best innovations to the world. This is why there are world expositions. My favorite exposition, not only for its innovations, but also its impact on the architectural development of Chicago was the 1893 World Expo. Additionally, it was at that exposition that a little known company called Kodak introduced the first camera. Other inventions, including the telephone and the Ferris wheel were introduced at expos. I hope some crazy new technology will come out of this great gathering.

During my visit, I was also interviewed by Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese news source (think NY Times)! They asked me a few questions about what I thought about the expo, what my favorite country pavilion was (Britain, Spain, & China), and what I thought about America being noticeably present. The U.S. has yet to unveil its pavilion. I said that if the United States is thinking about saving $10 million or so on a fancy pavilion, I think that would probably be a good idea, considering the financial state of the country. However, it is more likely the United States will reveal at the last second, create some hype and have some bangin' pavilion put up in record time.

I miss you all so much! Sometimes I forget just how far away everyone is. I hope to come back to you a smarter, more cultured, and all around lovelier Meaghan Barbin than the one who left you... I am making strides every day to fulfill that promise ;0)