Beautiful Day in Shanghai

So the weather has finally calmed down here in Shanghai! It's been about 90 degrees with 10000000% humidity, but its better than the 110 degrees we were reaching when I first got here! Lately, my group and I have been exploring the city around our school and finding all of the "cool" local hangouts. So, I'll let you in on a few secrets of what we've been finding:

(1) Trust-Mart: The local hyper-market here in the Xuhui district (where my school is located). In America we have Big Box stores and supermarkets, in order to estimate the size, take your average Wal-Mart, stack three on top of each other, and put in cart escalators. Also add a splash of street vendors selling swords, brass knuckles and trinkets and a mini-mall in the basement and you have Trust-Mart. Inside you'll find anything from live turtles (for dinner, not pets) to your 25RMB towels (about 3 dollars). Its the place to see and be seen, plus they have a 24 Hour McDonalds that delivers on scooters on the first floor.

(2) The Boot-Leg stall next to the gate: No day is complete without swinging into the bootleg stall to see what new DVD's he has recieved. I've already picked up Kung Fu Panda, all Four Seasons of Grey's Anatomy on one disc, and a few other TV shows... all for about 1-2 US dollars each. Kinda makes you reconsider buying all those box-sets, eh?

(3) The 34,000 restaurants around and on campus: Coming from a school with a whopping four dining choices, the food here is absolutely impressive. We have yet to eat in the same restaurant twice, although we have a running list on where we're definetly going to return. Only in Shanghai can you get a four course meal for 20RMB ($3) including a drink. Plus, you don't have to tip!

So, there's a lot going on, tomorrow we head out of the hustle and bustle of Shanghai and head off to the canal city of Suzhou. There, we're going to be heading to the No. 1 People's Silk Factory and exploring the city by foot and boat. This is going to be our fourth organized excursion thus far. We've already been to the tourist sites around Shanghai, the cheap road, the tailoring market and other places where locals and tourists alike head to enjoy the city. Oh, plus my Chinese is finally getting out of the neandrathal level of communication - that's always a plus.