I am sitting at the desk of our fancy hotel in Shanghai, we had sushi for lunch, everybody is sleeping and I am about to wake up the happy family to go to the acrobatic show which apparently is a must do.
It feels good to be in the city and get that buzz though the last few days have been mesmerizing.
Matthew was feeling ill and I spend the last day in Yangshuo Djudj doing something he'd been speaking about since two weeks a pick nick! Rented a scooter got some bacon and eggs sandwiches and of we were the two of us.
We rode a magnificent sand/stone country road amidst of the rice fields being plowed manually and the karst mountains serenely standing surrounding it all as if protecting everything in the valley.
Djudju couldn't stop saying "c'est magnifique, t'as vus comme c'est beau".
A serious rainfall interupted our ride and we took shelter under a few trees to eat our pick nick supposed to be eaten on top of Moon Hill.
The shower ceased as we finished our lunch and a three minute ride took us to the eight hundred forty something steps to climb to the top.The purpose of our trip, at least for Julian, being eaten already, his motivation to get to the top was lunched away as well. After a short pouting and a final bye bye I'm going up from me he finally resolved to gain his mood back and we had a great climb to the top.
Though the chase was better then the catch we had a great time.
We left on the next morning to Longcheng to see the rice terraces, I had read somewhere that they were the second biggest in the world but little were we prepared not is it possible to imagine how beautiful it is without having been there.
This is probably one of the most beautiful places I have been.
I'll let the images speak for themselves but I need to mention as a proud dad that my kids have walked for eight hours up and down the paths along the terraces, they swam in the stream and only took an short hour lunch break.
The first complaint came ten minutes before arriving back at the hotel in a humorist way; Djudj sat down and said, that's it I am sleeping now and closed his eyes in joke!
We all had a foot massage as we got back to the hotel, after an unforgettable day with images printed in our heads forever!Shanghai revealed to be a welcomed back to 'European' standards, we are staying in the 'french concession' quarter and the alleys full of trees and terraces I know again but the one you can sit at this time, has distinct Parissy feel to it.
The acrobatic show was amazing and a rainy day made us opt for the 3D version of 'The Avengers', in both cases the kids were glued to there seats with their mouth open and for all I can say so was I.
So there, in Shanghai thinking back on China with unforgettable memories, this is an amazing country.
There is a mixture of primitivity and modernism, of rich and poor, of followers and entrepreneurs. We are in Shanghai and seem to be in a modern rich up to date place while yesterday we were looking at plows pulled by buffaloes let alone people. There is the greatness of what the party has achieved here economically especially if you compare the status with democratic India. There is also a sense of big brother although very subtle, you can avoid seeing it if you are not attentive to it.
People thread on eggs each time the subject is touched and the look is usually more revealing then the tongue.
As in India this country is so young, it is in full development and as with every being you can only learn to walk properly by falling down a few times and mistakes are there to learn from.
The opposites between the last two countries we visited are extreme and non of them are comparable two my part of the world, again I am astonished at the differences of living, eating, driving to mention but a few and especially thinking. Qualifying any of these of better or worse, right or wrong would be unjust, it is different and I like that.
The end is in sight and one of the conclusion to draw here is that this is what makes the world so rich and this is what allows me to grow, I'll take what I feel I can work with and what suits me and hopefully grow more whole.
Excitement of being back home is growing, yet nostalgia creeps in too.
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