Another trip to Shanghai.... with some fun family!

I know I am slacking on my posts, honestly its just been so hot and humid here we haven't been doing much outings.  But this weekend we were in Shanghai again spending some family time and visiting with some out of town family!  My Great Aunt Diane and Cousin Gabe flew here from Michigan just to see ME!  Well not really, they came to see Blake and then tour China, but it was fun to see them and nice to have some family around us!  

Sunday and Monday we spent some family time exploring the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and the Shanghai Aquarium both I would recommend for kids!  The Science and Technology Museum had a kids area that was all hands on and very fun for Blake.  Here are some of the photos!  One area you get behind on a green screen and dance and then show on the screen you see the photos of Blake on below.  He had a lot of fun.  The aquarium while large and full of nice displays seems to be very crowded, this was our second time there and the tunnels where the fish and sharks swim over you are not well ventilated and difficult to maneuver a stroller through but we had fun none the less.  They had a LIFE SIZE Lite bright!  It was pretty fun for all three of us!  Blake and I went to the aquarium together, and next door was a 7-11 with Coke Icees! 

At the Aquarium.

We spent some time showing Aunt Diane and Gabe around Shanghai.  There are two popular temples in which we visited.  The weather was hot and humid so we toured these pretty quickly but they have a lot of history and beauty in each of these temples.  The Jade Buddha Temple (30rmb per person) and the Jing 'An Temple (50 rmb per person) are both great tourist places to see some of China's history.   The Jing 'An has a view from the freeway of all gold statues on the tops of the buildings, it was a site to see.  While the Jade Buddha's you cannot take photos of but the statues are surrounded by beautiful hand carved wooden panels on the walls and maybe a few hundred small golden buddha's.

Aunt Diane was showing Blake the "dog" statues on the pillar.  Gabe took part in the incense and prayer.

The Yu Yan Garden is where you can find some of the oldest buildings and restaurants in Shanghai (from what i am told).  We went here to show the history in the buildings, do some shopping and walk around.  Gabe was very interested in the instruments store, there were blown glass stores, oriental fan stores, wood and jade carvings, combs, jewelry etc. here!There is a dumpling stand there that people will wait in 1-2 hours lines just to try, when we were there the line had to be about an hour at the pace it was going.  There is also a random mix of DQ, McDonalds and Starbucks throughout this area.

Finally we did go to eat at a few places.  We found a restaurant on the Bund that had Chinese food like at home, Hakkasan is a chain apparently with locations in Miami, NYC, and Las Vegas but we enjoyed it.  The second night we were at Glo which had 5 stories, the first is a bakery, second gastro pub, third was a wine bar, i can't recall the 4th but the 5th floor is a rooftop grill and bbq.  The food was very good and the sun had set so we enjoyed sitting outside!

The smoking cherry pudding dessert from Hakkasasn.

It was a quick two days we got to spend with them but they are now on their way to see the rest of China from Shanghai to Beijing!  Just remember, you are all welcome to come visit us here in China, we love our friends and family!