Shanghai - 13.04.19

Kids & Sightseeing

On Saturday, the focus was on the kids. In addition to the normal Saturday program, both boys have soccer training at school and Mika also has guitar lessons. We combined the way to school for soccer training with a visit to the school flea market. Since this is an international school and kindergarten, we naturally met many German families who are in Shanghai for work reasons. That was very interesting!

In the afternoon, we were registered for a sightseeing walk for kids (in German). Biggi had already done a kids' walk with her children a few weeks ago. I was very excited to see what awaited me. This time, the walk was supposed to take place along the Bund. To get to the meeting point, we took the metro with the boys to the city center in Pudong. To boost motivation, we picked up a few cheeseburgers on the way. Since I had done my tour of Pudong exactly there the other day, I knew how to get to the meeting point quickly and led us there. The group consisted of about 15 children and was led by a German woman who had lived in China for ten years and now lives in Holland, but comes back to China for the walks - this time 14 walks in 7 days. Crazy. So, the theme of these walks was the Bund. First, the children were given city maps on which they were supposed to mark our starting point. After being told a little bit about the Bund, they were given a plan showing the buildings on the opposite bank. Using binoculars they had brought along, the children were supposed to take a closer look at the buildings in the distance and solve additional tasks on their plan. When a horde of German children sits on the Bund drawing, cutting and gluing, it is an attraction for the Chinese people and tempts them to stop, take photos or videos. The task of the parents and other companions was to be there, relax in the sun, watch the horde of children as they moved forward, and also learn a little bit. After the children had completed all the tasks, including collecting Easter eggs, we crossed the river by ferry. That was an experience in itself. Chinese people can't line up in a queue and always want to be the first in a train, an airplane, or in this case, a ship. So, as soon as the ship docked, it was stormed. On the other side of the Bund, the children had to identify the skyscrapers on the opposite bank and solve additional tasks again. For us adults, it was a beautiful view of the Pudong skyline as the sun slowly set. At the end of the walk, we ordered a taxi, in this case a Didi, which are not street taxis but private providers that you order through an app. Both the children and us adults were pretty tired. When we first looked in the mirror at home, we realized that we had a slight sunburn. After dinner, we ended the evening with a glass of wine and fresh fruit that we had bought at the wholesale market.