People, People Who Need People

People, People Who Need People (Barbra Streisand)

Shanghai, Part 1

I interrupt my fast-moving thriller about Jiu Zhai Gou to bring you a word form one of my sponsors – literally.  One of my clients asked me to go to several cities to train new teachers, so, with as much humility as I could muster (which wasn’t much), I agreed.

First stop:  Shanghai.  The population of this city and its surroundings is over 30 million.  This is the view from my client’s office on the 19^th floor overlooking People’s Park in the center of the city.

It is a nice place, with lots of flowers everywhere.

In one corner of the park are some children’s amusement rides.

One of the most exciting things to do here is playing with these earth movers.

Note that there is nothing in the sand pit but sand, and all the kids do is move the sand back and forth.  Maybe China is trying to excite youngsters to be construction people because so much construction is going on here.

In one part of the Park, there are lots of guys playing or watching card games.

Though no money is on the table, I see money changing hands as the day progresses.

Initially, I thought only men were playing, but then I saw these ladies in a co-ed game.

Not far away there’s a group of people playing that popular Chinese game where you kick a weighted birdie (white thing in the air above the guy with the striped shirt) back and forth.

Near the edge of the Park are people lined up to catch a bus.  It used to be very chaotic at these bus stops in the old days, but look how nicely behaved everyone is!

But it’s not a perfect world.  Like all parks, there are rules,…

…but this guy saw no specific prohibition against urinating in the Park, so he did.

I have no idea what this woman is doing.  (You rarely see Chinese people leave the official paths of parks – unless they have to urinate, of course.)

I don’t think she’s picking up trash.  I think she’s “borrowing” some plant bulbs.

There was a competition for young students at the little museum in the center of the Park, and this girl must have done well, as she seemed particularly proud of her entry.

Near the main entrance of the Park there was a large crowd.  I thought there must be some special event occurring.

A closer look revealed scores of people (mostly women) with umbrellas on the ground and small signs pinned to the umbrellas.

Here’s what’s going on (and it happens every weekend in this Park):  Parents of “children” in their 20s and older are advertising their children in hopes of finding a marriage partner.  Most of these signs contain the age, employment, income of the child, and contact information.

Here are a couple mothers discussing (negotiating?) their children.

The parent of this guy decided not to hang around but simply to leave the sign in plain view.

To be continued.

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