Exploring Shanghai

The one thing the Romanskis are always good for is going exploring. We convinced Kirk (who is not such a fan) to go to this street in Puxi that we had heard about. It was a pedestrian street (kind of) with many old houses. Lots of photographic opportunities here and we saw a lot of other photographers.

Suzhou/Suzhou 1/2 Marathon

For some reason, I let Keri talk me into another 1/2 marathon. This one was in Suzhou around Jinshu Lake. Keri's friend Jen was in town and she and Julie came out to Suzhou with us to tour a little before and after the race.

Suzhou is a really pretty city. We had fun shopping the day before. The run...yeah, not so fun for me. Couldn't break 2 hours. In fact did it in 2:10. Effects of not training. Anyway, had good bonding with girls and many laughs.

Easter

Holidays are always hard when we are away from family. Luckily we have good friends here who are in the same boat. Our family had an egg hunt and after church, we went to Malone's for brunch with our friends. We are blessed.

Thompson Family Visit to China

Only 7 months later, I am posting blogs.......

Suzanne, Jake, Josh, and their exchange student Jacky (from Colombia) visited us in March during their spring break. During their visit, we went to Beijing and Xian and of course, toured Shanghai. Elizabeth and Alex made their 3rd trek to the Great Wall and of course loved it.

They arrived safe and sound and we got a chance that night to catch up. The next day we started touring. We started their visit with a trip to Din Tai Feng at the Super Brand Mall to try the famous Shanghai style dumpling - xiaolongbao. They are small dumplings with soup inside and are very good to eat.

The next day we went to the fake market for an initial walk through and to scope out potential purchase. After that, we visit YuYuan (Yu Garden). I always take people here, I love this place. Got some great pics of the kids here.

We flew to Beijing the next day. Our tour started with a Hutong Tour where we rode in rickshaws around an old Beijing neighborhood. We toured the Drum and Bell towers. After, we went back to the hotel for some rest before the next day.

The next day we toured Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. We ate lunch at a hot pot restaurant and watch the waiter dance with noodles. After lunch we visited Summer Palace. I could be getting this all in the wrong order..... :)

We drove out the the Great Wall and it was truly amazing. I never tire of seeing this place. It is great. Our last Beijing stop was Temple of Heaven, another favorite spot of min.

After Beijing, we flew to Xian to see the Terra Cotta warriors. The weather wasn't so great, but the boys really enjoyed seeing the warriors.

Back to Shanghai. We visited the SWFC - Shanghai World Financial Center. Really tall building! We went to the top - the 100th floor. I think the boys and Jacky like this. We also went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum to see the model of the city.

Suzanne, Jacky, and I shopped at Taikang Lu and had Vietnamese food there. Our last stop during their visit was the Bund at night with about a milliion other people. They had to fly out the next day.

It was so good to have them here. Took so much homesickness away to have them around. Alex loved having Jake and Josh help him get to the next level in Super Mario and I loved having my sister and Jacky around to just hang out with. So thankful that they came! Love you guys.