I started my last day in Shanghai (March 1) with another Chinese breakfast, though I’ve become quite picky about choosing things now. I know the things I like. I still find the English quite humorous and couldn’t resist taking a better photograph of the toaster sign.
It reads:
“The friendship hints
Please press the right side key then
Roast the over willing spring up automatically”
Luckily it was a toaster that worked in the normal fashion. The bread beside it had a sign that read: “Cut into slices bread”.
I went for a last walk around the neighbourhood, peering down back alleys,
looking at a
glazier shop and a hardware shop, 
watching men play a game,
noticing condom dispensers p
osted along the way,
staring at the orange ‘goldfish’ in the hotel lobby,
and watching a paper recycler pick up and sort through his wares in his cart.
I also noted again the street cleaners with their brooms made of branches,
buildings at a university,
everyday traffic,
people getting there bike fixed at a little sidewalk vendor.
When I peered at a shop that looked like a hairdressing place
with large windows and pictures of women, I discovered it was a place to hire hookers. There are many of them scattered throughout the streets of Shanghai.
Bicycles
I spent a fair amount of time observing the bicycles and other modes of transportation. They ride all kinds of bikes from newer versions to ones that must have been ridden in the 1950s or earlier. Some are rusty, falling apart bikes are ones that we would have thrown in the junk heap ages before. In fact, we did throw them out. Some are gangly and huge, while others are small and daintier, and some are motorized or have carts hitched behind. Someone would really treasure the ones we discard, if we could only figure out how to get them here cheaply.
It reads:
“The friendship hints
Please press the right side key then
Roast the over willing spring up automatically”
Luckily it was a toaster that worked in the normal fashion. The bread beside it had a sign that read: “Cut into slices bread”.
I went for a last walk around the neighbourhood, peering down back alleys,
looking at a
glazier shop and a hardware shop, 
watching men play a game,noticing condom dispensers p
osted along the way,staring at the orange ‘goldfish’ in the hotel lobby,
and watching a paper recycler pick up and sort through his wares in his cart.
I also noted again the street cleaners with their brooms made of branches,
buildings at a university,
everyday traffic,
people getting there bike fixed at a little sidewalk vendor.
When I peered at a shop that looked like a hairdressing place
with large windows and pictures of women, I discovered it was a place to hire hookers. There are many of them scattered throughout the streets of Shanghai.Bicycles
I spent a fair amount of time observing the bicycles and other modes of transportation. They ride all kinds of bikes from newer versions to ones that must have been ridden in the 1950s or earlier. Some are rusty, falling apart bikes are ones that we would have thrown in the junk heap ages before. In fact, we did throw them out. Some are gangly and huge, while others are small and daintier, and some are motorized or have carts hitched behind. Someone would really treasure the ones we discard, if we could only figure out how to get them here cheaply.
The sight of so many people riding bicycles will be one of my lasting impressions of Shanghai, as will the highrises and the smog.
I'm ready to move on to Guangzhou. My flight is at 5:30 pm.
