October 18
If I develop lung cancer I wont be surprised. We complain about smog in LA, but really in Shanghai I don’t think there is such a thing as a blue sky. It is just smoggy all the time and everyone smokes, everywhere. I do not love that part of Shanghai.
This morning I had a meeting at 10 with the China Christian Council, our distribution partner for all of China. Luckily I had Echo write out the address ahead of time, but getting a cab was hard outside the hotel. I asked the hotel to help me and they showed me to this little guy on a scooter. Yeah, like I was going to hop on the back of that thing. Not to mention I need receipts for my expense report. Anyway, eventually I found a cab and got here. Andrew is the man in charge, well of the wheelchairs anyway. He is really nice, but his English is not so good. It is a whole lot easier to email this guy then sit and have lunch and try to talk with him. We had a translator for our introduction and he helped me understand all that goes on at the CCC. We spent about 3 hours together then I had the rest of the day to myself. I did a lot of walking! Up and down Nanjing Road where all the shopping is. I bought a few things and did some bargaining for some pearls. Interesting that I would pay the same amount for a hot chocolate and muffin from starbucks that I did for a pair of real pearl ear rings. Since I had an authentic Chinese lunch I decided I needed some more American food after that. Walking all around Shanghai I needed something refreshing, and I saw a Haggen Daas Ice Cream parlor. I got in line behind the other foreigners, and wouldn’t you know there were 3 Australian ladies who were in front of me and noticed I was alone and invited me to join them. I gladly accepted and we chatted and enjoyed ice cream. Of course I had the chance to talk about Free Wheelchair Mission and they were interested and just the nicest ladies. They were with a tour group so after the ice cream we said goodbye. I continued my walking and shopping. I was really just waiting for it to get dark so I could see the lit up street of Nanjing. I enjoyed the city lights, grabbed a cab and arrived back at the lovely Super 168 Motel. This hotel is really quite terrible. The bed is like sleeping on a board. The shower is gross, but I will be checking out in 12 hours, so I will survive.
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| Yes there is Christianity in China |
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| Beautiful Church built in 1874 |
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| Andrew and Me |
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| Shanghai is a lot prettier at night |
Tomorrow will be a heavy travel day. An hour and half flight then a 4 hour car ride. I am just looking forward to seeing the FWM work in action.
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