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Making Egg Dumplings!!

Nancy's Hometown

Shanghai in 2019 is a growing Metropolis of 20 million people. Shanghai in the 1960's and 70's was a very different place, as was all of China. The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) was a harsh and stark time for many on the mainland. It is the subject of an entire blog to compare and contrast the very different worlds of scarcity and plenty in all of Mainland China between the end of the Cultural Revolution, through the opening of China in the 1980's and 90's and explosive growth throughout the 2000's where China has emerged as the second largest economy on earth.

Jian Xiang elementary school

We wanted to go and visit Nancy's old elementary and high schools as well as two of the homes that she grew up in. The first stop was her elementary school, which was closed for the summer. Back in the early 1970's schools and factories in China all had security guards and no one could come and go unless they belonged there, students, teachers or parents. The schools are gated and today if a parent wants to visit they have to be escorted into the school by the teacher. Security back then had to do with everyone being closely watched and monitored and today security is even more rigid. 

looking through the front gate, the closest we could get to elementary school

At her old high school, the gate was open for workers who were doing re-hab to the building and grounds. One of the things they were doing was digging a trench at the gate for cameras and other enhanced security. We chatted with a security guard in the hopes that maybe he or someone could escort us around to see the high school and were told only if Nancy were part of an alumni group, otherwise no visitors are allowed. As an educator in the U.S. I'm seeing more and more schools adding enhanced security, but for different reasons. 

In the U.S., sadly, easy access to guns, including rapid assault weapons, has led to school massacres. In China, even the police don't carry guns and guns in general are strictly regulated. However, school's still have to be secured to guard against violent attacks against the most vulnerable. 

The two schools that we visited were in excellent repair, and like the U.S. summer break was the time used to do major cleaning, painting, repair and construction. When Nancy was a young girl, she went to an elementary school in her neighborhood which turned out to be one of the best schools in Shanghai. It still is considered excellent. Not much different than in the U.S., where you live determines your elementary school. In the U.S., inequities exist based upon the wealth of a given community; in general, the more affluent, the better the schools. 

Inequities also exist in China, there are excellent public schools and not so great ones. After elementary school, students must take exams in order to place into the better middle and high schools.

Next post: we find a couple of Nancy's childhood homes

Fu Xing Park in Shanghai

We arrived in Shanghai on Friday July 5th, which was a short stop prior to our visit to Japan--check out my blog posts https://tipsfromtheclumsyguy.blogspot.com/2019/08/arrival-in-shiga-prefectore.html
We wanted to see family and drop off heavier luggage in Mom's house so that we could travel light to Japan. So just a couple of days for now in China before returning for a longer visit. During our visit to Beijing last summer, I loved going to the parks to see the retired people doing mostly group activity, all of it very cool and fun to watch.

We also returned on our last Saturday in Shanghai, so this time I could use a real camera and telephoto lens to get some nice photos. 

accordion player accompanist for singers

The choral group that we watched had around 50 singers and one of the conductors told us the group has been coming to this park for the past 17 years.  

one of the conductors who has come here for 17 years

While most come to participate, some also come to just take in and observe the many groups of people practicing Tai Ji, playing jazz, playing badminton. The weather was gorgeous as was the landscaping. Even though it was a Saturday, a crew of city workers did some serious pruning on the 100 foot trees. A very positive vibe in the air and lots of good energy.

Really, it was refreshing to see such a positive flow--hundreds of people out for exercise, re-creation. Many of the participants are so-called elders, meaning late 50's and upward--plenty of people in their 70's and probably 80's. The weather was not too hot either--as Shaghai gets to the 100º weather a bit later in July.

 Some of the groups had what appeared to be a teacher or leader, other groups brought boom boxes for music. There was ballroom dancing and all sorts of drills to watch people practicing.


I have so many more wonderful pictures and video so I'll be making a video one of these days from that source material~will be sure to loop back here and put the link in.

Watch for the next installment: more from Fu Xing Park. (=

Kenny G in Shanghai!?
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