Well you know what they say about the best laid plans ... I had purchased an early flight from Boise to San Francisco in part to avoid the epected long lines in security and to give me a more relaxed intinerary.... but wouldn't you know it, there was major cloud cover in San Fran, so instead of the 10 AM flight, we were pushed back until finally we left at around 12:55 Boise time, with an expected arrival at San Fran of approximately 12 20 PM. By the time I did get to San Fran all hopes of a relaxing transition from one flight to the other had completely vanished, and when I was confronted with the mess that is international check in, San Fran I looked like all hopes of catching my connection were squashed. After some hairy moments I did make the connection, just, and settled in for the 12 hour flight to Shanghai. I arrived in Shanghai at 6:00 PM last night (August 26th) and was immediately overwhelmed by the heat & humidity.
Coming from a temperature of 98 in the US when I left and having lived in some moderately humid places in the past, I thought I'd be prepared for the heat & humidity here... boy was I wrong, it hit me like last night like the blanket of heat you'll experience entering a swedish sauna full of overly macho guys trying to out last each other... and the mercury in the thermometer is about to explode. By the time we reached my hosts apartment I'd lost at least two pounds in weight, but boy was my complexion clean and clear !!
A shower and a clean shirt later, I was taken to Pinyip(I think this was the name) Tea Garden for a traditional meal of famous teas and very interesting snacks, and we were lucky enough to catch a group of traditional muscicians playing Ehru, flute and a third instrument who's name escapes me.
