Nankeen Exhibition Hall

I discovered this place on a recommendation from one of the expat magazines, I've been there twice since and I love going every time! Lucie and I spent an afternoon together snapping photos here and around Shanghai. I can't wait to take my parents here, especially my mom the quilter (!) when they come next month. The interesting photo of the fish hanging out to dry is a common site in Shanghai leading up to Chinese New Year. You can read more about the Exhibition Hall here: http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/listings/art/museums/has/nankeen-exhibition-hall/.

Next up on the blog, hundreds of photos from our trip to Borneo!

Harbin

We travelled to Harbin in early January, it was my first time flying within China. Before heading there I knew very little about the city itself, all I had heard was that it was a place I had to go while living here! The snow and ice sculptures and the cold air were breathtaking. It turns out Harbin is the tenth largest city in China. In the 1920s it was the fashion capital of China due to its proximity to Moscow where  all of the fashions from Paris would arrive first and then from there would be sent down to Shanghai.

We had a really great time with our friends and made friends with our driver too! We saw ice sculptures around the whole city, but we also went to the parks where there were huge ice sculptures that were beautiful at dusk and at night when they lit up. They sold ice cream out of a box right on the street and they also sold frozen fruit dipped in liquid sugar that was delicious! It was absolutely freezing cold and even with all of our layers we were glad to have hand and foot warmers.

The second day we went and saw all of the snow sculptures, they were incredible. We all said that they were the best part, and we were lucky to see them early enough in the season before they got too gross and gray from the pollution. It was a freezing cold weekend, that started out a little rough but ended up being an awesome time!