A very large Ferris Wheel at the southern end of Shanghai. Dusty Venus — most of the dust is a result of construction/demolition.

This little boy was making so much noise that at first I thought his life was in danger, but he was simply one of those kids who is very loud while having a good time.

I cannot find these little sunflower bars in Nanjing; they seem to be a specialty of the Lake Tai region. Anyway, I ate about 30 of them and concluded that these would be ideal for hiking and camping, and they are really cheap.

For dealing with people, you just can’t find an easier place than the lake Tai/Hangzhou Bay region. It’s just so much easier to find things out and communicate.

Language note: Bang, 1st tone–?, supposedly means a creek. in practice, it means a canal, or, by extension, a village by a canal. You see this word a lot in village names of the Lake Tai region; my impression is that you don’t see this character much in other parts of the country. The other big word in towns with canals is Tang, 2nd tone, 塘，which supposedly means a pool but in practice nearly always means a canal…