Mike
Slow start today: down for breakfast a little after 8:00 AM. Somewhat after 9:00 AM we headed to the internet cafe for a last message. At 9 AM (and only then), the internet cafe is not crowded, and there is not a lot of smoking going on.
Back to the hotel. Checked out at 11. We took a taxi 1.5 km to the Hailun Station, and then repeat what we did on July 19, in reverse - #4 line to
the #2 line to the Maglev. We arrived at the airport at about 12:15 PM. It's a long walk from the Maglev to the airport proper. Once inside, we zipped up our backpacks securely inside their Osprey stuff sacks and attached the TSA-approved locks - at least Curtis attached his lock. I couldn't find mine.
It was maybe 12:45 PM by then. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 3:35 PM. Delta has one plane a day out of Shanghai (a 777). So, for one hour a day, there is a huge check-in line, then quiet. We (of course) were in the middle of a long queue, which took at least 50 minutes to pass through. By 1:30 PM, we were checked in.
Curtis had about 50 Y remaining. He couldn't find a Starbucks at the airport, so he ordered an expensive mocha frappucino (which he pronounced unsatisfying). I left China with about 70 Y in my pockets.
On our plane were two retired American teachers from Alabama. They had come for four weeks in rural China, to help local language teachers polish up their English. The rest of the plane seemed to be filled with Chinese college students going to the US to start the school year.
I was assigned seat 50G (aisle) and Curtis was in 50J (window). Our (vain) hope was that the intermediate seat would stay vacant. No such luck. Already sitting in 50H was a 25 year old guy from Chengdu who was going to North Carolina State (in Raleigh) for his PhD. He had pretty good English. He said he had perfected his English watching "Friends" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" on the Internet. He was also familiar with "May 35th" (the Tiananmen Square protests of June 4, 1989) and the “Grass Mud Horse” (an anti-censorship song that uses a homonym in Chinese 操你妈 cao ni ma, a vulgar phrase implying intercourse with your maternal parent) and a whole lot of other stuff that it is more or less suppressed in China. We had a great time telling him about the food he was going to get in the US, and trying to introduce him to what he was going to experience the next 5 years (if his studies took that long).
Curtis
We are trying to get in a quick stop at the wangba in Shanghai before checking out of our hotel. Our reservation was in top shape when we got here. No problems.
First flight info: We are on Delta Flt#18, leaves here 3:35 PM and arrives Atlanta 6:10 PM. Only 2 1/2 hours! -- except add 12 to that for the crossing of the international date line. I hope I can get some sleep. At least going westward we will see some night time.
I had a nice Western breakfast at the hotel: omelet with ham, peppers, onion, and cheese. Mike still dipped into stuff like tofu: not really to my liking for breakfast. But I felt that my mind and my stomach were now ready for the Pacific crossing...
Our return flight had some interesting moments. I asked one of the stewardesses if we would be returning by the polar route, and she replied that she thought we would be flying over Japan and then the Aleutian Islands. Then as I settled in my seat and booted the in-flight monitor, it displayed a projected path right over Korea, North Korea! "That has to be a mistake" someone said, and true to the original word, we headed out to sea and in the direction of Japan. The sky was a little 
hazy, but mostly clear, and you could see quite a lot of detail. I'm pretty sure we went right over Nagasaki. After dinner we had a few hours of night as we crossed the International Date Line. Of course, I was too wired to get any quality sleep. Above the clouds I could see the full moon and right next to it, Jupiter. I stared at this same orb that had so perfectly eclipsed the sun two weeks ago, even if our view was obscured by the clouds, and somehow everything seemed right and in some kind of cosmic order.
Here are a couple of travel tips that I meant to add to our blog of things to know about getting around in China.
CROSSING THE STREET:
At big intersections in China's cities, you will see the ribbed white crosswalks that you associate with European cities (think Abbey Road album cover). You might presume that when the "walk" light comes on, it is now safe to cross. Think again, and look! Now, all the left turners, including buses, etc. jockey for position. After that, here come the bicycles and mopeds. It is always a game of cat and mouse.
At one such intersection in Xi'an, after noticing that cars and busses were usually careful not to run over old ladies, I formulated the Boy Scout Rule of crossing the street: Look for Grandma. Get parallel. Then, cross. Seems to work pretty well, since we are still alive to write this email.
SUBWAY CONNECTIONS:
At least in Shanghai, which has multiple subway lines that intersect, you might think that (like New York or Paris) you could change from the #1 to the #4 train. Not necessarily!
We found out last night that some of the maps are deceptive: you actually have to exit the platform and buy a new ticket to enter the platform for a different train. This is also true at the Shanghai railway station stop, which is quite annoying.
But there is a trump card that you can play as long as you don't try it too often.
The UNHAPPY FOREIGN TOURIST RULE: If you complain and say in sign language that you are almost out of money and that the maps are misleading, you just might create enough of a stir that a manager from the ticket office will give you a little slip of paper with a stamp on it. He will then let you out through a gate (since the machine swallowed your card). You can now take your certificate to the gatekeepers at the other line, and they will let you in. Worked for us.
However, it still took an hour and fifteen minutes to get back to hotel from the French Concession.
DEALING WITH CHINA'S 3 H's
After walking around Shanghai our first day and discovering that sweat had permeated everything I was wearing (including my wallet, money belt, and their respective contents) I devised a way to keep my important papers and money dry. During the hot, hazy and humid summer months, keep your wallet and your passport inside a zip-lock bag. Just fold it to shape, squish out the air, and put it back in the money belt or wherever you keep it, and your important papers will not turn into papier-mâché.
CARRY EXTRA NAPKINS
Napkins are sometimes hard to come by, so when you do, reserve an extra and carry it out with you. Very useful after consuming street food, and even in sit-down restaurants. It seems that you are expected to be so expert with chopsticks that you never have to use a napkin, even though much of Chinese cooking consists of finger food, and it is perfectly acceptable to use your fingers at the table. While on the subject of table manners, it is also perfectly acceptable and much more practical to pick up your rice bowl or soup bowl and shovel down your rice or sip your soup. And as for those really, really long noodles, it is perfectly good manners to bite them off mid-strand, letting the rest fall back into the bowl. Just don't wear a white shirt that you prize too highly. And carry a third napkin if you plan to eat soup, and you have a mustache.
NOT EVERYONE WHO SPEAKS TO YOU IS A HAWKER
It is easy to get annoyed at the hawkers in the big cities, selling everything from laser pens and junk souvenirs to massages and call girls, but don't always assume that everyone who calls out "Hallo!" is trying to get your money. The Chinese people are genuinely friendly, and yes, sometimes genuinely curious. They want to know where you are from, why you have come to China; they are often ready to help with directions or information. There is a natural curiosity about foreigners: you must know that many Chinese would just love to see the rest of the world, something that is still very difficult for most of the native born. They also have a great sense of humor and are not unwilling to find the amusing twist in their own circumstances. And if there is a sense of wariness in the background about getting too careless with speech over certain topics, there is much less feeling of the need to avoid foreigners than I heard of in past decades. If you smile, a smile will be returned. Just keep to your destination, and don't buy a tour on the street.
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