Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Day 82 Shanghai

Monday, rainy and gray. Prior to arrival, I had contracted to have a translator today, to help me with art translation. In Hong Kong, artist's names were only in Chinese characters. Here, however, artist's names are also in English. Kevin arrived at 9 am. We discussed Chinese history, culture, and logic system for an hour, before moving on to other topics. I asked for written instructions, in Chinese, that I could give the taxi driver in Xi'an. That proved to be a good precaution. I also asked Kevin to make some phone calls and get some information for me. After that, we explored Shanghai, visiting several areas, including the area and bazaar of the Yuyuan Garden. After lunch, we take a taxi to visit several private art galleries. Women taxi drivers are common here. One artist that I remember was Wu Guanzhong. This time of year, many galleries are unheated and cold. From the taxi, I see live chickens at a street market. Another person dies of bird flu in Beijing. I stop eating chicken.