The Matchbook Diaries

Shanghai Friday morning November 16

Hiya!  Seriously crispy cool out!  Love the sudden turn of season here.

On my morning run/walk I always pass a very old man who sits under the pergola and holds his cell phone in the air.  It’s playing old Chinese music and he softly croons aloud to the music every day outdoors.  There are a passel of grandma’s and ayi’s (it means auntie but it’s the word for housekeeper here) out in that courtyard with adorable Chinese babies at that hour.  He’s a few meters away, crooning, ignoring all of the clucking and cooing going on nearby.

Over in the other courtyard a woman plays waltz music on her phone and dances there without a partner.  Once, though, I saw her teaching another woman to dance.