ISpyShanghai

On Sunday with the weather blazing and The World’s Greatest Kite itching to get up into the blue, I went to Century Park with the enigmatic Emma. It’s a nice enough place, but when you pay 10RMB (70p- more than I pay for my lunch) to get into a place, you don’t expect there to be a “No Kites” rule. At that sort of price I expect to be allowed to light all of the trees on fire for my amusement, then go fishing for Koi Carp.

Well we had a walk around for a while, Emma wanted to go on a boat but I had flashbacks to renting a Pedlo in Lloret De Mar back in ‘86, (my Mum lost her glasses in the sea, and I got stung by a jellyfish- never again). After a quick circuit and a sprint through the musical fountain we got out of the park and headed down Century Avenue, where you can fly as many kites as you like without whitey getting on your back.

And fly it did- despite the kite hawkers all down the avenue telling me mine was small and ugly (sometimes knowing Chinese isn’t so cool)- The World’s Greatest Kite had no hesitation in soaring straight upwards to the full length of the string. I have no idea how high it was (maybe about the same as a 50 storey building? I’m not good at estimates) regardless, it was the highest one, a mere speck in the sky. Emma was suitably impressed- so much so that she wouldn’t give me the bloody string back once I’d lent it to her and I had to find my own amusements.

Bottom left, Emma- top, top, top right- our speck of a kite

Wandering around by the Science and Technology Museum, a short walk from the park, there were some kids on Skateboards, with one guy in particular pulling off some quality stunts. I took a few photos and then got over-excited, kicked off my shoes and socks and waded into the water for to get a better angle.