Yesterday was a big time tourist day for me, even though it rained pretty much all afternoon. Amelia, Steph and I followed my Shanghai guidebook around looking for the French Concession. We thought that it would have some nice colonial architecture that would make great pictures. Unfortunately, the only thing that we could find is an area packed with foreigners. We also found some cool botique shops selling knockoffs, some of which were pretty good. While walking around in that part of town we kept getting hounded by people offering us other fake items. They know a couple words in English and follow us around until we have walked far enough away from their spot or until we say I don't want (wo bu yao). We did find a pretty nice park with a garden and a gazebo in it though, and I have some good pictures of it.After having lunch in Japanese restaurant (We tried to order sushi and were informed that they were out of rice!) we wandered to old town, which is known for its more traditional Chinese architecture and more authentic Chinese feel. We didn't actually make it into the touristy part but we stopped walked through a little village. I don't know how to describe it in a polite way, but it did look like a ghetto. The houses looked more like what you would think of in China. Everyone in the neighboorhood had their doors open, there was a lot of talking through windows and even some older men playing cards and some women playing mahjong. It was interesting to see, especially with the contrast of the skyscrapers, high rises and subway stops and malls that are around me.For dinner we went to what was called a Muslim restaurant. Aparently there is a Chinese minority in northwests China that is predominately Muslim. This restaurant represented their quisine. It was fantastic. We had some lamb filled dumplings, some spicy green beans mixed with peanuts and peppers and some grilled lamb skewers. We wanted to order some naan but they were out, I guess it is extremely popular. I am definitely going to go back to that restaurant.Today we went to the fabric market. Holy Crap. It is three floors of stalls that sell custom clothing. They have manequins dressed with sample clothing styles that can be made on the outside of the stops. On the inside, there are bolts and bolts of fabric. You cannot even imagine how many choices there are. The most commonly made items were suits. They were beautiful. I ended up ordering a new jacket. It costs about $50, sorry Dad, but it was entirely worth it. I picked out the fabric and the cut and got my measurements taken. In a week my custom jacket will be finished. I plan on going back because there were a lot of dress styles that I really liked. However, you can also print out a style that you want, bring it to them, pick out your fabric, and they will make it for you. So, if anyone needs some custom clothes let me know! They are pretty cheap considering the work that goes into them. I would not have been able to get a jacket like the one I bought in the US without paying over $100. I am looking forward to buying some new clothes.I met my new roommate yesterday! Her name is Christine. We get along great and we got some sushi for lunch today. It was super cheap and very tasty. Her grandparents live in Shanghai and are stopping over for a visit.Tomorrow I am meeting the rest of the NSC interns that have arrived in the past week and then it is off to work for the next five days, so life might be a bit more boring. I have posted some more pictures on facebook of the past few days.http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31041377&id=1248120018