Patti Waldmeir shares her experience staying with the locals in Stay with Grandma Chen (FT, April 30).
During Shanghai Expo 2010 which opens on May 1st, 2010, a few hundred families were selected to offer the equivalent of a bed and breakfast or and hostal with the Shanghai Expo 2010 Homestay program.
It gives visitors a chance to learn about Chinese culture, local spots and share their home and their meals.
Patti Waldmeir closes her piece with a note of her visit at the Hualian supermarket (in Linfen):
"It was there that we saw perhaps the most traditionally Shanghainese
sight of the entire trip: ladies shopping in pajamas, a charming local
habit that the government is trying to stamp out in time for Expo – all
in the name of civilization."
sight of the entire trip: ladies shopping in pajamas, a charming local
habit that the government is trying to stamp out in time for Expo – all
in the name of civilization."
Will visitors get in trouble if they adopt that tradition?