Cab fares and weddings

It costs £30 to even look at a cab in London. In Shanghai most taxi fares come out to less than a tenth of that. The difference in the price might be down to a) the ubiquitousness of taxis in Shanghai and b) the 'fearless' , time maximizing, driving technique of the local cabbies. The age of the vehicles - and the fact they were fully depreciated long ago -  may also be a factor.

Our hotel is right on the Bund. It's comfortable and the staff are friendly . Some speak a few words of English, others (most) none at all. This is unusual. In most places English, or some form of it, acts as a sort of lingua franca. Check in takes 35 minutes even though I'd done on-line check in before boarding the flight from London. Procedures have to be followed and passports checked. I'd reckon 85% of the guests are local and 15% international. In Tokyo or Singapore or London it would be the other way round. For some reason our hotel ( perhaps because its near the consulate ) has no Russian guests. Everywhere else they are by far the predominant foreign grouping.

On a stroll out of our hotel we notice a large number of young couples having their wedding photos taken. They all seem to be dressed identically.

It is clearly a big day for them.

Dog owners are much in evidence at the local cafes. One fellow seems to recognize a fellow Scot.

Presumably dogs are taken for a walk then onto breakfast. Life for a urban hound in a city this big must be difficult.

On a street corner a group of ladies are practising what they must consider to be a 'Latin' sound. This can best be described as 'unusual' .

Yet more wedding couples seem oblivious to the heavy traffic. People waiting at a bus stop look on as if this is the most natural thing in the world. When a bus arrives the young couples stop being photographed and step back onto the pavement. When a bus goes they move back.

When we return to the hotel the Groucho quartet are still there. They seem to have a producer . He seems quite pleased with their performance. We decide Chinese - Argentinian Chacarera must be a thing. 

A great cinematic moment and a  great cameo of American and English use of language . We watch yesterdays speech to Congress by the King. It was quite political but his host doesn't seem to have been bothered by it :https://youtu.be/awsmXerhLqQ

Things I didn't know. Mushroom capital of the world :https://pennsylvaniaindependent.com/politics/pennsylvania-is-home-to-the-worlds-mushroom-capital/