Shanghai is a very different city than Beijing. I've yet to decided which I prefer. Maybe I'll just have to come back and stay for a little bit longer next time...
(7/26) The bullet train ride down to Shanghai was relatively uneventful. Partially because we only stopped in Nanjing. That's right, one stop, all the way down to Shanghai. This made the ride just under 5 hours and far less jerky than the ride back up to Beijing that I made two days later. My quick trip down was probably also do to the speed of the train: (it's called a bullet train for a reason)
I made it to Shanghai just before 7 pm, and Mal and Paul (her boyfriend) picked me up at train station. But, wait, who is Mal? Who is Paul? They were not random strangers, I promise. Mal and I have a mutual friend back in Colorado (John Toles), and has been living and working in Shanghai for three and half years. Her boyfriend is the CFO of Lindt Chocolate in Asia. Which is kinda cool...I guess. He's also South African, which is also cool...(more like freaking awesome...)
Here we are with one of the most iconic views in Shanghai in the background.
So, first night, they took me to a Beatles-themed Japanese restaurant, because, really, where else would you eat when in Shanghai. I think this restaurant was the first (and not the last) indicator that told me Shanghai was not going to be at all like Beijing. Shanghai is more international and less, well, Chinese. Which sounds strange, but that's the only way I can think to put it.
(7/27) The next day we slept in. Which was a nice change. In Beijing sleeping in is a rare occurrence. After we got up (11 am...super later, I know), we wandered over to the Yu Garden. It's history goes as far back as the Ming Dynasty, but it's been destroyed and rebuilt twice now, which makes the buildings there seem a little plastic. It seems to be where the all the tourists in Shanghai go. Probably because that's what their guide books tell them to do.
Quite pretty, but full of tourists. However, it does contain a wonderful soup dumpling restaurant. Now, you might ask, what on Earth is a soup dumpling? Exactly how it sounds:
Full of hot, crabby juices. Wonderfully tasty. We had lunch with one of Paul's friends. His name was Ivan, he was originally from Venezuela, sounded like an American, and went to university in Germany....I meet the most interesting people in China.
That evening Mal, Paul and I had dinner with an ex-pat couple from Colorado. (On a side note, it seems that whenever a Coloradan leaves Colorado, they move to China. Mal works with 2 or 3 other Coloradans as well). Their names were Merna and David and they had been living in China for three years, but are repatriating in September. David is one of the leading oncologists in the United States and was opening up a clinic here in China. I should also add that they are both in the 70s. Dinner with them was absolutely wonderful. They had such interesting insights about China that I don't think I would have been able to get from any one but them. Learned a little bit about the corruption in the government (China doesn't like old foreigners working in China, so David had to pay the government off to get his visa) and a little bit about the drama between older ex-pats in Shanghai. They were lovely and gave me a little taste of Colorado, if only for a few hours.
(7/28) Sunday was the day of my departure, but my train wasn't until that evening, so we took advantage of the time we had left. We went and had brunch on the Bund. Our restaurant was ideally situated for taking the kind of pictures you find in guide books:
We then walked over to the People's Square. The most interesting thing we discovered there was the Marriage Market. Yes, the Marriage Market. Because I'm in China, so, really, what else would I find? Now, you're probably asking what exactly is a marriage market. Honestly, I'm still not entirely sure. But that doesn't make it any less interesting. Along the paths in the park, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of pieces of paper telling about all sorts of people:
Each advertisement (which is essentially what they are) tells us where the person is from, their sex, age, income, height, and a little bit about their personality. I'm pretty sure this is what online dating was inspired by. Except in this case, you don't make your profile, your parents do....There were people from every province in China looking for love. And of every age. I saw adverts for people as young as 21 and as old as 60.
After the marriage market, it was time to go back to Mal and Paul's apartment, pack up, and then head to the train station. But this is not the end of my adventure:
On the train back to Beijing I met a lovely family from the city of Xufu (Confucius' birthplace). The mother was an English teacher at a middle school and had a twelve-year-old daughter. The mom and I started our conversation in English and progressed until it was almost all Chinese. She then switched seats with her daughter, and her daughter (Dong Qing) and I proceeded to have an hour and a half conversation in Chinese. She helped me a little with my homework, we talked about Beijing, and talked about America. Right before they got off at Xufu, we exchanged emails and she and I now write each other about once a week.
This is why I love China. There are so many unbelievably kind people here, and if you're willing to talk with them, they have some of the most wonderful stories to tell. They are all so eager to talk and exchange ideas and cultures. I think this is one of the biggest reasons I want to come back here. Dong Qing's mother invited me to stay at her home if ever I passed through Xufu again. She was a perfect stranger, but after only two hours of conversation, she was open and generous enough to offer me a place in her home. I've never encountered anything like this in the United States. My exchange with this family was one of the highlights of my two months here.
(7/26) The bullet train ride down to Shanghai was relatively uneventful. Partially because we only stopped in Nanjing. That's right, one stop, all the way down to Shanghai. This made the ride just under 5 hours and far less jerky than the ride back up to Beijing that I made two days later. My quick trip down was probably also do to the speed of the train: (it's called a bullet train for a reason)
So, first night, they took me to a Beatles-themed Japanese restaurant, because, really, where else would you eat when in Shanghai. I think this restaurant was the first (and not the last) indicator that told me Shanghai was not going to be at all like Beijing. Shanghai is more international and less, well, Chinese. Which sounds strange, but that's the only way I can think to put it.
(7/27) The next day we slept in. Which was a nice change. In Beijing sleeping in is a rare occurrence. After we got up (11 am...super later, I know), we wandered over to the Yu Garden. It's history goes as far back as the Ming Dynasty, but it's been destroyed and rebuilt twice now, which makes the buildings there seem a little plastic. It seems to be where the all the tourists in Shanghai go. Probably because that's what their guide books tell them to do.
That evening Mal, Paul and I had dinner with an ex-pat couple from Colorado. (On a side note, it seems that whenever a Coloradan leaves Colorado, they move to China. Mal works with 2 or 3 other Coloradans as well). Their names were Merna and David and they had been living in China for three years, but are repatriating in September. David is one of the leading oncologists in the United States and was opening up a clinic here in China. I should also add that they are both in the 70s. Dinner with them was absolutely wonderful. They had such interesting insights about China that I don't think I would have been able to get from any one but them. Learned a little bit about the corruption in the government (China doesn't like old foreigners working in China, so David had to pay the government off to get his visa) and a little bit about the drama between older ex-pats in Shanghai. They were lovely and gave me a little taste of Colorado, if only for a few hours.
(7/28) Sunday was the day of my departure, but my train wasn't until that evening, so we took advantage of the time we had left. We went and had brunch on the Bund. Our restaurant was ideally situated for taking the kind of pictures you find in guide books:
After the marriage market, it was time to go back to Mal and Paul's apartment, pack up, and then head to the train station. But this is not the end of my adventure:
On the train back to Beijing I met a lovely family from the city of Xufu (Confucius' birthplace). The mother was an English teacher at a middle school and had a twelve-year-old daughter. The mom and I started our conversation in English and progressed until it was almost all Chinese. She then switched seats with her daughter, and her daughter (Dong Qing) and I proceeded to have an hour and a half conversation in Chinese. She helped me a little with my homework, we talked about Beijing, and talked about America. Right before they got off at Xufu, we exchanged emails and she and I now write each other about once a week.
