(no subject)
Well, we finally got out of the eyesore that is Beijing and made our way to Shanghai. If you want to imagine Shanghai, just picture the city from Futurama and then deduct the flying cars. Every building is a skyscraper and every surface is reflective. It's the sort of drawing that people made in the 1950s showing what they thought the world would look like in 100 years.
Shanghai was knee deep in the World Expo at the time, and our hotel price reflected that. When I flung open the door to our new room I was happy as a clam - it was very clean and looked nice and had lots of non-IKEA type wood. I joyfully flung myself onto the bed, only to land on a slab of concrete in the cunning disguise of a bed. Minutes later I discovered that the bathroom was so small I couldn't actually sit on the toilet AND close the door at the same time. Which maybe wouldn't have been such a big deal if the bathroom was round a corner, but if directly faced the bed, so Jason and I spent the next two days politely asking each other to step into the hallway whenever nature called.
But yes, the World Expo. The Expo straddled both sides of a river, and we spent the morning poking around the side closest to our hotel. My favourite exhibit was actually the first one we saw - the Pavilion of the Future. Looking back, I think I liked it because it seemed to treat real world technology and outlandish imagination as one and the same, giving each equal reverence. One room was computer technology I won't see for another 10 years, the next room was quotes from 6 year olds about what they think the world will be like 50 years from now.
Next we puttered over to the French Pavilion which wasn't all that interesting to be honest. I noticed a "wine tasting" sign that mentioned the third floor, so I obviously went there. A French sounding security guard was turning away a constant stream of Chinese people who were repeating "drink wine". Well, English clearly meant failure, so (and this is the only time that my French certificate has been in any way useful) I asked "Ou est-ce qu'on peut gouter de vin?". The guard smiled brightly at me and ushered Jason and I into an all French wine tasting party, where we got a little drunk and ate copiously from the many cheese platters.
Next we got in the line for the ferry, which was carting people to the other side of the river. I say there was a line, but it meant absolutely nothing as people would just casually walk in front of anybody they pleased. When a boat came, everyone in the line actually ran wildly towards the gangplank, towing slow children and doing pretty much everything except directly shove other people out of the way. "These people are like animals," I thought, not for the first time.
Anyhow, off to the Canadian Pavilion where more people butted in front of us, which especially ticked me off because "Hey, we wait politely wait in Canada, ya stupid hosers." A quick tour of Lithuania, the Ukraine, Belgium and Italy, which, with the exception of Italy, were just giant tourist advertisements. Anyways, it just felt rather souless after the serendipidous happenings of the morning.
The next day we looked at some buildings. They were buildingish.
Well, that's China in a nutshell. You've probably gathered I don't have much affection for the place, which is completely true. I actually left a bit racist, and in utter sympathy with Taiwan. Out of the 11 countries I've visited, it's in a firmly distant last place. When I went into my Doctor Who daydream later on the plane, I walked into the TARDIS control room, took out the giant map of time and space the Doctor keeps, and crossed off every depiction of China I could find. Any imaginary friend worth their salt would never let another imaginary friend go there.
Shanghai was knee deep in the World Expo at the time, and our hotel price reflected that. When I flung open the door to our new room I was happy as a clam - it was very clean and looked nice and had lots of non-IKEA type wood. I joyfully flung myself onto the bed, only to land on a slab of concrete in the cunning disguise of a bed. Minutes later I discovered that the bathroom was so small I couldn't actually sit on the toilet AND close the door at the same time. Which maybe wouldn't have been such a big deal if the bathroom was round a corner, but if directly faced the bed, so Jason and I spent the next two days politely asking each other to step into the hallway whenever nature called.
But yes, the World Expo. The Expo straddled both sides of a river, and we spent the morning poking around the side closest to our hotel. My favourite exhibit was actually the first one we saw - the Pavilion of the Future. Looking back, I think I liked it because it seemed to treat real world technology and outlandish imagination as one and the same, giving each equal reverence. One room was computer technology I won't see for another 10 years, the next room was quotes from 6 year olds about what they think the world will be like 50 years from now.
Next we puttered over to the French Pavilion which wasn't all that interesting to be honest. I noticed a "wine tasting" sign that mentioned the third floor, so I obviously went there. A French sounding security guard was turning away a constant stream of Chinese people who were repeating "drink wine". Well, English clearly meant failure, so (and this is the only time that my French certificate has been in any way useful) I asked "Ou est-ce qu'on peut gouter de vin?". The guard smiled brightly at me and ushered Jason and I into an all French wine tasting party, where we got a little drunk and ate copiously from the many cheese platters.
Next we got in the line for the ferry, which was carting people to the other side of the river. I say there was a line, but it meant absolutely nothing as people would just casually walk in front of anybody they pleased. When a boat came, everyone in the line actually ran wildly towards the gangplank, towing slow children and doing pretty much everything except directly shove other people out of the way. "These people are like animals," I thought, not for the first time.
Anyhow, off to the Canadian Pavilion where more people butted in front of us, which especially ticked me off because "Hey, we wait politely wait in Canada, ya stupid hosers." A quick tour of Lithuania, the Ukraine, Belgium and Italy, which, with the exception of Italy, were just giant tourist advertisements. Anyways, it just felt rather souless after the serendipidous happenings of the morning.
The next day we looked at some buildings. They were buildingish.
Well, that's China in a nutshell. You've probably gathered I don't have much affection for the place, which is completely true. I actually left a bit racist, and in utter sympathy with Taiwan. Out of the 11 countries I've visited, it's in a firmly distant last place. When I went into my Doctor Who daydream later on the plane, I walked into the TARDIS control room, took out the giant map of time and space the Doctor keeps, and crossed off every depiction of China I could find. Any imaginary friend worth their salt would never let another imaginary friend go there.