PART 1
WELCOME TO CHINA. We landed in Shanghai after a nice 12 hour flight on Air Canada, about an hour and a half of which was spent sleeping by me. When we landed, it was 4pm China time (it's all the same timezone, Beijing says so). We ate supper at a restaurant (every meal we have is from a restaurant, and is almost always chinese food) and then were bussed to our hotel by Master Joe (our bus driver, and his English name. I’m really bad at remembering Chinese names. Apparently you call drivers “masters” here because driving can be so difficult.). Here we got our first taste of Chinese traffic. Even with so few, proportionately, having cars, the streets are packed. He told us that people can’t own the land, but only sign leases with the government. That means if the government wants you out so they can build a road, you’re gone. The same goes for houses, too, and which is why lots of old aparmtments were being torn down in Shanghai to make way for new highrises. There were also fancy raised highways above the city, which were actually above normal streets below. That way it allowed things to go underneath, but took care of the through-traffic problem. They did look rather expensive, too expensive for us to get any time soon, but they did the job really well. There were even a couple of raised traffic circles! Some of it even had blue mood lighting underneat it in some parts of the city.
Once back at the hotel, most people passed out, but Andy (my roomie) and I decided to go exploring down some dark Chinese streets. We walked a few blocks from the hotel, but found lots of streetside vendors, lots of random signs that we didn't come even close to understanding, and a ridiculous amount of people driving around, even at 9pm. The buses drove by at something close to 5 minute intervals, even in the evening. If there’s one thing I was impressed about, it was the public transportation system. Shanghai has 948 bus routes. Yes. 948. Add to that a really nice subway with around a dozen lines, you can just avoid the whole car thing altogether. Michael told us that Shanghai has the second or third longest subway system in the entire world, behind only London and maybe someone else, and that the entire thing has been built in the last 20 years.
In Shanghai, there are basically people all the place all the time. Traffic is basically a gong-show from about 5am to 1am, but Michael (our guide's English name) said you can sit going nowhere for hours on some streets during rush hour. As Michael described it, there aren't so much traffic laws as much as there are "suggestions." People routinely blow reds after looking, and there are scooters and bicycles (lots of the electric bicycle and scooters, too) EVERYWHERE, assumedly since they're so cheap. Michael told us that the cheap VW option (there's a VW plant in Shanghai) is about 100 000 yuan (7 yuan to CAN$), and a licence plate is another 40 000 Yuan. Our hotel was on a major street, and the honking was almost constant; it gave a new definition to a chorus of horns. Honking does have a bit of a different meaning here, since people like to change lanes without looking, and there are people everywhere, honking is really more saying "I'm here! Look here!" more than "YOU'RE A DOUCHEBAG," but that message can certainly be sent by leaning on it hard enough. Driving seems to be a fickle thing. Everyone moves over when someone is cutting into their lane, accompanied with a honk, but no one really forces the issue of their divine right to stay in their lane; they just shift over into the next lane and cut off the next person. People slow down for those who cut in, and everyone drives more slowly, so you’d assume that any collision wouldn’t be as bad, even if there were more of them. Driving is certainly stressful, though, people just make right turns into traffic, and people just kind of shift over with some honking, but it's just business as usual here. Fitting cars four wide in three lanes is rather common at an intersection, and then it all evens out. Add bicycles and scooters that don't always stay in the bicycle lanes (of which there are ones on both sides of almost every semi-major road), and you have a good time. Pedestrians are everywhere, which makes it even more fun. We've all had lots of cars within a few inches of us. China is not a country for the skittish.
Wednesday morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel (mostly American food like pancakes and bacon) and then went down to the "Bund," the waterfront in Shanghai. We went to the old city side, and looked across the Pu river (from Pu Xi[West] to Pu Dong[East]) which was filled with highrises which were 190 000 yuan a square meter, and lots of tall office buildings. It used to be just rice paddies around 10 years ago, but you'd never guess it. Construction is virtually a constant in every place we've been; cranes dot the landscape. We walked around the bund, and had our pictures taken by other people there. Being White in China is a bit of a rarity, plus add in the choir members that are blonde, tall, or have curly hair, and we’re a regular attraction. We stopped and took pictures with some groups of other tourists, usually other Asian whose English was spotty at best. Other White people weren’t exactly interested in us. The police drive around in modified off-road golf cart like vehicles, and so many police just seem to drive around with their roof lights on constantly. For some reason, they given tow trucks sirens, too, but it kind of looked like that tow trucks are part of the same bureau as the police, and aren’t owned privately.
Lunch, like all others, was in a restaurant, and was Chinese food. Writing this a few days later, all of the meals more or less seem to blend together. Our guide Michael (I can never remember his Chinese name) told us that we’d probably be sick of Chinese food by the time we left, and I remember being skeptical of him, but it’s definitely starting to wear on us. After lunch we went to the Shanghai museum, which was essentially like any other, except filled with Chinese artifacts, including pottery, furniture, some weapons, bronzework, and added to that some Italian portraits from the renaissance, from painters like Titian, and a few from Raphael, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures of them. After that we were taken to the government-owned silk factory for a tour to see how it was made. I’m assuming it was only a show factory, since there were only a few ladies working there, and the store attached (where you were supposed to buy their silk) was much too large to be supplied by the tiny factory attached to the store, so one can only assume there’s some dark, dirty factory where they ACTUALLY make all the silk that you buy. After we shopped around in the silk store for a couple hours, and some people bought some stuff there. Our conductor bought a silk bathrobe, along with the ever-lovable Chris Stoicheff. Other popular items were quillows and duvets, which were 1/5th the price of a goose down one back home. I wanted to buy one, but I wouldn’t be able to use it on the bed I have now, or not on the bed I would be getting in a few years, so I just held off. Someone else should go to China, eh? Eh?
After supper, we went and saw the Shanghai acrobats, who were spectacular. They did all sorts of fantastic stunts, from flying through hoops, to the swinging five plates on sticks while contorting themselves, to a couple of strongmen, 8 women on a bicycle, and the globe of death with five motorcycles driving around inside of it. I felt the jetlag pretty good during parts of it, so I kind of napped through the magician’s section.
Once back at the hotel, most people passed out, but Andy (my roomie) and I decided to go exploring down some dark Chinese streets. We walked a few blocks from the hotel, but found lots of streetside vendors, lots of random signs that we didn't come even close to understanding, and a ridiculous amount of people driving around, even at 9pm. The buses drove by at something close to 5 minute intervals, even in the evening. If there’s one thing I was impressed about, it was the public transportation system. Shanghai has 948 bus routes. Yes. 948. Add to that a really nice subway with around a dozen lines, you can just avoid the whole car thing altogether. Michael told us that Shanghai has the second or third longest subway system in the entire world, behind only London and maybe someone else, and that the entire thing has been built in the last 20 years.
In Shanghai, there are basically people all the place all the time. Traffic is basically a gong-show from about 5am to 1am, but Michael (our guide's English name) said you can sit going nowhere for hours on some streets during rush hour. As Michael described it, there aren't so much traffic laws as much as there are "suggestions." People routinely blow reds after looking, and there are scooters and bicycles (lots of the electric bicycle and scooters, too) EVERYWHERE, assumedly since they're so cheap. Michael told us that the cheap VW option (there's a VW plant in Shanghai) is about 100 000 yuan (7 yuan to CAN$), and a licence plate is another 40 000 Yuan. Our hotel was on a major street, and the honking was almost constant; it gave a new definition to a chorus of horns. Honking does have a bit of a different meaning here, since people like to change lanes without looking, and there are people everywhere, honking is really more saying "I'm here! Look here!" more than "YOU'RE A DOUCHEBAG," but that message can certainly be sent by leaning on it hard enough. Driving seems to be a fickle thing. Everyone moves over when someone is cutting into their lane, accompanied with a honk, but no one really forces the issue of their divine right to stay in their lane; they just shift over into the next lane and cut off the next person. People slow down for those who cut in, and everyone drives more slowly, so you’d assume that any collision wouldn’t be as bad, even if there were more of them. Driving is certainly stressful, though, people just make right turns into traffic, and people just kind of shift over with some honking, but it's just business as usual here. Fitting cars four wide in three lanes is rather common at an intersection, and then it all evens out. Add bicycles and scooters that don't always stay in the bicycle lanes (of which there are ones on both sides of almost every semi-major road), and you have a good time. Pedestrians are everywhere, which makes it even more fun. We've all had lots of cars within a few inches of us. China is not a country for the skittish.
Wednesday morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel (mostly American food like pancakes and bacon) and then went down to the "Bund," the waterfront in Shanghai. We went to the old city side, and looked across the Pu river (from Pu Xi[West] to Pu Dong[East]) which was filled with highrises which were 190 000 yuan a square meter, and lots of tall office buildings. It used to be just rice paddies around 10 years ago, but you'd never guess it. Construction is virtually a constant in every place we've been; cranes dot the landscape. We walked around the bund, and had our pictures taken by other people there. Being White in China is a bit of a rarity, plus add in the choir members that are blonde, tall, or have curly hair, and we’re a regular attraction. We stopped and took pictures with some groups of other tourists, usually other Asian whose English was spotty at best. Other White people weren’t exactly interested in us. The police drive around in modified off-road golf cart like vehicles, and so many police just seem to drive around with their roof lights on constantly. For some reason, they given tow trucks sirens, too, but it kind of looked like that tow trucks are part of the same bureau as the police, and aren’t owned privately.
Lunch, like all others, was in a restaurant, and was Chinese food. Writing this a few days later, all of the meals more or less seem to blend together. Our guide Michael (I can never remember his Chinese name) told us that we’d probably be sick of Chinese food by the time we left, and I remember being skeptical of him, but it’s definitely starting to wear on us. After lunch we went to the Shanghai museum, which was essentially like any other, except filled with Chinese artifacts, including pottery, furniture, some weapons, bronzework, and added to that some Italian portraits from the renaissance, from painters like Titian, and a few from Raphael, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures of them. After that we were taken to the government-owned silk factory for a tour to see how it was made. I’m assuming it was only a show factory, since there were only a few ladies working there, and the store attached (where you were supposed to buy their silk) was much too large to be supplied by the tiny factory attached to the store, so one can only assume there’s some dark, dirty factory where they ACTUALLY make all the silk that you buy. After we shopped around in the silk store for a couple hours, and some people bought some stuff there. Our conductor bought a silk bathrobe, along with the ever-lovable Chris Stoicheff. Other popular items were quillows and duvets, which were 1/5th the price of a goose down one back home. I wanted to buy one, but I wouldn’t be able to use it on the bed I have now, or not on the bed I would be getting in a few years, so I just held off. Someone else should go to China, eh? Eh?
After supper, we went and saw the Shanghai acrobats, who were spectacular. They did all sorts of fantastic stunts, from flying through hoops, to the swinging five plates on sticks while contorting themselves, to a couple of strongmen, 8 women on a bicycle, and the globe of death with five motorcycles driving around inside of it. I felt the jetlag pretty good during parts of it, so I kind of napped through the magician’s section.