We stayed at the Nianxing Hotel which was only a couple of hundred feet way from a subway exit. To get there, you had to walk down an alley off of East Nianxing Rd. that is too narrow for cars, but plenty wide enough for speeding scootorists. There always seemed to be at least 50 scooters parked in front of the police station located between our hotel and the main road. Apparently, the station isn't busy enough to require its own parking garage, but I have a hard time believing there is a lack of action. On more than one occasion, we witnessed belligerent Chinese men cursing and pointing at officers, while being dragged off by friends. Another time, I saw a young women crying and flailing hysterically between the swarm of parked motor bikes. The police station was on the same side of the alleyway as our hotel. The opposite side featured an array of street food and cheap restaurants selling greasy goodies. One restaurant in particular stood out for its stinky tofu stench, which smelled not unlike a dead dog's balls.
After putting our bags away (Sami diligently unpacking every article of clothing into dressers while I perused the room service menu) we headed down into the bright lights of The Bund.
The Bund has been called the "Wall Street of the Orient" and very famous for its shopping. The neon lights were a little different from those in Seoul- maybe more colors and definitely more sporadic. The people dressed casually, maybe because of the number of tourists in this area. In Seoul most of the men wear suits and the women wear heels and skirts 7 days a week. The architecture was also quite a bit different than the modern steel, emotionless buildings we are used to seeing in Korea. Foreign settlements, no doubt left a lasting impression on the city's skyline.
Scene from The Bund, just around the corner from our hotel.
However, just behind many of these neon signs of economic prosperity lies a different image altogether. This picture, taken from outside our hotel room shows the reality of how different everyday life is from the glitzy pull of The Bund. While the people in these houses are no doubt better off than most Chinese, it still is a far cry from what lies just a block away.
Scene from The Bund, taken from outside our hotel window.
Minutes after we stepped outside we were approached by a short, young women who offered to show us where we can buy watches and DVDs. She said that because of the World Expo, the police want to keep the bootleggers shops out of sight. Because she was friendly, and because I am a smiling, bumbling idiot, we followed her. I felt Sami's eyes on me and sensed her frustration, but I didn't think there was any harm and I was sure it wouldn't take too long.
After what seemed like a 30 minute trek, the women led us into an alleyway and up a flight of stairs into a small room cramped with hanging and folded clothes, watches, jewelry and a small box of DVDs in paper casing. I perused the titles and got out quickly, promising to return again.
The next morning, after a full night sleep on a rock hard bed, we were once again approached by "friendly" residents while walking to the Shanghai Museum in the rain. First, a young woman with a big umbrella introduced herself and said that she was a student studying English. She was overjoyed to speak with us. Minutes later her "teacher" came over as well and starting talking, asking us how long we have been in Shanghai, how do we like it etc. The conversation went on longer than I wanted it to, but Sami was still chatting away, giving them our life story. They invited us to a tea house- apparently there was some tea festival going on. I politely declined stating that we were trying to get to the museum. I didn't think anything fishy was going on, I just think tea houses are boring. I went to one in Korea once and drank so much tea that I ended up with a constant urge to pee. Even while I was finishing a pee, I could feel another pee coming on. I couldn't believe it when Sami thought that going to the tea house was a good idea. She never likes to stray off schedule. However, after only a few steps her demeanor changed and she quickly said that we could not go, and had them give us their numbers and promise that we would get back to them. She had remembered reading about a scam in our Shanghai Lonely Planet guidebook. Apparently tea houses pay people to bring foreigners in, ditch them, and leave them with enormous bills. Scam averted!
The Shanghai Museum was incredible, and is widely considered to be the best museum in China. The ceramics gallery was especially impressive- I mean, there is a reason they call it china right? We could take pictures in all of the galleries except for the traveling galleries. Sami and I were each separately scolded for doing so.
The Shanghai Museum
From the ceramics gallery
This is a pillow. Look comfy to you?
TTwo Buddhas in the Shanghai Museum
We ended up eating lunch in an underground mall next to the subway station. Normally, I would try to avoid mall food and go for the authentic experience, but we were told that eating in a mall food court in Shanghai is a unique experience that could not be passed up. It was a little difficult navigating through the crowd and choosing an option was no cake walk neither. Luckilly, as we stood in line at some Chinese noodle place, one of the employees handed us an English menu. I had some spicy noodles with pork and it came with a big glass of soy milk. For awhile when I was fat, I thought that I was lactose intolerant (turns out I was just fat) and went on a big soy milk kick. This soy milk was not nearly as thick or as sweet as the soy milk I had been accustomed to. Maybe that means that it is better for you. It was actually quite tasty and cut down on the spice of the pork.
Lunch in the mall aint so bad. Pass the soy milk.
Next, we were off to a different part of town, Jing 'An, to pick up our World Expo tickets. We had bought them online the week before and were instructed to bring our voucher to the office of a Shanghai travel agency. The office was located in a tiny room on the 28th floor of a hotel. The room barely had enough space to accommodate two desks, two laptops, a copy machine and a microwave. Apparently, this tiny travel agency had the market cornered on World Expo tickets for foreigners (during the first few days of the World Expo, you could not buy tickets at the gate). It was bizarre, but somehow it worked out.
On our way back to the hotel to freshen up, we bought tickets for an acrobat show later in the evening and stopped by Jing 'An Temple. The temple has a long history (built in 247 A.D) but it has been destroyed on numerous occasions. During the Cultural Revolution all of the Buddhist statues were abolished. This temple was unlike many we had seen in Korea and Cambodia. It was newer and less colorful. Much of it was unfinished and there were wrapped beams strewn on the stone steps. However, this did not deter many of the locals from paying their respects.
Jing 'An Temple
We still had some time to kill before the acrobat show, so Sami decided we should go to Haggen Daz. Haggen Daz is a huge chain in Shanghai- it is not just a $10 pint of ice cream you get at the supermarket. They are very fancy coffee houses/lounges that serve gourmet ice cream and coffee. I ordered a coffee, and although I was not aware of it at the time, this picture shows that I stirred the coffee like a little fancypants homo. Exactly what you would expect from someone shelling out way to much coin for a cup of coffee.
Finally, it was show time. Simply put, the acrobat show we saw in Shanghai was the most amazing thing I have ever seen live and the hands-down number one highlight of the trip for me. I was audibly oohing and ahhing the entire time, and more than once I had to turn away because I was sure bones would break. If anyone reading this is considering visiting China, this experience is a must. The amount of training that goes into performing has to be enormous. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that the performers are taught to balance on their heads before they can even walk. Incredible. Take a look:
After the show, it was back through the alleyway of parked scooters and stinky tofu. Tomorrow, we're off to World Expo 2010.
Coming in Part 3: I rant about the U.S. Pavilion
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