Shanghai Minutes
Our method of transportation from Beijing to Shanghai was an overnight bullet train that allowed four persons to each cabin. The little rooms were fine, nice even, except the air on the top bunk was dry, dusty and I was coughing all night. Combined with some other student drama with sharing cabins, I promptly closed my door, shut the lights and did my best to get as much sleep as possible — in a face mask.
By morning, I woke up anticipating warmer weather and less sickness. Both wishes granted. Although I’d miss walking around the train and hanging out with other students overnight, getting well was worth it because Shanghai took a lot of energy. Upon arrival, we meet our last tour guide, Rainy. She named herself that because she was born on a rainy day (and not because she likes the Korean artist, Rain. For shame). Almost immediately, the boys were infatuated.
Our hotel was located in a prime location — between high end shops, restaurants and walking distance from museums. Yet after checking in we were still traveling by bus which probably took longer than it needed. I always took the front row seat so I can watch the driver swiftly manage his way through traffic and almost hitting pedestrians every other half hour. It’s a crowded city, or rather, country.
(Photo by Andrew Duch)
The Shanghai Expo 2010 is coming up soon and the entire city is going under renovation in preparation. We visited an urban planning museum to see the just how the city was looking to change. Shanghai is a modern and commercial city, which was much more different than the lifestyles we were shown in Beijing and Xi’an. We also met a blue mascot creature named Haibao who was all over Shanghai.
Still, I’m a lot more adorable. Ha!
Our next stop was another Shanghai museum that I was bored with within minutes. I generally love museums and art galleries, but I don’t know what happened with my tastes in China. Looking at hundreds of old coins, potteries and furniture just didn’t cut it for me. Instead, we had fun by having our friend Henry pretend to tour us around the galleries which was inappropriate, but passed time.
That night, we were given an optional tour to walk around the Bund. By this time, I was extremely tired — we arrived to Shanghai early morning and walked all day. The Bund also took two minutes to drive around, but the view was underwhelming because of all the construction for Shanghai Expo blocking the scenery. After those two short minutes, Rainy said we could either take a 15 minute walk back through the busy streets or stayed on the bus for home. I planted my butt right back on the seat but minutes later, everyone was “made” to exit the vehicle. So there we were, dumped by the waters in Shanghai and made to walk home. Arg!
By the time we made it back, Henry recommended dinner at a dumping shop behind our hotel. Rainy also told us a little about this famous shanghai style dumplings. Four large dumplings was 4.50 yuans ($0.65 USD). Before digging in, Henry warned me that it’s going to be extremely hot and I should carefully “poke” a hole in the dumpling, “suck the juices” then eat the rest. Confused, I slowly tried consuming.
(Photo by Annie Yung)
The flour part of the dumpling pretty much acted as an edible bowl. Inside was a delicious broth which you had to drink before making it inside to the pork chunk. All together, it was like having a delicious meal made into a little ball of joy. These dumplings were so cheap and tasty that I probably had it every night we were in Shanghai. Not to mention I was also running out of renminbi, but either way, I’m economical :)
That night after a much needed rest, a group of students wanted to see the nightlife in Shanghai. Not bothered to dress up, I wore the same thing I had on the whole day (Foo Fighters t-shirt and black jeans) to Club Muse, a two story lounge with a tiny dance floor. Inside was cigarette smoky, not my cup of tea. However, dancing was, so after gathering enough energy to make it to the dance floor, us American kids began to freak the locals out some more.
After an hour or two, I was exhausted. I saw two other students looking like they were about to nod off so I gathered them both for a cab ride home. In the car with Chad and Brandon, we talked about how hungry we were. I explained that at this hour of the day, you can still get fast food delivered to you in Bangkok. Brandon seemed excited by this thought and said he’d be down to get some food after. I was looking to sleep. Little did I know that a few minutes after we departed at the hotel, Brandon was put in a dangerous situation that involved weapons and robberies. I don’t know the whole story, but it was scary to think that it all happened within minutes after I’d just seen him. From that night on, I was rather terrified of Shanghai and didn’t go out late much after. If someone can be robbed right by our hotel in this city of bright lights, I’d rather stay my safe ass indoors.
