Shanghai pt.3

Yesterday I went to the Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei, sort of a Shanghai version of the British Library, but obviously on a smaller scale. The book said it was open every day, with English tours on Saturdays. No problem, I could live without a tour, and just looking would be fine. Unfortunately, the building is open every day, but the library isn't--Saturday only. So I wandered around a little bit, found a mall (not hard to do) crammed with computers and electronics, and walked through Jiatong University. Not the most attractive campus; there was actually a "Jiatong University Souvenir Center," which turned out to be room about the size of our old back porch, with a few sad t-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts. No souvenirs today. . .

Back to the mall, which had a really nice grocery store in the basement where I got some sushi. It was just like the place in Tokyo where they wrapped everything up nicely. It looked like salmon, the nice lady said something that sounded like salmon, so I got it and it turned out to be . . .salmon. And as a bonus, more great grocery translation, something like "bring the fresh taste so you will find your deliciousness taste among them," or something like that.

Then it was off  to the Jade Buddha Temple, which is about a mile off West Nanjing Rd. Remenber how I told you about East Nanjing Rd being like Michigan Ave, and how I thought it was more like State Street 15 years ago? Well, I had my Nanjings mixed up. West Nanjing Rd IS nothing but money. The Brequet watch store had 2 watches in the window. One was $140,000. Somehow, though, the street just doesn't look like it deserves it's reputation. The same stunted trees on the sidewalks, uninspired architecture--no sense of being somewhere special. Anyway. . .

After a long walk (I walked 7 hours yesterday) I get to the temple and find the cashier, since there's a small fee. Thankfully numbers are the same in any language (more proof that mathematics is universally beautiful) so I point to the biggest number on the sign, which was equivalent to about $2, and got my ticket. Which was actually for the vegetarian restaurant. Walking around the corner I found the actual entrance, and went in. It's an actual Buddhist monastery, with all the essentials. The highlight, of course, was the Jade Buddha. That's an extra $1.40, but he gets his own room. There is music and incense and quiet and the Buddha sitting there with that inscrutable grin on his face and it was just. . .nice, you know?

So I walk back, all peaceful and enlightened, to naked commercialism, including the world's biggest MontBlanc store. Too expensive, but interesting to see. By now it's getting late, cold, and polluted. Honest, this wave of God-knows-what just drifts in and diffuses everything. There are 2 American-style restaurants in the neighborhood, both recommended in my book. Well, one was completely empty, which didn't bode well, and the other looked as if they hadn't washed the windows since the Cultural Revolution. Of course, with all that crap in the air it's probablly a losing battle. So I headed home and, not wanting to eat in the same restaurant 3 times in row, went to Hooters. And if our Hooters are anything like Shanghai's, I hope to never go again. Not the food, the happy fun time. . . But they did have Guinness on tap.

Now, random things before I forget them:

4.1 million people used the Shanghai subway. Not last year; last Friday. You think London was crowded? I though they would run out of room on the platform.

Yes, it was disconcerting when the guy in front of me in the grocery line put down his 2 catfish on the belt. Live catfish that were in the process of dying inside their plastic bags as they flopped around on the belt. Even the cashier didn't want to touch them.

Personal space does not exist. If I'm driving or walking, I need to be in that space now. The fact that you or a bus/truck/moped is there now is immaterial, as I need to be there. And I will be there, as soon as I get there. Everyone understands this. There are no honking horns, the car simply stops if you have managed to stake your space-claim a fraction of a second before they claim theirs.

At the University. A very heavy class load.

No crowds? Must be the temple.

The coal dust looks so pretty in the afternoon.

Non-rush hour.

Shanghai Pt. 2

No, I do not want to buy a goddamn watch.

I am having a t-shirt made saying that, which I will wear for the rest of the trip. Honestly--does anyone ever buy one?

Today was the west side of the river, The Bund, home to colonial Shanghai. The walking tour shown in the book couldn't have anticipated the construction  and subsequent detour, around which can only be described as a huge dump. Seriously--people combing through piles of wood and other assorted crap. I don't think it was planned, but rather simply appeared, the by-product of ceaseless construction in preparation of the WorlD Expo in 2010. Eventually you come to the riverside, and the parks and the promenade--and the hucksters. I am now the proud owner of two crappy handcut silhouettes because I couldn't say "No thanks" fast enough. 30 seconds and 30 feet later I was pleased to meet you 2 university students how are you where are you from are we cute? No. Sorry ladies, but I know where you're from: Scamopolis, I think. I guess I should expect to standout, as it can't be too hard to spot a foreigner, but really, it gets tiresome after a while.

So i walked down East Nanjing Rd, and I don't think the Champs Elysee has anything to worry about. Just imagine a bigger, busier State Street Mall and you'll get the idea. Being Sunday, there were a lot of people out, but the again, there always are. And I don't think Sunday is a universal day of rest, since all the high rise construction sites were hard at work.

All those people have to move around somehow, and when the sidewalks get too crowded, well, let's just walk in the street. Down the side, in the turn lane, wherever you're comfortable. Car coming? Just walk around it. Cause he's sure not going to stop for you. Pedestrian? Just drive around them. Only sheer numbers seem to cause anyone to stop, as a splattered pedestrian or two probably won't be noticed, but mass carnage at an intersection might be. Traffic signals are a suggestion at best, and "yield" and "right of way" seem to have no Chinese translation. As if that's not bad enough, there are mopeds everywhere, but they're electric or propane pwered. Which means they make no noise until they're right on top of you.

I ate at ElementFresh, which is a natural, healthy, semi-vegetarian restaurant just down the block. Very good food, and not expensive. Popular with both Chinese and foreigners, since everything is in both languages. Chopsticks came with my stir fried vegetables and tofu, and for absolutely no reason I used them. Vegetables, rice, peas--single peas--were no match, and the knife and fork stayed wrapped in their napkin. Most of the Chinese used them, though. . .

Then I found that the SuperBrandMall has something like a Super Target in the basement. Food, beer, appliances--I'll never starve. And with that bottle of beer costing 43 cents, I can probably forget the Invisible Scotch.

Very tired; at least the jacuzzi was hot today

Yup. 43 cents.

Heading North Up the Coast. . .

Two years later I went to Shanghai via London, just to see what they know 

Sitting in the lobby bar of the Pudong Shangri-La, what have we learned today? I think I'll go chronologically, and then branch off as the opportunities present themselves. It was a very long flight. 18 total hours, which is what you get when you go the long way 'round I suppose. Two sunrises and sunsets inside of 24 hours makes it that much more difficult. (I have just been handed the stingiest scotch I have ever seen. I have to shake the glass to make sure something is actually in there. I think they just whispered "scotch" over the glass. Although the coasters and napkins are linen.) 
So we arrive in Pudong International Airport, which I think is fairly new, and there is no one else in there. No other flights arriving. In this whole huge airport. Well,there was one, but still. You'd have thought it was some municipal terminal in Iowa somewhere, instead of a major international airport in a city of 20 million people. Perhaps the departure terminal will be different, maybe it was the time of day, but it was an odd first impression. And that impression continued. Things weren't dirty, or broken down, just. . .shoddy. The airport, the subway, the atmosphere, everything just looked put together from B-list materials. Good B-list materials, but not quite the top-of-the-line stuff. The hotel, however, is definitely A-list. It should be, with what they charge for scotch vapors. Hong Kong, by contrast, looks well put together, but with the British having run things for a hundred years, that's what you'd expect. It is settled and secure in its position. Shanghai---the Pudong neighborhood, at least, which was a swamp 20 years ago---is still figuring things out. And it shows. But there are many other , older parts to the city, so we'll see. 
The hotel is right across from the Super Brand Mall, 8 floors and a gajillion square feet of shopping (PLEASE TO HAVE HAPPY FUN TIME!!) I don't mean that disparagingly, but it does bring me to my next HK comparison. In HK, signage and announcements are made in Cantonese and the Queen's English. In Shanghai, they are made in Mandarin and Chinglish, which I absolutely cannot understand. I mean I can understand the meaning of it, but not the reason for it. If you are going to be considerate enough to be bilingual, why can't you be bilingual correctly? Why not "Mall Hours" instead of "Hours to Mall Shopping"? Or "Please take",  not "Please to have"? Would it be so hard to show this stuff to someone who actually speaks English? It's as if you made it to third base and then said "ahhh, close enough." Nice smell in the mall, too. Like cinnamon glazed nuts mixed with perfume and melted cotton candy. I wonder how long I can hold my breath?
Very nice health club, too. Individual lockers and bathrobes and Bill Murray Lost in Translation These Are Way Too Small slippers. But the jacuzzi was just warm, and not very bubbly at that. A cold jacuzzi, too; for after the sauna, I'd guess. Good thing I didn't get in that one. Tomorrow is across the river to the old side of Shanghai; the Bund, and Nanjing Road, which is the Champs Elysee, and the Ginza, and Michigan Avenue all rolled together. That's what the book says, anyway.

Well, security should be a breeze

Capitalism Inc.