First Full Day In Shanghai

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2008 - OUR FIRST FULL DAY IN SHANGHAI

I’m up at six. Sleeping away the time zone change was not a problem. However, to say the bed was “firm” is kind of like saying Shaq is large. A quick, quiet shower so as not to wake my sleeping family. I slip out to see if coffee is among the hotel’s amenities, and discover the “coffee shop”. Not great, but not bad. I have a cup, and order a pot for the room. There seems confusion among that staff about my insistence to carry it away myself, as opposed to having two fellows bring it to the room with a cart, flowers, spoons, cups, sugar, cream, linens, etc. I prevail, and head up to the room with just the pot. We have cups, we drink it black, and Dee and Scott are still asleep, so servers and service are not needed. I let them sleep while reading through the 39 emails I have, some of them actually work related and needing response. The internet is a marvelous invention, both gateway to freedom, with its unending sources of information, and chain of reality, with its unending reminders of obligations back home.

My troops arise. Everyone slept well, and the coffee is consumed and appreciated. Scott gets very little coffee here and misses it. We are going to leave him the travel coffee pot when we go home, and buy him some real fresh ground coffee to take back to Nanchang.

We discuss a plan for the day, and leave the hotel, walking through the brisk (30) morning air. The day is bright and cloudless, but a pall of smog lingers over the city. Not nearly as thick as Manilla, but very noticeable. Its about 5 blocks to the “Bund”, the name for the river front, a holdover from the early 1900's when the Germans had a large presence in Shanghai. On the way, we stop at a bank so Dee can change some money. It is quite an interesting process here, unlike the money changing booth at the airport. Passport must be produced. The American money must be examined, bill by bill, and counted several times by hand and machine. A one dollar bill fails to pass inspection, as it has a small tear, and is returned to Dee. Forms galore are filled out and many stamps applied. A supervisor inspects the paperwork and makes a phone call. Is Dee on a “watch” list? After about 20 minutes, she gets her Chinese currency. We move on, passing street food vendors cooking large omelette looking breakfasts for the morning pedestrians. We arrive at the Bund, overlooking the Huangpu River. There are vendors everywhere, constantly approaching us to sell “Rolex watches”, toys of every type (leaded, or unleaded??), tours, I am even offered “pretty lady, nice massage”. The river is large and wide, not so big as our Mississippi, but a real full fledged river, with many large boats and small ships. Down river, I see what appear to be cruise ships along the western side. Across the river, on the east, is the newer part of Shanghai, the “Pu Dong” district (literally means “east side of the river”), with its skyscrapers and, most prominently, a needle topped spire with onion like bulbs at various heights above the ground. This is the TV tower for the largest television broadcaster in China, and somewhat of a tourist destination. More on that later.

After strolling the Bund, and admiring the concession era architecture of the riverside banks and hotels (built in the early 1900's when the French, Germans, British, and, yes, Americans carved up Shanghai for their mutual pleasure and profit), we decided to go over to Pu Dong. To get to the other side of the river, we take this really weird ride that goes through a tunnel under the river. Hard to describe. We ride in a car reminiscent of a large ski lift gondola, moving on tracks like a train, through a tunnel filled with blinking lights, strobe lights, weird scenes projected on the walls, large inflatable monsters that pop up, with load music and voice overs blaring. Of course, one pays for the pleasure of this unusual transport, but it beats the time and distance of taking either a taxi through city traffic or a ferry. Maybe a 5 minute trip through fanciful conditions, and we are in Pu Dong. Of course, there are rows of touristy junk shops at the exit, and more prowling vendors. Scott has suggested you never speak back to them, never engage them eye to eye, just keep muttering “NO” and keep moving. We go back up stairs to the sunshine, and are greeted by a collection of buildings - large convention hall, aquarium, theater (sort of like our IMAX), and the huge TV tower building-spire-onion looking thing. Its top is the highest construction in Asia, and, for a hefty fee, one can “tour” the “museum” on the ground floor, and ride up to the various levels (restaurants, junk shops, observation decks). We vote unanimously to forego the whole thing. Scott finds a stall and we buy coffee (almost too weak to deserve the name) and a couple of bowls of steaming dumplings in broth. Our first breakfast in China! We sat at a table outside (there is no “inside”) and ate. The dumplings were great!

Thoroughly disgusted with the coffee, we spy a - God Bless America! - Starbucks. Conveniently located on the ground floor of a MALL (Dee is now alert), we get real coffee, then wander through the Mall to find bathrooms. Restraining Dee, we decide to take the subway back to the Shanghai side of the river and to the section of Shanghai called “Old Town” to take one of the walking tours outlined in our guide book.

“Old Town” is what it says - the older part of Shanghai. Its boundary is marked by an old city gate, no doubt preserved more for the tourists than for any serious function. There are no skyscrapers here. The streets are narrow, and filled more with people on foot, bikes and motor scooters than cars. Small shops line the streets, each little more than a 15 or 20 foot wide display area going back into the building. Living quarters are upstairs in these mostly two story buildings, and laundry is hung everywhere. Some streets sell every imaginable consumer goods, cloths, hardware, just plain old junk - like a huge flea market. Some streets have nothing but food vendors, offering any creature known to the biological sciences for your dining pleasure, most of them still living or just recently dispatched from this life. Grains, rice, noodles, stacks and rows of fresh vegetables stretched along the sidewalks. On the “wet” streets, where butchering is done, an odor to which we are unaccustomed hangs heavy and thick on even this cool and breezy day. Dee is ready to leave this part of town.

We move into a more modern, and hugely more crowded section called the Bazar. It is a jumble of more modern shops, more brightly lighted and decorated, catering to the more upscale local, and tourists from near and afar. On this clear, bright day, just a week removed from unusually heavy snows here, the crowd is dense, often shoulder to shoulder. Again, vendors descend upon us, doing their best to lure us in to one of the shops, or to just sell us something in the street. In the center of this crowded shopping area is a tea house, built on a small island on a tiny lake. It is approached by crossing a narrow bridge built in a repeating zig zag shape, the many corners and turns designed to keep evil spirits from crossing to the tea house. No defense lawyers may have tea, apparently. The line is so long, we decide to find something more substantial then tea, and work our way into the famous Shanghai dumpling restaurant, to the second floor overlooking the tea house and the bazar. Scott orders, and we dine on an assortment of hot dim sum, large and small. The odors of Old Town have left Dee with no appetite, so Scott doubles up. Now refreshed and fortified, we look for something less crowded, less odorous to do or see. On the edge of the Bazar, we find Yu Gardens, and pay the modest entry fee. As the many short videos I have posted will show, this was the perfect escape from the hubbub of our day. The gardens, once privately owned, are now owned and maintained by “The People”, but reflect a time when money was king, and held by the few, a time to which China seems to be returning at a spectacular pace. Tranquil comes to mind. The gardens, completely walled and hidden from the rest of the city, contain numerous small lodgings and pavilions, all designed to provide cool, shady escape from the warm Shanghai summers, each overlooking an are of rock constructions designed to evoke the feel and look of the distant mountains, all dotted with small ponds and streams, and interspersed with plantings, potted trees and shrubs. Many have buds, but it is still too much wintery for flowers. I could have spent a day just exploring and sitting in each of the many hidden places designed for privacy and relaxation. What a difference from the rest of the city!

After a couple of hours in the gardens, we head back to Central Hotel. My feet, more accustomed to being under my desk all day, are killing me. I am glad to put on my slippers, check my emails and deal with the inevitable minor unexpected turn of events in law land. We relax, and contemplate our next event - dinner. Dee and Scott peruse the guide books (we have 4 of them), and select a restaurant known for its Seschwaun style cuisine. Scott notes the address and general area, and we get a taxi. Thank goodness for Scott and his language skill, as much discussion is had to get the cab going. After a trip of many twists and turns, we are deposited at the correct corner, only to discover that the guide books are just a little behind the times, as the place is no longer in business. However, just up the block, and directly across the street from the American Consulate, we find Keven’s Restaurant. We are seated at a large round table in its own nook. A round lazy susan is placed in the middle of the table, and Scott makes our selections. Could I tell you what we had? No, but it was all delicious, and more than we could eat. We met the manager, and the assistant manager, exchanged cards, and promised to eat at their other restaurant, which is listed in the guide book (and, yes, very much still open for business). The cab ride back to the hotel seems less disorienting, and we are soon in the comfort of our room, recapping the day, our first full day in China. I’m beat, and fall asleep to the sounds of HBO on the big HDTV flatscreen. This is culture!