Wed-Fri, April 12-14
As we leave the ship for the flight to Shanghai which is the tour\’s last stop, I notice everyone starting to make the mental switch for going home. I am looking forward to the beach in Thailand and some time to myself. People are talking about flights home, when they will next eat Chinese food and how many emails will be waiting for them. I worry about having to manage my own luggage and where I will stay. A tour makes everything so easy. I have really enjoyed the company of my fellow Oberlin alumni and their friends/spouses despite being the youngest on the tour.
Shanghai is the most amazing sight. I have never seen so many brand new skyscrapers before – not even in Hong Kong. Apparently 9 years ago, Shanghai had 20 buildings over 20 stories tall. Now, there are over 900. The ride into the city passes the first really interesting new architecture I’ve seen in China. The skyscrapers have interesting twists to them instead of the usual rectangular blocks you see all over China. The shorter buildings still use bamboo scaffolding. There are new multi-story freeways everywhere. Shanghai compares to Beijing like New York City to Washington DC. You can feel the pulse of a commercial center. The pace is faster, the shops glitzier.
Our hotel, the Peace Hotel is on the Bund river facing the newest part of town, Pudong. Across the water we have a great view of Pudong and the new TV tower which has futuristic 3 spheres that glow in the night. The Peace Hotel is a 1920’s art deco hotel which has been renovated. It used to be the playground of former owner Victor Sassoon. It has enormous rooms with wonderful art deco features. It is so elegant, we feel like hicks from the country in our traveling clothes. They have a jazz bar with a band which used to play in the hotel before the cultural revolution – average age is about 80!
At breakfast, an obnoxious American lady sashayed up to the man making omelets and demanded a 4-egg white omelet cooked without oil. This was obviously not the standard request and the resulting pantomime between the increasingly huffy woman and poor cook was most amusing. Once again breakfast was a mix between Chinese congee, dumplings, fried noodles, various odd looking pickle condiments and what they consider to be Western breakfast – which included Spaghetti Bolognese, Chicken wings in orange sauce as well as fruit, toast and eggs.
One of the interesting things about the Chinese language is the tones. There are 4 tones. While we can barely distinguish them, the differences are crucial. Chinese say that sometimes you can only tell which word is meant by the context it is used in. The example that everyone uses is the sound “ma”. It can mean mother, linen, horse or to curse depending on the tone. There are about 50,000 written characters. Ordinary people probably know 10-20,000
We visited a garden in the center of Shanghai called Yuyuan. It occupies 5 square km, but seems to have limitless paths and views. A pond full of orange carp runs through the property and there are little pagodas, bridges and walkways from which to admire the Suzhou style rock and tree gardens built in the 1500s. The roofs of the various buildings have elaborate statues of warriors and gods. You would not think you were in the middle of a bustling city.
The next morning, we visited the new Shanghai museum opened only 4 years ago. It is built in the shape of a bronze urn and the top is round, signifying heaven while the bottom is square, representing earth. It has the most important collection of Chinese bronzes in the world as well as paintings, calligraphy, coins, jade, furniture, and sculpture. In particular they have wonderful bronzes from the Shang dynasty – around 12th century BC. They have installed state-of-the-art lighting – the paintings have movement sensitive dimmer lights which gradually go on as you approach each display and fade when you move away. There is a light and airy central atrium where you can retreat to after each exhibition. It is truly a world class museum. In the same complex they have built a modern opera house and municipal center which would make any city proud.
In the evening, we walked along the Bund waterfront. The buildings facing the river, including our hotel, are built in grandiose European style. The promenade is teeming with people out for an evening stroll. Despite being a buzzing late night city, we were amazed to see the lights on the skyscrapers in Pudong across the water, blip out promptly at 10:30pm. That left the red and white flashing signals for airplanes which twinkled on top of invisible buildings. They were invisible partly because the lights went out and partly because the sky was rather hazy.
Hazy skies are common in China. Pollution has thrown a murky cover over the whole country. Shanghai was better than most cities. In Xian, one fellow traveler who has asthma thought she might even have to abandon the trip.
Friday morning we visited a typical neighborhood. It was arranged for us to visit a kindergarten, medical clinic and family home. The children performed a few songs and dances for us and even sang the ABC song. They were adorable. At the clinic, we saw an acupuncture ward and a doctor treating aches with heated cups. I think this used to be done many years ago. The family we visited had 2 bedrooms, living room, small kitchen and bathroom. The couple living there are now retired and have their granddaughter living with them from Mon-Fri. This is very common. He enjoys ballroom dancing and she likes Tai Chi in the morning. They both enjoy mahjong with their friends. They were full of smiles and very welcoming.
I was interested in an article from the China Post about freedom of speech on the Internet. Apparently, a man bought a laptop from a Chinese company for the equivalent of $1700 – not an insignificant amount in China. Within the 1-year guaranty period, the monitor failed. He sent it back for repair and they wanted to charge him $880. He then wrote an article on the Internet about how the company had ripped him off. Apparently consumer rights are non-existent and the company was well known for faulty parts. The Internet site was picked up by 2 PC magazines and articles were printed by them. The company then decided to sue both magazines and the purchaser for damaging its reputation. The computer maker won the case as the judge said it wasn’t fair to use the Internet to defame them. It’s going to appeal.