Shanghai

Very early Monday morning, I said bye bye to the Swissotel Beijing and jumped in a cab to the airport to make my way to Shanghai to visit with my parents' friend from high school (yes, high school!) Leslie and her husband John. When I had visited Leslie and John during the summer, they described Shanghai as cultureless and money-hungry. So I thought, "Why would I ever want to go there!?!" When it turned out I had a few extra days before spring break was over, I decided, I might as well see it now while I'm in Asia, even if it sucks. And I am SO glad I did.

The flight was easy and I arrived around 10 AM to meet Leslie and Mr. Wong, their wonderful driver. Leslie knew that of course I would want to see The Bund, which is the famous street you always see in pictures of Shanghai with all the old, western style marble and brick architecture. What's so cool about it is that on the other side of the river are all the crazy, futuristic spaceship/bottle opener looking buildings! I just loved the old and the new of Shanghai! We went to this super cool place for lunch that had outdoor seating and an amazing view of the Bund. Like a silly tourist, I took a million pictures and probably totally embarrassed Leslie and her friend May who joined us. Afterward, they took me to the Fabric Market where you could literally have ANYTHING made. I was dying. The coats, the suits, the dresses, skirts, robes, tops, were soooo cute and such good quality! but I didn't have time...or money for that matter! Then they took me to the fake stuff market, which apparently the English translation of is Treasure Market. I got a beautiful "Ferragamo" - real leather. Shanghai has the best shopping. Around 4:30 PM, Leslie says, "How does bolognese sound?" It was like she read my mind. I hadn't had a homecooked meal of bolognese in AGES! Let me tell you. It was SO nice to stay in a HOME with a kitchen and your own bathroom, a television, and couch to read on. Before dinner, we went for a walk in their neighborhood in the French Concession. It's a great area because all the buildings are very low. They're all about 3 stories tall and made of brick (reminded me of Boston a little). The streets are windy. (not like breezy, like twisty) They're are lots of trees and parks. So many great looking cafes, restaurants and cute little boutiques. I loved this area. Cultureless? At this point, I had no idea what John and Leslie had been talking about! We headed back and I read my amazing book, Eat, Pray, Love, for a while, then Leslie taught me how to make Cosmos - Mandarin Oriental style. 3 shots of cranberry juice, 2 shots of Absolut citron, 1 shot of Cointreau, 1 shot of fresh squeezed lemon juice. I can't wait to make it for everyone when I get back! They were superb. Then I ate about a ton of bolognese and I'm sorry Dad, but this may have been a tie for first with yours! After dinner, we entertained each other with travel stories and shared music. It was a great, really relaxing night!

The next morning, Mr. Wong drove May, Leslie and me to Xitang, a small water town an hour and a half outside of Shanghai. What's cool about these old water towns is a) they're like Asia's answer to Venice (with the little boats and stuff) b) they are pretty well preserved examples of life during old dynasties like the Ming. We just walked in and out of little shops along the canal, under the "covered walk way" that this town in particular is famous for. Each homeowner is responsible for maintaining their portion of the roof and they all do a very good job of it! I got one of those LONG skirts that's really bright and has a tie-dyed bottom and a wall hanging for RUBENSTEIN (woo!) that's navy blue and has fish on it. I like animals. Soooo good! Oh! I forgot to mention that Mr. Wong joined us and was absolutely, adorably ecstatic the whole time. Before dinner, Leslie and I had a 1 hour Chinese, full body massage, and a 1 hour foot massage for $24 USD! in a really nice spa! Freaking amazing! Then we went to this delicious restaurant for Peruvian tapas and white sangria. Mmm... How I miss good ethnic food when I'm in Hong Kong! Shanghai has the BEST food! Over dinner, Leslie convinced me that I should do a 6 month program to learn Putonghua (Mandarin). So we started talking about whether I should do it in Beijing or Shanghai. Apparently Beijing has the nice accent, if you do it in Shanghai, you may develop a Shanghainese accent which is not so pleasant, but I really loved Shanghai, so I decided I'll take the Shanghainese accent. I don't know that I'm ready to live in Beijing yet. So I guess all I have to do now is find an employer that will send me to China for 6 months!

On my last day, Leslie took me to the antique market. Basically, it's just a bunch of people's junk they try to tell you is really "rare" or "old" so that you'll pay a mint, but it really is AMAZING STUFF! Everything I saw I wanted to buy and put in my future house. I kept thinking, "When I buy a house, I'm also going to buy a plane ticket back to Shanghai so that I can come to this street and buy all my home furnishings!" I bought a "real silver" elephant tea pot and a four-faced Buddha. See! At first the woman said, "450 RMB for you!" And I was like, "Woman! Are you crazy!?!" So she said, "OK, OK, how much you want, you tell me how much you want," handing me a calculator to punch in my desired price...but I only have about 140 RMB with me at this point. So I see the Buddha, she says, "150!" I punch in 80, she says okay. So I get it. Then we're walking away, and Leslie says, "She said she'd give you the elephant for 200, you sure you don't want to go back?" Yes....I did want to go back. I HAD to have that tea pot! So the merchant says, "You can use card! Come with me." So we follow her through this alley, upstairs in this sketchy building, to a guy sitting in what looks like a toll booth. And wouldn't you know! They take VISA at the antique market in Shanghai! Then, we went to see the bird/cat/dog/turtle/cricket/mealworm market. It was so silly and super loud! The crickets are the scariest. Leslie says they fight them, like dog or cock fights, only they're crickets. Afterward, we walked to a delicious dumpling restaurant called Din Tai Fung to meet John and his secretary, Sammy, whom he and Leslie call their "adopted daughter." It was yummy! Then I found out that there is one in Hong Kong AND one in Los Angeles!! Hurray! Oh! and did I mention that my flight back to Hong Kong was NONEXISTENT!?! Yes. Luckily, John had been nice enough to have Sammy check on my flight, only to find that that flight didn't run on Wednesdays! I guess I still have a lot to learn about travel...but anyway, it worked out, and I got back to Hong Kong, happy as a clam and full of ENERGY, around 10 PM. (I wore my big magenta skirt to school the next day.)

I don't know what it was really. Maybe it was the "luxury" of a nice hotel, or having parents planning stuff for us to do, or a home to stay in, or cabs and drivers, or sleeping about 10 hours a night, or reading my life-changing book (oh! how I wish it never ended!), but China reenergized and rejuvenated me. It was the first time in a while I had completely let go of "work" and just enjoyed and soaked up every moment. I finally felt really fortunate/glad/proud to be abroad in Asia. I finally felt I had made the right decision. Leslie even helped me to start appreciating those things about Asian culture I didn't liked at first, like hanging your laundry out the window to dry. Whatever it was, the second half of my semester abroad has begun and I'm really looking forward to what is to come! Stay tuned for Vietnam! (Coming next week)

CHINER! Part II

On our third day, we went to the Temple of Heaven. Granted, after seeing the Forbidden City and all the palaces/temples, cool architecture, crazy sea rock gardens, and pretty trees there, the Temple of Heaven itself is just kind of...meh, but I am SO glad we went there on that Saturday, because like I've said before Chinese people are happy! And happy Chinese senior citizens, playing, singing, and dancing in the huge park surrounding the Temple of Heaven on a Saturday makes you VERY happy to watch. We saw old couples practicing the tango, grandmas performing with ribbon dancers, singing choirs of the elderly, it was absolutely amazing to see such pure joy - the joy of a little kid - in the eyes of an older person.

We then went to lunch at this great Chinese restaurant. They even served crickets if you so desired. Apparently they're a real specialty in China. Unfortunately, some food we had had in prior days was getting the best of me, so I wasn't in the best mood at lunch. You can guess how happy I was when this smelly, Asian tourist/business man in a pink button-down wanted to take a picture with Laura and me just because we were Americans.

That night we had an interesting experience for dinner. We asked the concierge for a recommendation for a French place for dinner. He got us a reservation. We arrived to an empty restaurant called Maxim's later that night. Maxim's is, by the way, the name of the catering chain that runs one of our campus canteens. Needless to say, Laura and I were a bit nervous. There were about 10, maybe 12, waiters for just our table, yet only one guy could wait on us because he was the only one who spoke English. Despite the gawdiness and emptiness, the food was quite good (I tried escargot...and liked it!) and there was even a live pianst. After a glass or two of wine, I wanted to make friends with the waiter. I asked him what his name was, but then he ran away! Laura and her parents teased me that I'd scared him away or said something offensive. Luckily, he came back after 15 minutes and told us his name and that he was studying language (English and Spanish) at university. I guess he DID understand when Laura's mom said, "si! por favor!" We all had a tendency to speak Spanish when the locals tried to speak to us in Mandarin since it was the only other language we all sort of knew.

On our last day in Beijing, we went to the Summer Palace, where yet again, apparently the emperor prayed to the gods for good harvests or something and signed important documents. It was a warm, sunny day; perfect for seeing a summer palace. It was a beautiful place and nice to see that the "people" really do use it for recreation - paddlin around on the paddle boats, walking, having picnics, etc. Our particularly favorite/least favorite part was the marble boat. We learned that apparently, Empress Cixi took money from the military to build this silly marble boat that doesn't even float! It just was build on top of a cement platform that juts out into the water, but is connected to the land. Seriously the silliest thing I've ever heard of. Other than that...I had some delicious hot chocolate and flower tea and finally found that blue bracelet (the one I'd talked about in the earlier blog about the "not so ladylike market") for only 20RMB about $3USD (Renminbi IS the same as the yuan as Laura and I recently found out and in case you were wondering, it mean's "people's money").

That night we ate at this local Italian place, Annie's, recommended to us by the hotel. While the food was REALLY good and REALLY cheap, China's REALLY gotta work on service. When we arrived at 7:32PM, they told us that they did not have a table for our 7:30PM reservation because we were late and that now we'd just have to wait. We waited, and waited, and waited...until about 8:05 PM. In all that time, why hadn't they at least offered us drinks or something? Traveling in Asia definitely teaches you to have patience. I then wrote them a little "evaluation" on how I thought they could improve their service. Someday, someday, they'll get it.

The next morning, I was off to Shanghai!

CHINER! Part I

Yes...Chiner. As Laura and I were so fortunate to live in luxury for a few days at the Swissotel (yep, Swissotel, no h) Beijing, on the tab of her parents (love ya George and Jean!), we also were lucky enough to get to watch a lot of BBC and CNN, which is not possible in our halls in HK since we don't know how to change the channels from Cantonese to English. Even though were not able to see any news on Tibet (as the "big brother" Chinese government would literally BLACK OUT anything related to Tibet, the TV would just go freaking blank, they really do not like the Dalai Lama), we did begin to notice that almost every anchor on these channels have some sort of exotic accent, whether it be British, Middle Eastern, French, etc., and they all pronounce China, Chiner. "We're seeing a lot of growth still here in stocks in Chiner..." Stop saying that damnit! It's ChinA!

Anyway, our first night was hilarious. Poor Laura's parents had already had a bad experience the night before with some bad, unfriendly to foreigners', restaurant, and then here we are, dropped off by our taxi in the middle of some traditional Beijing hutongs (really OLD little villages with narrow alleys, very dark, no street lights) with no idea where this "famous" roast duck restaurant is supposed to be. Then, ah ha! we see scrawled on the brick wall next to us, a chalk drawing of a duck with an arrow! So we followed the ducks and there we were! We had quite a lovely dinner. I saw a bunch of pictures of famous people on the wall, so I figured this place must be a big deal even though it looked like a shithole. So I insisted the owner take a picture with us. He then proceeded to teach us how to say the name of his restaurant in Chinese. "Lee ChOOn"... (Laura and I repeat), "Roast Duck" (Laura and I repeat), "Restaurant." Then I think to myself, wait a minute...I should be teaching YOU - Mr. Li Qun - how to say "roast duck restaurant!" That's my language! The bathroom or should I say "toilet" was also fun. Here, I'll just let you check it out.
The next morning we made our way to the Forbidden City and were fortunate enough to find ourselves a guide! We still don't know what her name was, but we loved her. I think it may have started with an M. Let's call her May. May was a very experienced guide. She never let us get sidetracked. She was always making sure we were paying attention - "Okay, everyone, everyone, look me, look me!" She gave us butterfly hair clips when we answered a question right. "If it cloudy and cannot use sun for clock, how emperor know time?" I, after reading the information block, reply, "Uh...water?" "Ahhh...very clever girl!!" And yes, I got my butterfly clip. She even held my hand when we were among tour groups in their little red/blue/white/ yellow baseball hats, worried that, "she so small! don't want to lose her! she so small! don't want lose her!" She was also quite the feminist, making it quite clear that when Empress Cixi was in the Forbidden City, it was "phoenix over dragon, female over male, empress over emperor, woman over man." And...how can I forget, the last emperor PUYI. She loved his story so much, she told us twice! "When last emperor Puyi come to power, only small boy, bring him out for people to see, all people say 'long live emperor! long live emperor!' and little boy Puyi so scared he urine and shit in the pants! He so scared he urine and shit in the pants!" I'm beginning to think the Chinese think "shit" is the politically correct term for #2. Speaking of shit, this day I also had my first experience with the no door, waist-high divider squatters.

Afterward, we went to Tiananmen Square. It was huge. I took some pictures under Mao's portrait. What a guy. Oh and he's mausoleum was apparently open 8AM to 12 AM. When we got there around 4PM it was closed. They're still working on the AM/PM.

The next day, I went the GREAT WALL OF CHINA. Doesn't that just sound crazy? Yeah! Laura's mom had arranged for a van to drive us to Mutianyu, "in its dramatic hilly setting and less intrusive tourist industry" (DK Eyewitness Travel Guide). We immediately fell in love with Driver Leo. He was so smiley. Actually, we had a few drivers that were really smiley. This is one of the reasons I really liked Beijing. People are genuinely happy. While at first it seemed Driver Leo spoke great English, we soon realized these were somewhat 'programmed responses.' After we had trekked along the Great Wall which was really amazing and still had snow on it (oh how I pined for Boston!), despite the embarrassing American students throwing snowballs at old ladies, Driver Leo said, "Now, we have lunch at restaurant 17 kilometers away, about 10 minutes." Laura's mom asks, "Isn't there that town we passed through that had lots of restaurants?" After a few seconds, Driver Leo responds, "Now, we have lunch at restaurant 17 kilometers away, about 10 minutes." Oh well, lunch was good.

That night we had an excellent Italian meal, better than any Italian I had had in Hong Kong. After dinner, Laura and I still had a lot of energy, so we went for a walk. After passing up the opportunity to go to Hooters Beijing, we decided a nice bottle of cheap wine from 7-Eleven would do. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a 7-Eleven, but we did find a Chinese grocery store where we also found GREAT WALL wine and Chips Ahoy, our favorite traveling snack. So we thought, what better way to end our day at the Great Wall than with Great Wall wine. So we did, and it was awful by the way.