China Pt.3-The rest of Shanghai

Two days of having Chinese friends who were familiar with the city, and able to speak the language, guide us around had helped us quickly tick off most of the things on our list (and of course made the experience much more enjoyable!). On our third day our first stop was the Shanghai Zoo. Although not as bad as some of the stories we'd heard, it was still a Mainland Chinese zoo, which is to say, not a place for the animal lover. We went primarily to see Pandas, which we did see, but it was also an interesting experience in terms of the way zoo goers treated the animals- kicking and stomping to get their attention, and at one point feeding coffee to the red pandas.  Many of the animals had probably seen better days-especially the selection of house pets. For us, it was also interesting to be in a zoo accross the globe, where animals which are familiar to us (for me, these being raccoons and seagulls, both the bane of many a garbage-day in Canada) were an attraction.

When we left the zoo we headed for the China Pavilion, the only one remaining from the 2010 Expo. This was the first time since we'd arrived that I had to communicate anything more complex than "2 please" in Mandarin.  It was then that I realized that the tricky bit isn't speaking, but rather understanding the answers to your questions. Thankfully, we met a subway employee nice enough to point out on a map how to get where we were going. Along the way, we stopped for food at one of the connecting stations, having skipped breakfast and arrived in the late lunch time of day. This was probably the cheapest food we had in the mainland-"Cantonese" Chow Mein (funny how even in China sometimes the food from other regions isn't authentic. Or I didn't understand the menu) for 11 Yuan (Less than 2 Dollars), and some very cheap sweets at the bakery next door.

The pavilion itself was fascinating. This was the first place, from what I can recall, where we learned the lesson that sometimes there IS a student discount, but it's only advertised in Chinese, even if the rest is also in English (look for学生）. We wondered briefly if we would have been granted that discount had our student cards not been from Hong Kong, which is technically China. Many people approaching the Pavilion were photographing their tickets with the building in the backdrop (since the building was on the ticket), and smiled happily at us. The whole process of getting in was quick, and we were quickly transported into a bizarre world of displays about the future of China.

Having finished the pavilion, we tried to go to the Shanghai Museum, which turned out to have already closed (we also ran into our friend who wanted to practice English again, and another who invited us to a "tea ceremony". Like I said before, this is a scam, and I had read about it in the travel reports from the Canadian government). We had gotten so much done so quickly in Shanghai that we actually took a break for a few hours before checking out Xintiandi (新天地）。 Meaning "New Earth and Sky", it's an upscale, up market newly constructed area. It was a bit too reminiscent of our own countries for us, and also too pricey. We quickly decided to go to McDonald's for a cheap reprieve from expensive food (this was probably the only time in my life I've ever suggested taking a taxi to McDonald's!).

Our last day in Shanghai was pretty subdued, having exhausted both our to-do list for the city, and ourselves. We spent the morning at the Shanghai Museum, which was both excellent (really, a must-see to get a taste of the history and culture of the country) and, inexplicably, free. This was followed by the Communist Party museum, and the purchase of a new memory card for my Camera, before heading to the airport.

Shanghai has two airports, and the one we flew out of, Hongqiao, is probably more used for domestic purposes. Within 15 minutes of arriving by cab, we had our bags checked, our tickets in hand, and were through security to KFC for dinner (where, unlike at home, the prices were the same in the airport as everywhere else), a sort of efficiency one doesn't find at many airports. The airport even provided free newspapers and internet, both of which usually cost money at home. Flying a Chinese airline was also interesting- many Hong Kong friends had told me to prepare for terrible service, and when the plane started boarding half an hour late, I felt they might be right. However, in comparison to what I'm used to in North America, they were actually quite wrong-we were given another free newspaper, served a meal, offered many drink re-fills, offered pillows and blankets (all of which a short flight like that wouldn't entail in Canada), and, despite our half hour delay taking off, arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule in Beijing.

Edit: I almost forgot to mention, one of these days in Shanghai was the first time I understood a pun in Chinese (I've read that they're pretty prevalent)! Since puns can't really be translated, I won't try, but for those who understand, I saw this ad, for a restaurant, written on the back of a cab: 57-57-5777 我吃我吃我吃吃吃。
Well, I thought it was good, anyway.

China Pt. 1: The Train and the first day in Shanghai

Hello out there!

As many of you already know, a few weeks ago I went on a 10-day trip across China during my University reading week. Little to no reading was actually done, but a great deal of learning and seeing was. Having read lots of travel blogs myself, I've decided to write a more-detailed-than-usual account of my trip, in case anyone searching the web for information about traveling in China should come across it (as doubtful as that may be).

Our adventure began on the last Saturday of February. We headed out from our hall early in the afternoon to Hung Hom railway station. We grabbed a quick bite to eat, changed some money, and bought a few snacks for the train before going through customs and in to the waiting area. When we got there, there were two trains waiting to go about 45 minutes after each other, ours and one to Guangzhou. The staff in the station had giant signs and megaphones to make sure that you don't board the wrong train (inspite of which we still weren't sure where to go).
The actual platform was located adjacent to the MTR trains, down an escalator, and it was that track which followed right up to the border with Shenzhen, where a guard stood dutifully watching the empty railway tracks (presumably to prevent anyone from illegally crossing the border?). The lead-up to the border heads through a rural area of Hong Kong, which makes the instant transition into futuristic-looking Shenzhen all the more striking. Some differences are immediately appearant: simplified Chinese characters, rather than the traditional ones used in HK; cars driving on the right side of the road, with large, uniformly-designed blue signs mapping every intersection; Mandarin being spoken rather than Cantonese; and and of course using Chinese Money and our cell phones roaming. This last bit actually turned out to be a bit of a nuisance, as we could receive texts and (poor-quality) phone calls, but could not send them. The further we got from the border, the more evident some minor changes became: more industry appeared, slogans in Chinese written on large red banners appeared (still not sure what they said), lots of trash along the tracksides, and many tiny little villages. The province immediately across the border, Guangdong, is one of China's richest, and even in the smallest little villages of crumbling houses one could see brand new shiny vehicles driving. After about two and a half hours the train came to a stop (for reasons still unknown to me) in the province's capital, Guangzhou.
The train itself was quite comfortable. This being my first time on an intercity train, I was quite content to sit on the little seat near the window and stare out at China. We had the compartment to ourselves at first, but were later joined by another traveller, who shared her life story with us while we waited at the station in Guangzhou (I was later told that this is common on Chinese trains.) The other passengers were mainly elderly, and we couldn't really speak to them due to the language barrier (although I wish we could have). They did occaisonally chuckle when they saw me hop out of bed in the middle of the night to look at where we were, and would tell me if they knew.
Overall, I really loved the experience of riding on the train (save for the food), and would do it again in a heartbeat. We weren't exactly well rested upon arrival in Shanghai, but we were eager to get going. Upon arrival, we decided to seek out a SIM card. Not knowing how to say SIM card, we took it out of one of our phone, and I pointed at it while asking in broken Mandarin "Where Buy??". The problem with this strategy wasn't so much being understood as understanding the answers, and although we eventually found a small little stall that sold it to us, it turned out that there had been a store right were we had started!
We checked out the planning museum (noteworthy for its staggering model of Shanghai) and then waited to meet up with a friend. He had studied on exchange at HKU last semester. While waiting, we grabbed some quick food-noodles in a pancake- and made the first of several observations: Chinese people only stare at us foreigners when we are eating Chinese food. My hypothesis is that they aren't used to seeing foreigners who aren't showing down on Starbucks or McDonalds. A second experience was also quickly had when a man came up asking to practice English. We'd both read that this happens, and that there are two possiblities: A, they really do want to practice English, or B, they'll try to scam you in some way. This man seemed rather innocuous (although we did see him again later in Shanghai, along with a man who was offering up a "tea ceremony". Anyone going to China take note, Tea Ceremonies and art scams are common, and it's best to just walk away).
When our friend arrived we took a cab to a neighbourhood called "Yu Yuan", a tourist sort of area, where we ate a famous Shanghai food called "Xiaolongbao", or little basket buns, which have soup inside them! We then took the subway to another area, where a friend of our friend joined us for some Szechuan food. Szechuan food is known for being spicy (and I did occasionally wipe the spices off onto the plate), but it was quite good. We then went to a shopping area before heading in for the night. a final observation for this post: I'm pretty sure we took more cabs in the Mainland (Shanghai in particular) than I had cumulatively for the rest of my life. Starting at 12 Yuan in Shanghai or 10 in Beijing, most didn't go over 30, or about 4 dollars, meaning it's usually cheaper than taking a bus back home!