The Spring Festival Part 1/4

Day 1

My trip to Shanghai started at 5:30 in the morning.  I knew hailing a cab would be hard that early on the Eve of the Spring Festival, so I called my buddy Wang Hongyang.  Hongyang is a 55 year-old cab driver I met a while ago and he gave me his card, so for any special trips I call him.  I got to the airport and it was surprisingly easy to navigate.  I know a lot of signs are in English but I try to just read the Chinese.  I found my gate, had a breakfast of beef lo mein in broth, and sat and read my book of Lu Xun’s short stories.  I boarded the plane and within two hours I was in Shanghai.  Not only was the flight with Hainan Airlines cheap, but I also had my own TV Screen, complimentary sandwich and nuts, and I got to pick from 13 new movie releases to watch (I chose Despicable Me over Inception).

I landed in Shanghai and was greeted by my Mum’s friend Billy.  Billy works for SAE which is an automotive firm and is the manager for SAE Asia-America relations.  He would be far too modest to ever say, but he is extremely intelligent and speaks fantastic English.  I am sure his intelligence is the reason he is at such a high position and yet so young (under 30).  Billy is helping me a lot with my Chinese, because I am able to ask him how to say something in Chinese and he will tell me, he is like a walking dictionary.  Billy took me to see some of Shanghai before checking into my hotel.  We went to what is called the Bund, which is located right on the Hangpu River.  From this area you can see many views of Shanghai: the French Concession, New Shanghai, and the Financial District.  This city is so much different than Beijing.  Not only is the weather much nicer, but so are the people.  Beijing is an interior, Northern city whereas Shanghai is costal and Southern.  One would not think this would breed too many differences, but, in fact, it does!  New Years customs such as eating dumplings are practiced in the north, but in Shanghai they eat a different dish for New Years which is more of a dumpling soup.  Also, Billy explained to me that the people speak Shanghai-ese, which is a butchered version of Mandarin.  I was wondering why I was having trouble understanding people!  The good thing is that they all can speak and understand Mandarin, so I am able to communicate after I explain to them I am from the North of China and speak “Beijing-Hua”.   Apparently the differences continue, because Beijing-ers use much different pronunciation than the rest of China and I guess from learning in Beijing I have a pretty thick Beijing-Hua accent.  Imagine a foreigner having a Jersey of NY accent…that is what I sound like apparently.  I guess it must be pretty funny, because everyone laughs at me, and I also use a lot of Beijing slang thanks to my Chinese roommate, Wang Boyang.  The first day wrapped up with dinner at a nearby restaurant with my Mum’s other friend from work, Gary.  Gary does not speak much Chinese, but is able to navigate Shanghai pretty well so that gave me some confidence to be on my own.  Gary also brought me some of the protein powder, batteries, and camera I requested from home.  So from now on, if anyone wants to ship anything to me just give it to Gary.

Day 2

My first full day in Shanghai started with a trip to the Shanghai Museum with Billy.  The exhibits were fantastic.  There were ceramic, art, calligraphy, jade, sculpture, and coin displays from all of the Dynasties dating all the way back to the Shang Dynasty of 1600 BC through the Qing Dynasty which fell in 1912.  Billy was able to give me a history lesson in English, and I realized that my goal is to be equally good at Chinese.  I think it says a lot about his language skills that he was able to explain Chinese history to me in a language other than his own.  I can imagine the day I am good enough at Chinese to explain to a Chinese person, in depth, American history…I guess that is why I am here, to be that fluent one day.  After the Museum, Billy returned home to set up dinner for New Years.  I was on my own and I had some sites I wanted to see so I took a map and went exploring.  The first stop on my Journey was the French Concession.   

I am a bit of a nerd for Chinese history so I made sure that I would hit three sites which would take about a total of three hours.  The first was the former residence of Sun Yat-Sen, then Zhou Enlai’s former estate, and finally where the first Communist Party ever convened (see pictures).

The amazing thing about the French Concession is that you do not even feel like you are in China anymore.  I took some pictures showing how distant I felt from Chinese culture, but I guess that goes along with the name of the area.  As you can see the French lingerie stores, Häagen-Dazs, and sports cars parked outside of homes does not give you the impression that we are in China.  And if you ever needed a picture to go along with “gaudy” in the dictionary, I have it (refer to picture of alligator skin shoes painted with leopard print).  Then again, I do not really expect the French Concession to be like the Chinese countryside.  I walked around a little more and then I took the subway to meet Billy at his house for New Year’s dinner.  There were about 10 family members there and the place was packed.  Right away we began eating and drinking. 

This dinner was nothing short of a feast.  There were at least 10 dishes on the table to start, and it seemed like wave after wave of courses continued to pour out of the kitchen like a restaurant on a busy night.  The only difference was that this was not a downtown New York restaurant; it was in Billy’s home kitchen and for one table of people.  I have had traditional Chinese food before and did not quite care for it, but this time I truly liked every dish that I tried.  I think I have more of a taste for Southern Chinese food than Northern.  Some of the stranger plates were these little shellfish that looked like the shells you pick up on the beach, cow tongue, and a strange octopus like shellfish that was squishy and squirmy yet delicious.  There was also duck tongue served cold…fool me once shame on you, but fool me twice…I was not trying that again.

The night ended with two of Billy’s uncles passing out on the couch (see picture) because they drank too much and me learning the word for “alcoholic” in Chinese - jiu gui - which translates to alcohol monster/ghost. Then from the kitchen came Billy's mum.  This was the first time I had seen her all night because she was busy making 30+ dishes.  It was so impressive to see that one woman was able to make so many different types of plates:  fried, sauteed, seared, etc.  She sat down at an empty spot in the table, and like when Mike Tomlin comes into a press conference after a game, everyone was quiet.  She grabbed chopsticks from the table and put a few bean sprouots on her rice and quietly ate.  Once she was finished everyone told her how fantastic the dinner was and how much they enjoyed it.  She sat with a quiet sense of satisfaction. 

By far, the best part of the day was seeing Billy's daughter, Claire, who is just an infant (see picture).  I brought them a few gifts of new clothes for her, and when they send pictures of Claire in the clothes, I will post them.

The night ended early and it was about 10 pm when Billy dropped me off at my hotel.  I knew everyone was tired, but I still wanted to experience a bit more of Shanghai on New Years, so I called a cab and went to downtown Pudong district.  I looked online and found the perfect bar to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit from…it is called Cloud 9, located on the 88^th floor of the Jin Mao Building (see picture from ground).  The view was amazing and I was able to watch Shanghai light up with fireworks like I was in a plane high above a city during a bombing raid.  To celebrate I had a martini and then I was broke so I switched back to beer.  Martinis taste a bit like drinking salt water with an olive, so I will stick to what I know best…beer (and the occasional White Russian).  This little adventure was well worth it, I do not think many people can say they rang in the New Year from a skyscraper bar (see pictures of city at night from the view of Cloud 9).  However, I did see that the Jin Mao was not the tallest building in Shanghai, it is the IFC Building.  I vowed that the next day I would take the trip back and see the world’s highest observatory.  I walked along the river for about an hour after the clock struck midnight and finally caught a cab back to my hotel.  The night was over and it had been a great day and I am glad that Claire and I could share our first Chinese New Year together.  As Billy said to me, “In China, you are like a new born baby too.”

Day 3

The day started early and too early because I really did not get to bed until 3 am.  I met Billy and we went to the Shanghai aquarium.  I had heard that this aquarium was one of the best in the world, but I experienced how magnificent it was first hand.  As you can see from the picture, one section of the aquarium has an escalator that goes down into a giant fish tank and gives you the illusion that you are diving under water.  Also, the aquarium three tanks filled with jelly fish (my favorite)!  Billy and I grabbed a quick lunch at the best burger chain in China…Yes, you guessed it, Blue Frog!  After that Billy had to return home to prepare for dinner at his grandparents and I explored the city on my own.  My adventure today stated in the Shanghai Super Mall.  Now think of this, malls are big, everything in Shanghai is huge, and this mall is referred to as big in Shanghai.  Now think of someone on steroids, that is a huge mall in America, now think if an elephant took steroids, that is the Super Mall in Shanghai.  Now that you have an idea of how big it was (see picture of spiraling levels if you still cannot get the picture), just know I could not even walk the entire thing.  I did, however, find a Toys R Us and went to look for PLA GI Joe figures, but was unsuccessful.  I did see a giant wall of Barbies that would make any little girl go nuts (see picture).

After the mall I walked to the objective for the day…the IFC Building.  I bought a ticket to take the super elevator 450 meters in the air and on the 100^th floor I was able to look down on the building I was in the night before (see picture of sky view of Jin Mao Tower).  I love heights so I stayed up on the 100^th floor for about an hour and I did not realize how time was flying by.  It was already 4 pm and I had to hustle to get to the Art Museum before it closed. 

I got to the Art Museum right at closing and they turned me away, but the Contemporary Art Museum was open until 7 pm so I went inside that instead.  This month their main display was Culture Chanel – a tribute to the designer…oh, goody! (Sarcasm).  I really hate over priced fashion, but I went in anyway because I am trying to be more cultured and it is a good thing that I did.  The exhibit turned out being really interesting and I learned a lot.  For instance, did you know that Gabrielle Chanel grew up in an orphanage and she gets much of her reserved yet contemporary style from the uniforms they used to wear for everyday and formal occasions?  Also, Chanel used to design her clothes with a predominant male theme of comfort and rigidity to represent changing the paradigm of the female role in society.  They also had a movie theater showing over 30 years of Chanel No. 5 Perfume commercials.  They were all pretty interesting to watch and the same reoccurring theme of a powerful, independent woman transgresses thirty years and over 40 directors.  It seems that Chanel’s influence and message is well understood and carried on.  I never really make this big of a fuss about clothes designers, but I feel like after this exhibit I have a new found respect for Chanel.  So now I will buy Katie anything as long as it is Chanel, because I support the designer…just kidding, they have tons of fake Chanel in China, that will do for now ;). 

I hopped on the subway and took it all the way back to my hotel, but realized that I had not eaten since lunch.  After I got off the subway, I went to the first restaurant I could see (always a big mistake, but I was starving!).  I went in and ordered two vegetable dishes to be safe.  I sat down and ate a pleasant meal until I noticed three sets of eyes staring at me.  I know that this part of Shanghai does not see foreigners very often, but seriously, let me eat in peace.  Apparently these three waitresses and waiters all studied English in college and were trying to see if they could practice speaking with me.  We ended up talking for two hours and I practiced my Chinese on them as well.  I do not normally admit when my language level is higher than someone else’s, but, in this case, my Chinese was a lot better than their English.  Either way, we managed and had a fun time talking and drinking Green Tea on the house.  That is just one of the cool things that can happen when you are in China, you get off a subway, find the first restaurant you see and just want to wolf down a plate of rice and cabbage and the next thing you know you are speaking Chinese for two hours with new friends. 

Thus concludes part one of this Spring Festival adventure.  I still have 4 more days in Shanghai and then a week in the deep south of China in Kunming.