Walking from the train station to Nanjing with a traveler we met. Although the shopping district was fancy and gigantic, I noticed that the stores would repeat and the choices were limited.
Shanghai is a money town. It is not, in my opinion, a charming one. There are lots of expats there for business, but the atmosphere is pure Chinese. After recently spending our time in Macau and Hong Kong, the status quo behavior was annoying me once again. It's going to sound like I'm complaining, I know, but I really just could not for the life of me grasp the Chinese way thinking. I was shoved and elbowed out of the way getting on an empty subway car, because some lady really wanted to get a seat before I did. People cut in line constantly. Cars don't care about pedestrians at all. It's every man for himself. Of course, there was the dreaded phlegm spitting again. There seemed to be no sense of personal space whatsoever. Several times, people would press up against my back in line, literally breathing down my neck. And it wasn't because it was crowded. I attempted to buy a bra (don't ask) and when I went into the already smallish dressing room, the sales lady went in with me and tried to take off my shirt. And while that was happening, a mother and daughter came into the same stall and starting taking off their clothes. Imagine four people packed into a tiny little dressing room made for one person. There was no f*cking way I was going to try on this bra! This was a fancy store too. Because Shanghai is a much bigger city, there was a fair share of aggressive hustlers. Being constantly bombarded with their attention-grabbing tactics that included tugging us, touching us and following us around really burned me up. People who were clearly not beggars would hassle us for money. When Mick walked the streets alone, he would get harassed by pimps. "Boom-boom? F*cky-f*cky?" they would say to him. I'd imagine cocking a gun (sideways like a gangsta, of course) and countering with, "Boom-boom? How about bang! bang!, motherf*cky." Oops, did I just write that? Kids, if you're reading this, ignore it. Momentary psychotic lapse.
Anyway, you're getting my point, right? Hustler fatigue. It's kind of Mick's fault because he's white (ha!). When I was alone, they didn't bother, thinking I was a local instead of a tourist. I carried a cell phone and hid my camera to look even more local. I couldn't wait to leave.
A funny hot water dispenser in our hotel room.
In front of our hotel. The pedestrian-only shopping street was huge and went on for miles. The cooler part of town is the French Concession. What a depressing name for a district.
Shanghai is giant and construction goes on 24 hours a day. They are in a big hurry to be the next super power.
This "ride" was featured in the tunnel underneath the Haungpu River on the Bund. It was totally bizarre and wack at the same time.
Occasionally, we 'd take a break from China. We did this by ducking into a Starbuck's which, with the jazzy music and the Christmas decorations, you'd think you never left America, that is until you step outside.
Aha! Chinese people are sick of crazy rude bus drivers too! After almost getting run over by a few buses myself, I can totally understand how this guy felt. He jumped into the bus window and started beating up the driver and honestly, I was quietly cheering him on.
We went to the old part of town which I thought had more personality than the other parts of Shanghai.
Stuck in traffic on our way to the train station. There was a TV monitor to keep our mind off the traffic, but we were about to miss the train, so we got out and ran all the way there.
Argh!! We're late for our train and there are a million people in the way. Luckily we made the train to Zhengzhou, but it was stressful getting there.
12:06 AM // Sunday December 10, 2006 // permalink
