Once I stepped out into the open in Shanghai, I immediately realised "Hey, it's not -10c anymore!" The place is more humid and warmer. Except for the evenings in places where there is no heating! V. cold if without three layers of blankets. God rest the soul of one great individual who invented central heating!
Consumer's Paradise
I think I'm edging closer and closer to bigger cities, as my next stop is Hong Kong for Christmas. Shanghai is similar to the Hong Kong I saw a few years ago with people heading out leaflets of advertisement to bystanders. People in Shanghai also sell newspapers on the subway. I have to confess, this consumer fever is starting to overtake me as well and I have succumbed to new purchases which is the culture here. As they say, while in Shanghai, do as the Shanghainese do. The stereotype here is that Shanghainese are money greedy and husbands are henpecked. Interesting combination.
There are more shopping districts filled with people chattering and bustling about in mad frenzy, trying to get the best deals and toting armfuls of new puchases. It's rather exciting, I must admit. It will be worlds apart when I get back home where the land is great but people are sparse compared to crowds of people in Shanghai's city centre like cow's hair (Chinese idiom). Eating is so good too, with outdoor stalls and fresh yummy good sold by food vendors with community markets and everything so close and accessible.
Warning: Under Construction
I was told that a few years back, most of the world's construction cranes were in Shanghai and that within a span of ten years, a thousand highrises were build there. At the Bund, the seaside/harbourside, by the famous beautiful turn of the century Western buildings, you can look across the harbour at new highrises, including the world's third largest building in the world's third largest city. But the thing is, most of the new business district (Pudong) buildings are empty because the architecture is developing much faster than the development of actual companies, organizations, enterprises, etc. However, the overall architecture in Shanghai is beautiful. You can really see theFrench, English and Asian influence during the time of Concession at the beginning of the 20th Century. It was a time in history when the city was divided into sections other countries claimed, but it was also the pinnacle of Shanghai's history. The fusion cultures really gives it its characteristics.
Most local people here speak the Shanghainese dialect which I do not understand. But there are really lots of different people touring here from all over China. Mostly from the countryside, I was told. The Bund, being the biggest tourist attraction is a place where tourists who do not look Asians are often harassed by Chinese countryside tourists to have their pictures taken with them. V. interesting and I'm v. glad that I look Korean- I mean - Chinese.
Anything outside Shanghai?
Right now I am at an Internet cafe in Hangzhou, a city a couple hours train ride from Shanghai. I was in Suzhou a couple days ago. There is a saying that SuHang is like Heaven on earth. Suzhou is filled with countless man-made gardens like the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Gardens in Vancouver reminiscent of the Tang Dynasty, I think. However, I am much more in love with Hangzhou, with its West Lake, a massive lake with trees, and greenery, most nature like than anything I've experience in China so far other than the Inner Mongolia plains experience.
Guess what!!! It's raining. I'm not nuts cuz I'm happy. Beijng was too dry. I've only seem it rain twice in the 3 months was there. It's like Vancouver now. I love the smell after it stops raining. You can't smell and feel the pollution as much either.
