Shanghai experience

Hey everyone!

Shanghai has been an amazing experience, although it has been a lot different then I was expecting. It's a very westernised and modern city (I'm actually convinced it's the closet any city on earth has come to being like where the Jetson's lived) and at many times it hasn't really felt any different then anywhere else. Shopping malls are the same as at home, they have the same types of shops (in fact a much bigger selection, many from Europe and America), it is much cleaner then I was lead to believe (we haven't had trouble with toilet paper or soap, we haven't really seen anyone spit or shoot snot from their noses), and we haven't had trouble getting the types of foods we thought we weren't going to be able to get (chocolate, biscuits, bread etc). It definitely hasn't felt as overwhelmingly foreign as I thought that it would but I'm sure this will change when I get to Jingdezhen. There are a huge amount of people though, which can get a bit much at times, especially considering we always seem to end up walking in the opposite direction to everyone else! The traffic is crazy - stopping at a red light seems to an option not a law. Bikes, scooters, taxis, buses all go when and where they want and even if we are crossing at a pedestrian crossing with a green man seems to be a bit of a gamble. And it is noisy - there is the constant sound of motors, horns, bells etc. It's hot and humid here too, which in a way makes a nice change from the wet weather we left behind in Adelaide and it does emphasise the fact that I am somewhere else other then home.

I arrived in here very early on Sunday morning and met Wayne (who is also doing the residency in Jingdezhen) at the hotel and we have spent our days and nights exploring the city every since. As well as just wandering and looking and exploring we have been to the Art Museum, and the Shanghai Museum (which has a massive collection of Chinese ceramics, a huge section of which is dedicated to Jingdezhen ware) and today we were lucky enough to be at the opening day of the Shanghai Art Fair. We have also wandered along the Bund (a promenade along the river which always seems to be busy with people no matter what day or what time we go there) and sat amongst the locals and waited for the buildings of the Pudong district to light up after dark, and visited the tallest building with the highest observatory in the world. Yesterday we visited a Buddhist temple which is on the 'must see' list of Shanghai, but rather then being a museum type building (which the tourist info made it sound like) it was still used as a place of worship and there were hundreds of people praying. It felt wrong for us to be there, so we had a quick look and left. It was a very beautiful place though.

We haven't had too many issues with communication so far. Most people we have encountered in service positions speak a word or two of English and if not we manage to mime or point out what we are wanting. The language lessons I was listening to before I left have come in handy a bit - I am able to say basic things like hello, goodbye and thank you -and occasionally recognise words in announcements, even if I have no clue what else has been said. It is interesting to be in a place for such an extended period of time and have such little understanding of the information that is being offered to me. It has been a little frustrating at times but mostly I am enjoying the challenge of it.

We are slowly becoming more confident with the places we choose to eat at the longer we are here. Breakfast is usually at the hotel (three different steamed buns, two boiled eggs a banana and a coffee). We have eaten from bread shops quite often (similar to Bread Top in Adelaide) and take away/food court places in the beginning. Often the menu is not written in English and we decide by choosing the most delicious looking picture on the menu! We branched out last night though and discovered a proper restaurant and ate our first 'proper' Chinese meal. The tea smoked duck was amazing! One of our favourite discoveries has been a fresh juice bar which makes the most refreshing watermelon ice drinks - our afternoon has always included a rest and one of these. I will miss them when we leave!

We get stared at and photographed a lot as move about, some people are discreet about it but others blatantly stare. I would love to see all of the picture we have been captured in and know what they are thinking, especially when we catch them and they look away quickly. And we get hassled a lot by people on the street wanting us to buy things, but most give up pretty quick once we say no. There haven't been too many beggars around but we have heard that they have been rounded up and shipped out of town because of the World Expo (currently on in Shanghai).

The whole city has an excited buzz about it. People seem to use public space much more then in Australia - at the end of the street we are staying on is a park which turns into a dance floor in the evenings, we stumbled upon an outdoor concert one afternoon on the way back to our hotel, and there are always people relaxing in parks, walking on The Bund, or gathering on street corners. Shops are open late at night, even on a Sunday - the other night we walked past a hairdresser who was still cutting hair at 10.30pm. And everything seems lit up at night - buildings are covered with bright coloured lights, neon signs flash on and off and trees along main roads are covered with fairly lights or have lanterns hanging from their branches.

Everywhere is heavily policed. There are security checks at the entrance to every subway station or museum where they scan or xray your bag. Often they ask you to drink any liquid you might be carrying which I guess proves that it isn't something dangerous. In many public locations too there is a security man with a whistle. I have seen people be stopped for lying on a bench along the bund, standing on a rock in one of the gardens, using a mobile phone in one of the galleries, and Wayne and I were asked to move on for sitting on a wall outside a hotel while we looked at our map.

There is so much more I could write - I could ramble on like this forever but I think this is long enough!

We are off to Jingdezhen to begin our stay with the pottery workshop tomorrow (Thursday) which is very exciting!

x. Jessie

Images: The inside of a subway car - the cars are all connected and seem to go on forever; a meal from a chain of stores called 'Uncle Fast Food' - we had no idea what we were ordering; me with the Oriental Pearl Tower - one of the space age type buildings that make up Shanghai