Shanghai 'd in Shanghai

Well, there I was, Friday midnight, my first night in Shanghai, arrived about 9pm after a delayed flight, took the Maglev (high tech 400 kph train) and metro into town, dropped my stuff at the hostel and set off in a taxi to find those of the group who had arrived Thursday. Being China, I shouldn’t have been surprised to end up in an Irish Bar drinking Guinness and watching a sing-off between our Welsh trio of Catrin, Ceri and Stacy and a bunch of Dutch people dressed in bright orange and wearing national flag warpaint celebrating their Queen’s Day, but there was a slight air of the surreal about it (maybe the Guinness caused it). When we got kicked out about 2 it was back to Ceri and Cat’s room after a quick stop at the 7-11 for more drinks and time for a catch-up and some comparing I-pod selections before eventually crawling off to bed about 4.30.

Given they had had quite a headstart on me, it was no surprise to be the first up, and after a breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast and orange juice (heaven-my first English breakfast since getting here) I went for a wander while waiting for the others to surface. What strikes you at once about Shanghai is the mad juxtaposition between the old and the new. Buildings of crumbling stone roofed with corrugated iron and narrow alleys with clothes strung on lines across them sit virtually underneath monoliths of glass and chrome, cutting edge architecture like spaceships filled with odd angles or curves-contrast and contradiction everywhere you look.

Back to the hostel to collect the others, a fruitless hour or so trying to get opening weekend tickets for Shi Bo Hui (the World Expo), then a ferry cross the Huangpu River to “Old Town” and Yuyuan Gardens -a 16^th century walled complex that seemed a perfect place to chill out, nurse hangovers and avoid the crowds. Well, it would have been (I managed to get there the next day). Our navigation was off, our Chinese was poor, the directions we got were wrong, and as the temperature crept past 30C and we went back and forth, eventually finding the north wall (the entrance was in the south) so we stopped for lunch and to regroup. By this time the last 2 of the group had arrived in the city and were coming to meet us-recipe for disaster! By the time we managed to hook up with them plans for the garden were abandoned and we headed for the “The Bund” and a relaxing walk along that famous mile of riverside.

In our dreams! Forced to abandon our taxis in the gridlocked traffic, we joined the rivers of humanity pouring along the roads, struggling to keep the 8 of us together. Scary moment when some lunatic in a Porsche, unwilling to wait for a break in the crowd just drove into us-Josh ended up riding on the bonnet till he got through-it was that or have his legs crushed! When we eventually got to the river it was hopeless-I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people in one place, so that plan too was abandoned and we headed back to the hostel. Cleaned up and fortified by dinner, it was off into Shanghai nightlife again- Max Bar, with a live band doing English covers (very well) English football on tele and ice-cold Tiger beer, then off to a club till God knows when-my ears are still ringing!

Sunday I was once again first up, and no firm plans having been made set off determined to see the gardens. So glad I did-they were amazing. Chinese gardening is not so much about flowers as patterns and the balance between water, stone, buildings and plantings-symbolism everywhere, something different around every corner, through every gallery. Pavilions full of artwork and jade carvings to explore, the music of waterfalls and rustle of bamboo, ponds full of flashing colour of Koi carp, huge 400 year old Gingko Biloba trees and delicate azalea, acer and magnolia-I could have stayed all day, but after a visit to the Temple of the City Gods to pay my respects and a steaming bowl of handmade noodles in lamb broth(that is incredible too-to watch them turn a lump of dough into spaghetti thin noodles in about thirty seconds flat) it was off to the Shanghai Museum and a few hours of browsing galleries of bronzes, sculpture, calligraphy and ceramics in air-conditioned comfort. I rounded off the afternoon with a trip to the 88^th floor of the Jinmao Tower to try and catch the sunset (unfortunately it disappeared into the smog long before setting), but the views over the city were worth the trip.

The others had returned from their excursion to Zhujaijiao, “the Venice of the East” having enjoyed a relaxing afternoon cruising the canals, so it was time for another attempt to walk the Bund. Using the metro proved far more successful than taxis, and we arrived on the promenade to find it still crowded, but bearable, and the cityscape breathtaking, lit up brighter than a Christmas tree, neon crowned boats plying the river, fountains, lasers-just magical. We spent a couple of hours soaking up the atmosphere and taking pictures, then a meal at Cool Docks that degenerated into a marathon karaoke and drinking session. Everyone but Parveen and Stacy decided that discretion was the better part of valour about 3am and went back to the hostel, poor Ceri had to be up at 6 to catch a train back to school ready to teach at 3 Monday afternoon.

I was a bit luckier, and having checked out and said my goodbyes to those that were up, went for one last stroll along the “new” side of the river and a close-up look at the Oriental Pearl Tower before an uneventful journey back to Pingdu. But I may have to come back….

Zai Jian

Mike