My good guinness, it's cold.
Last week I was going around in a top and sunglasses, now I'm sitting on my bed with closed window and a blanket wrapped around me. How life changed! Now it's cloudy, foggy, windy...generally shitty, that's it. And, to make it better, I'm working this week end. Good.
Anyway, happy days! Where was I? Oh yeah, I was going on holiday! Yep, thanks to Mid Autumn festival (beginning of October) I had a week off. Well, most of China had it. But who cares about the rest, I had it and that's enough to me.
Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...I went tooooooooooooooooooooooo SHANGHAI! How cool is that? Very cool, trust me.
But let's go back a bit. As you know, I have a few furry friends coming to visit my house very often. So often that the last few nights before leaving I couldn't sleep at all, thanks to those noisy little (I hope...) things. I've been complaining a lot (as it's my custom, as you know) but nothing happened, still. Mmmh...so I've been exploring around and I found a big hole in my wall. That I closed with a few rocks. Will it work? Time will tell. I've been promised a cat as well, let's see what happens. The only thing is that I was so unbelievably tired that I had to call in sick and spend one night in a hotel to get some sleep (my expenses obviously). But that's life in China...if you have a problem, it's YOUR problem, mate!!!
But life goes on and, after a fantastic night of deep sleep, I spent half the first watching the parade in Tianan' men, in Beijing. Honestly this Chinese army look slightly gay but I would prefer not to see Italy attacked by them...just because of the number. After being delighted for a while, I decided that it was time to go and I started walking towards the bus station, causing the usual havoc around me. I'm surprised I haven't actually caused any accident yet, with my shining beauty! ah ah ah. Anyway...I get to the station somehow (I'm honest...ripped off by the usual taxis. bah...) and I find two very nice English speaking girl that super help me with buying the ticket and finding the bus. How cool is that! I sat happily on the coach and we starting watching another super interesting Chinese movie. To be honest, I think I fell asleep.
We get to Wuhan (remember? the Shining Capital of The Middle of Nowhere Province) and I jump off the bus...to find out that I have no idea of where I am. great. I look around suspiciously at the people staring at me and I push away all the taxi driver that approach me. Oh live me alone. Take out the map, and it's obviously completely useless. There are 3 bus station in Wuhan and I didn't know which one I got to. So I start walking, looking convinced of where I was going. Suddenly on my right I see a kind of...dunno, something station, and I get in looking for info. I get a poor unlucky woman, I show her the map and I start waving my hand around and then point at the map "Here...where?". She was totally scared. She said something in Chinese and she ran away screaming. Bah...after a few moments a guy came over, looking super sure of himself (like me on the street a few minutes earlier...so I didn't trust him at all). He looked at me and I said "HI" and he went very pale. Ok, you don't speak English either. Good. So I started again with all my waving around, and somehow he understood. He pointed at one precise bus station! Yahi! So I moved forward... "Train station?" and I actually started miming a train Ciuff ciuff and everything. You should have seen the faces of those guys...but I think they understood because they started pointing in a direction, screaming something in Chinese.
Ok, so off I went.
I started walking in that direction, looking around to see the station, till I see a big building with the familiar Chinese sign for station on it! Yuppi, I made it! Time to eat, then. I start walking around looking at my map I hear "Hallo! Can I help you?" I look around and I see a happy Chinese couple! How lucky am I today??? So I tell them that I'm looking for some food before catching the train. And they said "But the station is very far from here!" WHAT! It's just across the road. Obviously it wasn't. So they put me in a taxi and sent me to the station, where I waited for like 4 hours to get on the train to Shanghai. And many interesting things happened...
Obviously on all the videos around the station, the parade in Beijing was being shown. At that point it was very nice, no more army, just thousand of people dressed in beautiful colours, all dancing around! It was actually impressive, honestly. I was sitting contemplating the parade, when a kid sat beside me. Ok, no probs...then his dad decided to give him a snack...a chicken foot! mmmh...ok, we're all different. The great thing is that this boy started chewing his snack and spitting the bones everywhere. Especially in the direction of my backpack. Good. Sooo...I push it away...and the boy spits harder and further...so, I push it again...till I found myself under bones fire! So, quite disgusted, I got my bag and moved.
Another great experience you will have to try if you come to the China, is the public toilet. Good luck. Dunno about the men ones, but I had few experience with the ladies' room. Oh my god...if you're lucky you get a Turkish toilet, with a door. If you are having a very bad day, you will get a small canal that runs through all the cubicles and a broken door. No sign of toilet paper, always bring tissues. But the hardest task is to survive the smell. Seriously. Chinese toilets are seriously dirty. Use wellies to get in, at least. You can smell them from afar, you don need the signs. Sometimes doors are very low, so that your head sticks out...so you can have a chat with your fellow pooer. How nice. The problem is that if you're having some...let's say, problems in taking out, everybody will see your over-concentrated face. Cool. Chinese have the nice habit, as you know, to do everything with the door open. And I really don't understand why...and, most of the time, they don't seem able to flush the water. How nice. Nowhere to put bags or belongings...a real task. But don't go with open shoes, you never know.
Finally the train arrived and here we are again, ready for another night on the train. Obviously, upper deck. So...upside down octopus all over again. But I slept like a baby, and in the morning I suddenly woke up not knowing where I was...and threw the pillow on the people underneath...who shook their head obviously thinking "Messed up foreigner...". But that's life.
So octopus lady gets to Shanghai. That actually means "On the ocean" and this time it's true, Chinese doc. I'm learning, seeeeeee?
The hostel was quite easy to find. You see, Shanghai works more less like London. Push people to get a ticket, push people to pass the gate, push people to get on the tube, push people to get off the tube...see? It's a "push and pull" way of life. But the metro is logic to follow (thanks god) and the names are in English as well, so I got to my destination straight away. You can admire me, no problems at all. Got to the hostel (very nice one with very nice toilets...and TOILET PAPER!!!!!) and had a shower. At this point you have to know that I was supposed to meet with a friend of a friend of a friend (clear) who lives in Shanghai (where else) and could help me move around. A Chinese English-speaking lady. I sent her a text to tell her that I was there. She called me, and from then I lost the plot. She was supposed to come to the hostel (allegedly very close to her flat) then she wanted to speak to someone Chinese, then again to me, then she said "I'm coming" and hung up. Ok. So i sat in an armchair looking at the people and I started thinking...WHEN she will come? The problem is that Chinese is vaguely different from English, so Chinese, sometimes, can't really speak it well. You can't distinguish a question from a normal sentence...plus the accent, sometimes very strong. So i decided to send her a text and ask WHEN. Answer. This evening at 6pm. Good. Go up and went to explore.
Back on the tube (after stopping to Family Mart to get some water and some not recognizable sweet stuff) and head back to the centre. Renmin square. That would be People's square. As you know, everything in China is "people's"...hospitals, schools, banks...there's always "people's" in front. And in every city there's People's Square. So I knew where to start from. Very nice and very (you bet it) full of PEOPLE. The fact is that we were going through two very important holidays in China: the 60th anniversary of the PEOPLE's republic of China and the Mid Autumn Festival...stuff for lovers, I think. So all the PEOPLE of China were off and wondering about. I didn't see a single foreigner in the square. Me and me. And PEOPLE staring at me. I became the PEOPLE's foreigner. How exciting.
I stayed there for a while, enjoying the sun, admiring and being admired (you never get enough of it!) then I moved to the Old Town (People's old town? Not sure). Now, being a hero, I decided to go by foot. As if I was in Portree. Shanghai has 25 million inhabitants, and growing. You can imagine the size. But I didn't dare taking a bus, believe me. So...off we go, one step after the other, following the map, and here I am (breathless) in the Old Town. Sooooooo beautiful! Soooo Chinese (Shanghai is not really Chinese, trust me). Loved it. I spent the whole afternoon wondering about, looking at pagodas, buying stuff (I bought a painting on silk for 100 yuen. She wanted 200, but, AH AH, I didn't give up! 100 yuen is more less a tenner) and ended up in a Buddhist temple. The smell of incense was overpowering, but so nice. I didn't understand AT ALL what was going on, but I found it peaceful and relaxing. People (yeah!) burning incense, praying, bowing and I don't know what....very interesting. So many gods in just one temple, I was very confused! Big, golden statues of scary looking gods, fat gods, smiling gods...anything. Cool.
After such a peaceful moment, I went back in the crowd (and in China crowd is CROWD, believe me) looking for some food. Good luck. I didn't get any. Queues, queues, queues. Just to see the menu. So I kept wandering among pagodas, gardens, small lakes, dragons...and people. Till I had enough and I decided to move towards the river bank.
One side of Shanghai is, as to speak, the old one (where I was), across the river is Pudong, the new bit with skyscrapers and all the western stuff. From the West bank of the river you can have a great view of Pudong, so I decided to go there. Walking, what else?
On the way I found a small not-for-tourists restaurant so I decided to get some food, finally. Got in and people look at me and point to a stair. Ok, I go upstairs. Don't have the time to get up, that I meet the waitress. Never seen anyone looking at me in that way. She simply stopped and stared, but...this is difficult to explain. Her eyes got round and big, her jaw dropped and she didn't speak a word. So I looked around feeling a bit uneasy and I said hi. She didn't blink. Luckily another waiter came up and shouted something so she woke up and took me to the table, and gave me the menu. Right, very clear. So I opened the bag and took out my shiny little book...Mandarin Phrase Book! What would life be without it? I don't even try to think about it. Anyway, when she came back I just pointed to some names and she was happy...even if she was still a bit shocked. The food was actually fantastic, I had rice with steamed aubergine! yummiiii!
After lunch I resumed my walk and I finally got to the so called Bund, the promenade on the riverside. And it was closed. Just my luck, again...you have to know that next year there is Expo Shanghai 2010...I don't even know what this is, but, thanks to that, all the city is a "work in progress". And so was the riverside. Slightly pissed off I made my way back to the city centre, fighting with thousands of Chinese to just walk. I went down the main shopping street and the situation just got worst...I couldn't move, poor Ellie! So I decided to go home and that's it, sorted. Got in the metro and back to the hostel (pushing and pulling, obviously).
At 6 o'clock I finally met Judy, the Chinese girl. She came to the hostel with what, I found out later, was her husband. They took me to have some dinner (dumpling soup, yummmmi) and then a bit around the area where we were, to end up in a shopping centre. She's quite nice, to be honest, and she offered to take me to get some English books in the morning. 9am in front of the metro station. After that, they push me in a taxi and send me home. Ok, off I go.
The morning after I get up early and I go down for breakfast (steamed bread, steamed bread!!!!!) where I meet a super nice girl called Jo, a Chinese girl from Beijing. Very nice. So we had breakfast together and then we go to the metro station. And as soon as I got there, I received a text from Judy saying that they will be there at 9.30. Ok, I wait. Come 9.30 and i get another message saying that they are eating now (what?) and they will be 10 mins late. They got there at 10. We went down to the centre and we started looking around book shops for English books. Book shops in Shanghai are massive, so many books. Unfortunately, most of them are in Chinese. Surprise surprise. But there were a few English sections, so I could get 3 new books. Ole'. After that we went hunting for a Post Office. You must know that when I got into China I had only a tourist visa, valid for a month (expiring the 11th of October). So, last week, i had to send my passport back to the agency in Beijing, to get it renewed. I wasn't very happy about it, but unfortunately I had to do it. Still no news about my passport, keep your fingers crossed. Anyway, we found it, but it was closed because it's holiday time. Ok, let's try tomorrow. So I suggested them to go to the French Concession (the old European quarter), but mister husband was tired so we went in different direction. And that was actually good, because Chinese are more interested in shopping that sightseeing.
Anyway, I started walking again and, in a hour or so, I got to the french quarter. Very very very nice. And I have to be honest, in Shanghai it's quite easy to cross the road...probably they are more civilized than in Tianmen! Ah ah. Cars actually stop when it's red. Well done!
I walked around skyscrapers, western shops, banks...all very expensive looking, till I got to this very European looking area. Small buildings, tree lined avenues, local shops and restaurants! I had my lunch in a dumplings-only place (thanks to my beautiful phrase book) and then I got to a very cute park with people playing Chinese violin ( I can catch the correct name), trumpets, people dancing, playing cards...and staring at the foreigner, obviously, the national sport. It could actually become an Olympic speciality...strange that they didn't introduce it last year in Beijing...bah! After listening to some free music in the park, I kept exploring the area. And, believe it or not, I found a pub! I passed in front of it without even noticing it, but then I stopped wondering...what have I just seen? And I walked back in wonder and I saw the bar, the draught and everything...my eyes filled with tears, I couldn't believe it! I felt slightly cheered. Following the map, i discovered a lot of interesting places, till I end up passing between a couple of old houses to find myself in a maze of small old streets full of artists, shops, tearooms (tea rooms!!!!) and restaurants. Oh it was so beautiful! And finally I saw foreigners! Plenty of them, walking around the shops. That's where you were hiding. Oh such a beautiful place...and I even stopped in a tea room to have a cup of Jasmine green tea, for 30 yuen. A fortune, it's like 3 pounds. Worst than caffe nero. But I didn't care, I was sitting in the sun with my beautiful tea, my feet up, watching the world passing by. I loved it.
I spent the evening eating steamed bread bought at Family Mart and chatting with my dorm-mates; a French girl living in Beijing and two girls from Israel. The French lady was never stopping, worst than a radio. Luckily she was very tired, I can't image how much she can speak when she's wide awake. Scaaaary! I was trying to ignore her and read a book, when someone knocked on our door...and it was Jo!!! So we had a chat and we decided to go to Suzhou (it sounds like Zu-jiou) the day after. Super cool!
So off we go, to the city of gardens! How exciting!!! So we got up early and we went to the station (passing through the post office) and in 40 minutes, more less, we arrived. Suzhou is a village, only 6 million people. Ah ah. But the old bit is very beautiful! So cute. We headed straight to the biggest garden, the Humble Administrator Garden. What a name. 70 yuen to get in, more less 7 pounds. But it was sooooooooooooo beautiful! A massive gardens, with lakes, pagodas...each one of them dedicated to a different season! Bamboos, bonsai, and...mandarin duck! I couldn't believe it, they really really exist! I saw them so many times in books, that I thought they were like mythological animals. But nooooo! I was so excited, sooo foreigner! Who cares. We so old Chinese writings, scrolls...anything that is Chinese. I loved it. Then we went for lunch and exploring again. We so a pagoda like tower and then we went to a massive Buddhist temple, with a whole market around it. I loved the colours, it was all yellow and red, everywhere. lovely lovely.
Last we went to Tiger Hill (grrrr) where there is another pagoda like tower, with a massive market. We tried different kind of food,especially we loved this white or grey squares cooked on a grill...well....similar...they had a very strange texture but they were sweet and lovely, with red beans paste inside! Then some other mysterious stuff, similar to jelly....and then we walked a bit along the river, following the crazy market, ending up in a more quite area. It was lovely. I even smelled a toilet, but I was still 1 km away...getting closer and closer I decided that I was smelling it too much, so I thought better not to go. Eheheheh....
We got back to Shanghai around 6pm (we couldn't get a seat on this train, so we had to sit on the floor near the door...how cool, all the people looking at us in wonder...ihihhihi) and we went straight to the hostel! Shower! Peeeee! How lovely.
We decided to go out together hunting for dinner and we ended up eating something very strange. We went to this...place (we can't really call it a restaurant...) and we took a small tray (dirty, obviously) and then we went to the fridge to choose the ingredients to put in the sup. How cool. I got tofu, mushrooms, fish ball, ratballs, seaweed and so on...it was only 1 yuen each! Like 10p!!! So we got a massive bowl of soup with all of that stuff in. It was lovely. We even had a cockroach having dinner at the table beside our. Jo said to not mind it. I didn't. We left very full and happy and we ended up in a 24/7 tearoom. Another one! I love Shanghai!!! The great thing is that in that tearoom you paid only for one drink (28 yuen, standard price) and you could have all the drinks you wanted! So I tried milk tea, coconut milk, ice coffee, juice with jelly...my stomach was bloated when I left! We stayed there till almost midnight, and Jo taught me a bit of Chinese and she explaining why each character had a specific shape. That was so exciting!!! I love it, so interesting. I would have stayed there forever! But we were tired, so we went to bed.
The morning after I had my good serving of steamed bread and then I packed. Sigh, goodbye Shanghai. It sounds like the title of a song... anyway! Luckily Jo decided to come down to the centre with me, so we got the Free shuttle bus to Renmin square and from there the metro to Pudong, the modern bit. Out of the metro we could admire the majesty of skyscrapers as high as mountains. Wow, unbelievable!!!! We saw the Oriental Pearl tv tower (supposed to be the symbol of Shanghai) and then we moved down to the river bank, and luckily this one wasn't "work in progress" so, from there, we could admire the west bank. Quite impressive. We decided to be lazy and we went to a "Healthy desserts" place and we sat down to drink some strange stuff. At the bottom of the glass there was something like mousse with jelly; then mango juice; then ice cream and pieces of fruits. It was beautiful. We sat there chatting for hours, and I discovered very interesting things about the Chinese way of thinking. Tianan' men murders were America's fault and were the students to provoke the army. Obviously. Only 200 people died, but it's ok, in China we are billions, that's nothing. Ok. Mao is a saint. Jo told me that her mum, every morning, bows in front of his picture and asks him to protect her and make her do good thinks. The same in the evening. So I made her notice that even Mao made mistakes, like in the 60s went 30 million people died because of the famine. It never happened! And, if it happened, it was Mao's wife fault. And anyway, 30 millions is nothing, after that the country was better. In the name of the country we can all die happily. I shivered listening to her, but what can I do? I'm a western, posh, selfish lady.
It's strange to notice what a strange idea Chinese have of us, the westerns. The foreigners. We can't save money, we don't care about the family and we are all lazy. Ok, the last one could be true, but...how many Europeans do you know? How can you judge without knowing? brainwash, brainwash....get me out of here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After that we said goodbye and I ran to get the train to Nanchang. Seriously run, I've almost missed it. And off i went.
But this is another story, and it will come in the next chapter. Till then, my friends, take care and pray Mao to keep you safe.
Ellie
Ps: and remember, my friends...travelling a thousand miles is more enriching than reading a thousand books.
I feel so wise tonight. Must be Mao descending on me.
No comments:
Post a Comment