When they make the movie it will start with some upbeat 50’s jazz. The screen will be black. The bass beat will be funky and the saxophone will honk out a few riffs, maybe something like Sonny Rollins, something swinging, a tune lost in time. Fade in and I’m getting dropped off at Terminal 3. The air is clean. The day is bright. Piano solo as I cross the concourse. There is a spring in my step, a smile on my face as I approach the counter, check my baggage. I chat with the girl. Jo-Ray she says her name is.
Heehaw
I enter the departure lounge. The saxophone squeaks, squawks. The tune drops out and the music changes to late 60’s acid jazz. Maybe it’s avant guard, I don’t know, but I don’t like it.
I sleep for about 12 of the next 36 hours. I wake up several times in several different places. I’m riding a bumpy half note riff through Monk’s double set live in Japan.
On the other side I emerge, confused, bedraggled and fully charged.
Thoughts and Highlights so far:
White Spot hamburger in Vancouver airport
Granville Island beer on Granville Island
Sleep. Even if it’s not comfortable, it’s still sleep.
Leg room. When it comes to personal space, leg room is the most important one.
Vancouver’s transit system. Psst, hey Toronto, you suck.
If you are going to leave your luggage in the Vancouver Airport, try to remember where you leave it.
Sitting around is a great way to kill time. As long as I have me iPad, I’m never bored.
The high speed magnetic levitation line connects Shanghai’s Pudong International airport with the city centre. It takes 7 minutes to travel 30 kilometers on the Mag Lev. The top speed reaches 430 km/hr.
Day 1: River walk
High gear, fast start. Through customs, onto the Maglev, change to the Green Line (number 2 line) subway, check into the hotel. This place, Shanghai is easy to get around in. I’ve never been here before and Dan has never left Haida Gwaii, and yet two hours after landing we are all checked into the Changhang Merrylin Hotel. We drop off our luggage.
This place looks a lot like Taipei’s financial district 15 years ago. A lot.
I didn’t bring my laptop. I didn’t want to be weighted down with it. I just brought my iPad and my wireless keyboard but I can’t get on line at the hotel. This is a major drag for someone like me who is connected all the time. I spend far too much time online, This is going to be rough. Starbucks has free wireless (and coffee). We discover a little later on in the early afternoon and life is good.
Before we discover Starbucks though we wander into an Internet cafe. It’s a weird place set up like 25 sets of exactly the same bachelor living room. I wander back to use the bathroom and see that 80% of the people are playing a certain shoot ’em up video game. The others are shopping. A guy shows up in a red shirt and helmet. He’s got a huge insulated back pack. My first thought is that he’s a fireman. But no, he’s delivering McDonalds to the gamers.
In my first half day back in China, I’m pretty proud of myself. I’ve figured out the subway system, found an Internet cafe, ordered coffee and checked into a hotel, all in Chinese. The secret of speaking a foreign language is the same as getting ahead in real life. You have to be assertive. The people you meet, serving you coffee or checking you into a hotel are there to serve you. It’s up to you to help them do this the way you want it done. It’s not we get what we give but we get what we request. That’s my revelation for today.
Back in my hotel room that night I’m in bed by 7:00pm. I look out my 11th floor window and marvel at the city of 29 million. The office towers across the street are new and empty. I leave my curtains wide open, watching the insect-like traffic in the busy intersection below. I drift off to sleep watching the BBC only to wake up at 8:00pm when the building across the street puts on a light show. Turns out it happens every night between 8:00-9:30. There are neon blue lights from top to bottom of the two towers. The light show cascades down the building.
I changed money earlier. To do this you take a number, take a seat and wait to be called. It’s about a twenty minute wait. I originally think this is a poor system but then as I wait I see that every transaction takes five or more minutes so sitting is much better than standing in line. To change money, three different forms are involved. I have to show my Canadian passport and write down where I’m staying. There is also a camera that records everything.
While I’m changing money, a young lady approached my cousin Dan and asks him how she can send money to California. He suggests money order or bank transfer.
The next day we come up with a great rule for visiting China, If someone approaches you, they want something, It’s either to sell you something or its a scam. It’s a good rule, applicable in a number off situations.
Harmony. Crossing he street is a harmonic dance of sorts. Imagine a marching band in a football stadium meeting a BMX motocross, mix in some rush hour airport traffic and then think about a family of ants taking a grasshopper apart and taking the pieces underground. That is what an intersection looks like. It’s not hard to cross. There is a system. It’s like water collecting on a semi-flat surface.
The Bund
We pop out of a busy subway system station into the tourist ground zero of Shanghai. To the south is the French concession. To the west is Nanjing shopping area, several blocks of every imaginable high end luxury brand the world has to offer. To the east is The Bund – the most heavily traffic iinner city river-way I’ve ever seen. We count 42 different watercraft in motion on the waterway. Barges with building material make up most of the traffic. There are also commuter ferries, tourist sightseeing boats… All the boat are large.
On Nanjing Road
“Massage?”, “Ladies bags?”, “Watches?”, “You like Chinese girl?”…about every 20 meters the offers come. We walk on through the strollers and lingerers, the touters and the tourists. At the end of the pedestrian mall, we cross to the park.
Then we encounter the next scam. It goes like this.
There is a small knot of young Chinese tourists. One of them approaches and says, “Will you take our picture?”, Then they engage you in conversation eventually leading to an invitation to see a show in a nearby tea shop. We didn’t go but I suspect it’s a fairly innocent scam leading to a hefty entertainment/tea shop bill.
The first time we were approached we shook them off simply because the offer of tea and a show simply did not interest us. The second time, the whole thing rolled out in the very same way and I knew the score.
TV Culture News
TV sucks. Chinese TV sucks worse. Instead of the inane reality shows and sensational fake news shows we have, the Chinese have variety talk shows and boring news type documentaries. There are two english stations in Shanghai. CCTV in English and CIS – C I Shanghai. I watch the Culture News in bed that night at 7:30. It is an hour of culture themed news stories. River Walk show is in town. There are only four dancers. There is a story about the Frankfurt Book Fair. Never heard of it but apparently its a big deal.
The traffic on Changyang Road is completely plugged, the traffic is flowing like a sink full of dirty dishes.
Video: Day 1: Shanghai
