Shangri La

 
 

Well I'm in Shanghai. Took 12 hours to get here via train. What a mess the Beijing Rail Station is. Not only is it just a colossal mass of people trying to get on their trains, but most of the signs aren't in English. I had to ask some of the locals in sign language if I was in the right place by comparing tickets. Chinese people do not know how to wait in line. Lines are not single file, they are just first come first serve. So you have a few hundred people trying to squees themselves between a narrow gate. Old people, crippled people, small children in their way? Doesn't matter. Everyone just gets squeezed through. I thought maybe I'd get over the fact that Chinese people have no sense of personal space, but no it still annoys me when I am so squished next to people that I can smell hundreds of flavors of BO. It's not a pleasant experience. Anyway, so my on my train ticket it has the train #, carriage # , and seat # on it. The carriage # (1) is preceded by something in Chinese. So, I walk to the front on the train because that's carriage #1. When I get there the train attendent says I must go to the back of the train, not the front. Apparently the Chinese in front of the carriage # meant 'Last' as in "last 1". I can't believe the ticket could be so poorly printed with all the foreigners in China nowadays. It's just so maddening you can't help but laugh.

When I arrived in Shanghai, it was hot,muggy, and raining. My goal was to get to my hostel but I had forgotten to print out the directions to the hostel. So, I spent the next 15 mins sharpening my Mandarin. I went around asking "Fujin yang wa ba ma", which means "where is the local internet cafe?". After wandering back and forth being given bad directions I finally found it. From there I looked up the directions and the cheapest way to get there was on bus 113. It cost 2 yuan or basically less than 30 cents. So, I wander around with my 35 lb backpack and find the bus station. The only problem with directions here is that no one knows the English equivalent of the Chinese. For example, I had to get off at Bejing West Lu station. Everyone I asked just looked at me like I was crazy. I imagined them thinking, "is this guy nuts, this is Shanghai not Beijing". I realized the locals were useless in helping me out, so I was looking at every street judiciously, trying to see something that I would recognize. I was stressing a bit, but I knew even if I got lost I could get a cab, and get to the hostel no problems. Well, amazingly enough I saw a street that I recognized from the directions, and got off. Then I hunted around, and found the hostel in an alley far away from the main road. I was so relieved. Sometimes, you amaze yourself by doing things you think you can't do. I was pretty sure I would get lost, but I guess I have a knack for finding things.

Anyway, enough of getting to Shanghai. I've spent 2 days here, and my impression of Shanghai is that it's much more Westernized than Beijing. It's more compact, and dense. My impression of the people is that they aren't as friendly. The hostel is bigger but I dont' get the same community type vibe of the hostel in Beijing. Nobody talks to each other. I think its because the hostel is mainly used by local kids who speak Mandarin. So they have their own cliques. But, even the travelers here don't seem to be quite as open as in Beijing. Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow, and moving on to Hong Kong. There isn't much to see here anyway. I went to this area called the Bund, and that's where I took the skyline picture. It's pretty cool, everything is lit up. The other picture is the famous shopping area here called Nanjing.

Everyone here thinks my name is Mr. DVD, or Mr. Watch. I keep having to correct them, but it gets annoying ;). Just walking through Nanjing will drive you nuts, as you have a few hundred people coming up to you and saying "Hello, dvd, watch, clothes?" It's as if they're waiting for a person to be like "A DVD and a watch? That's EXACTLY what I was looking for!" But, one thing I have realized is that these big cities are just like big cities anywhere else. They are pretty much westernized and not really interesting to visit. I will have to go to a more remote place later.

Here's a link to my Shanghai album pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/srirammanian/Shanghai?authkey=XZbUgBzK18Y#