Walking through Shanghai

I'm sitting in a five-star hotel room overlooking the ocean in a southern Chinese city called Xiamen, but I'm not going to talk about Xiamen for now. I'll save that for the end of the week when I'm on my way back to Shanghai. Just giving you a tantalizing tidbit for later, to keep you tuned in ;) Since I'm on this business trip away from home, it is a great time to call and see what I'm up to. Hint hint. My evenings work best, aka American mornings.

Today I feel like talking a little bit about China in general, because I feel that I've spent enough time here now to be able to muse on the country, if you will. And if you won't, just close the browser window and don't tell me about it.

Saturday I went into downtown Shanghai to have a look and see how the city has changed from when I was last there in 2003. I took the subway to People's Square and after getting lost going back and forth underground trying to cross the street, finally emerged where I wanted to be, at the head of Nanjing Rd. pedestrian mall, where I began my walk for the day. I was wearing my 49 RMB Birkin Sticks, a play (or 'play-garism') on Birkenstocks, on what might just be the most crowded street in China. (To follow my walking tour you can direct your browser to www.exploreshanghai.com) Every few seconds I was approached by someone who wanted to sell me bags and watches. The first person to do so said 'bag, watch', and I actually thought he might have been reminding me to keep my belongings close, I wasn't sure and could barely hear him. Eventually I figured that they were trying to sell me things (the first guy didn't have a little magazine with all his goods in it) and soon enough I got annoyed. It was difficult enough dodging the pedestrian trains that sped down the center of the way without running into others, nevermind the heat, without needing to also be approached by street hawkers peddling imitation Prada.

One girl came up to me and started speaking English, but it was so stilted I sincerely couldn't understand her. Sher repeated herself and I discovered she was actually saying "I'm student. Make art, come see my paintings." but it wasn't a simple task. I still told her I couldn't understand (in my best Chinese) and explained that I came from some country (I switch around randomly between all sorts of non-English speaking countries) that wasn't America and so had absolutely no idea what she was trying to say to me. She seemed to not understand my Chinese and continue ploughing forward using English.

By the time I had gotten 2/3 of the way to the river I was really annoyed at these people. None of the Chinese were being followed for several feet by people who were trying to rip them off! I started to be very brisk with these people, asking them to go annoy someone else, telling them I really didn't want anything, and just generally getting more and more upset. It probably didn't help that I was getting dehydrated and tired of walking, but the people I was supposed to hang out with were being unresponsive.

Having a foreign face here is such a double-sided coin. On one hand you are constantly harassed like that when walking down the street, and although all you might want to do is wander lost in your own thoughts, everyone feels that you're the perfect target for whatever plans they have brewing. On the other hand you have a get out of jail free card. If you ever get into trouble, all of a sudden you don't speak Chinese. If you want to get something done, then you do speak Chinese and it is just so amazing to see you speak that you can get your way. When I go shopping, with the clothes I sometimes wear certain nicer stores really wouldn't be so happy with my trying certain items of clothing on, but because of my face I can still get good treatment. It is really a different sort of paradox to be in, simultaneously respected and harassed.

I got to the river and from there headed south down the Bund. This is one of the oddest parts of China to me because it is all western architecture, but at the same time most of it is dirty and a little run-down. With the modern-built Pudong right across the way, (for a picture click here.)
you really do get a feeling of how much Shanghai has changed in the last century. The contrast is really striking, and if a way you get a sense of nostalgia for how Shanghai must have been back then. I have the feeling that there was more a feeling of culture than there is now. Shanghai is unique in that most of the restaurants in downtown Shanghai aren't 'Shanghaiese' or even general Chinese. You can get tons of Western, Thai, Cantonese, Taiwanese, and Japanese, but to find a place that does the classic Chinese dishes is quite difficult in the affluent part of town. The most popular show here is currently 'Mama Mia', and I just feel that I don't really understand what 'Shanghai culture' is. It may be I just have yet to get to the parts of Shanghai that haven't westernized, but I feel like there's something I'm missing yet.

I guess sometimes in China you have up days and sometimes you have down days. Today, for the most part, was actually an up, but Saturday wandering through the streets of Shanghai searching for Shanghai was sort of a down. I ended the day in Xintiandi, right by work, at a Haagen Dazs having a caramel latte (it was a normal latte but they then put dolce de leche ice cream in it--yum) and listening to jazz standards played over the speaker system in the restaurant, then heading home and watching Shrek the Third (I tried to watch Memoirs of a Geisha but either the movie itself was filmed too dark or the quality of my DVD wasn't good enough--I'll guess the latter) before bed. I imagine that as I get more familiar with the city I will find different things, and I can't wait for that day, but at the moment I feel that either Shanghai has changed a lot since I was last here, or I have. Maybe both, but the energy and liveliness that I remember Shanghai having when I was here in 2003 doesn't seem to be capturing me in the same way anymore.