Competing for Attention
Click here for pictures
So Shanghai is unlike anywhere I've ever been. Imagine the busiest, loudest place you've been in the U.S. and multiple it by 2. If you've never been to New York or LA then multiple by 5. Crossing the street is terrifying. Cars, nor bikes, nor other pedestrians slow down or get out of the way. Thank goodness there is liberal use of horns.
Says the guidebook: "Traffic is a major danger in Shanghai; it is essential to look in five directions at once (including above you, in case of falling construction debris) whenever you cross the street."
Shanghai is growing incredibly quickly. There is literally a shortage of US steel because China is buying it all to build here. Incredibly tall skyscrapers are under construction everywhere you look. And they have all been built in the last 5 years.
Building architecture looks like contestants of an extreme design show were at work. Sergio, a friend and co-worker here with me, says it's like all the buildings are competing for attention. They are taller, brighter and more fantastic looking then their neighbor.
Food here is incredible. Tables come with a lazy susan in the middle, to make the many small dishes of different food easy to get to. So far I've tried goose, duck, lotus and a variety of food I like prepared in new and exciting ways. Wonton soup is meant to be eaten for breakfast.
I'm spending most of my time in Pudong, which is the new business area of Shanghai. It's already larger than the old part of Shanghai. Last night we went to the decadent Bund area, which is along the Huangpu River, and was built up by the French in the early 1900's. We strolled along Nanjing Donlu, the most famous shopping street in China. It is home to the many neon lights in my pictures and an impressive amount of upscale shopping and advertisements for American companies.
Our hosts are extremely generous and total life savers. It's isolating being somewhere where you utterly don't understand a word of the language. I've been within 10 feet of a fluent Chinese speaker, which is making it much easier to get around. Maybe too easy. I haven't ordered food yet. No matter where I go, it's clear I am a tourist, which is also new. Traveling in Europe, I sometimes passed for a local if I kept my mouth shut, and even if I stood out like a sore thumb, I didn't feel like it.
I am getting more comfortable though. I love the clausterphobia and noise. My Chinese words - please, thank you, yes, hello, and no - are almost second nature. I'm working on some phrases next.
On the agenda still is to the old quarter and French Concession sections of the city, a museum and a temple, as well as some shopping, where bargaining in Chinese will be required. Tomorrow, I hope to get a massage. And I mean a legitimate massage, and not the dirty happy ending massages that are offered up on the streets and at "barber shops."
So Shanghai is unlike anywhere I've ever been. Imagine the busiest, loudest place you've been in the U.S. and multiple it by 2. If you've never been to New York or LA then multiple by 5. Crossing the street is terrifying. Cars, nor bikes, nor other pedestrians slow down or get out of the way. Thank goodness there is liberal use of horns.
Says the guidebook: "Traffic is a major danger in Shanghai; it is essential to look in five directions at once (including above you, in case of falling construction debris) whenever you cross the street."
Shanghai is growing incredibly quickly. There is literally a shortage of US steel because China is buying it all to build here. Incredibly tall skyscrapers are under construction everywhere you look. And they have all been built in the last 5 years.
Building architecture looks like contestants of an extreme design show were at work. Sergio, a friend and co-worker here with me, says it's like all the buildings are competing for attention. They are taller, brighter and more fantastic looking then their neighbor.
Food here is incredible. Tables come with a lazy susan in the middle, to make the many small dishes of different food easy to get to. So far I've tried goose, duck, lotus and a variety of food I like prepared in new and exciting ways. Wonton soup is meant to be eaten for breakfast.
I'm spending most of my time in Pudong, which is the new business area of Shanghai. It's already larger than the old part of Shanghai. Last night we went to the decadent Bund area, which is along the Huangpu River, and was built up by the French in the early 1900's. We strolled along Nanjing Donlu, the most famous shopping street in China. It is home to the many neon lights in my pictures and an impressive amount of upscale shopping and advertisements for American companies.
Our hosts are extremely generous and total life savers. It's isolating being somewhere where you utterly don't understand a word of the language. I've been within 10 feet of a fluent Chinese speaker, which is making it much easier to get around. Maybe too easy. I haven't ordered food yet. No matter where I go, it's clear I am a tourist, which is also new. Traveling in Europe, I sometimes passed for a local if I kept my mouth shut, and even if I stood out like a sore thumb, I didn't feel like it.
I am getting more comfortable though. I love the clausterphobia and noise. My Chinese words - please, thank you, yes, hello, and no - are almost second nature. I'm working on some phrases next.
On the agenda still is to the old quarter and French Concession sections of the city, a museum and a temple, as well as some shopping, where bargaining in Chinese will be required. Tomorrow, I hope to get a massage. And I mean a legitimate massage, and not the dirty happy ending massages that are offered up on the streets and at "barber shops."
posted by Kristine at
9:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home