Hello again! In the spirit of keeping things simple this week, I am discussing from where I left off (Tongli) and going until I left Shanghai a couple weeks later. For historical reference, this period encompasses the last two weeks of my first trip (The Far East Program) and begins into my home stay with my friend’s family. Enjoy:
Hangzhou:
I actually went to Shanghai for two days before going to Hangzhou, but I will clump Shanghai into one section because it makes more logical sense. Hangzhou is one of the richest areas in China (located in the Jiangsu Province) and it shows. There were Ferrari and Mercedez-Benz places all over. Also the Head of a Foreign State was staying there, but we weren’t allowed to know who it was – suspected to be the President of Thailand. While in Hangzhou we did some stereotypical things and did some pretty exciting culturally stuff. There was a boat ride on the lake (Hangzhou Hu), the Zhang Yimou light show (he was the guy who put on the Olympics), and some consumption of tea! Overall Hangzhou was really cool, but it was also incredibly Americanized because it is a resort city.
Interesting Points:
- The Romance of the Song Dynasty was a singing/dancing extravaganza we went to that I fell asleep during, but the outside festival was awesome! We had peanut butter cookies (this is a loosely used term) and played ancient Chinese games (Crossbow, longbow, throwing knives, etc.). There was also a pool with moving steps winding across them that one could pay to try and run along. If there was a misstep, then – Boom! Into the water. It was fun to watch people get owned. N00bs.
- The Emporer’s Longjin Green Tea plantations were amazing. We got there, toured the facilities, and then were led into a special room where we learned how to correctly pour and drink green tea and got to drink some of the world’s best! Loaded with tons of different green plants and know how on tea making and drinking, this was really cool. One interesting point about drinking tea is that one is not supposed to boil the water because it kills the healthy aspects of green tea; in fact, the closer to lukewarm the healthier green tea is for you.
- Street vendors that sell food at 2 AM are both a godsend and a nightmare for the carousing traveler. In Hangzhou I dined on seahorse, lamb, and seaweed all after one AM. The food was great but incredibly spicy. I also got lucky with the food. My one other friend ordered over easy eggs. The next day I woke up and was fine, but he was hanging around the porcelain God. It’s all about luck I suppose.
Shanghai:
So as not to get ahead of myself let me give some chronological consistency. I first went to Shanghai for 3 days before Hangzhou (approximately June 2-4) and then went back between the 7th and the 11th. On the 11th everyone else on the trip left for Hawaii, while I was picked up by my friend Terry’s Auntie and driven to an apartment by Tongqin University – which is still in Shanghai. Then the next day at about 8:30 PM we drove from Shanghai to Nantong – about an hour and a half drive. Let me present the marvelous Shanghai:
Shanghai is an amazing city. It is similar to NYC except bigger, cheaper, and dirtier. Overall my experience in Shanghai was awesome. The first day there we went to a suit maker shop and looked around for tailor made suits. I wasn’t planning on buying a suit, but I found that I could buy 2 suits and 2 tailor made dress shirts with my name embroidered on the sleeves for 940 Yuan (138 USD). So I got a black and a blue pinstriped suit and matching shirts. And I am using them for interviews here soon. What better way to discuss China than by saying, “Oh yes! I just got back; see this suit is tailor made from China!”
Besides suit buying I was able to see Shanghai from a traveler’s view, a students view, and from a local perspective.
First, from a traveler’s perspective I was able to see the downtown (Laijizui) district where the Shanghai monument is, where the Expo is going to be, and where I got to see some interesting business sights. I also went to the Bund. This is the bar district, where I got to go to Club 18 (one of the most expensive bars in Shanghai) and Babyface – another high class chain of bars. I will not tell how much drinks were at these places because my mother will probably strangle me through the Internet after reading it ($11 dollar drinks). Whether it is the business scene or the bar scene, the most noticeable aspect of Shanghai is that it is incredibly western. You really feel that is New York City that without native English – or at least fewer.
Second, from a student’s perspective I was able to go check out some local businesses (GE Research center, Nu Skin, and Pacific Star Logistics) as well as study for an exam. The exam ended up being much easier than anyone expected and so the hours of cramming we all did seemed silly afterwards, but we all spent a lot of time getting ready for the darn thing. C’est la vie!
Finally, Shanghai from a local perspective is by far the coolest aspect. As aforementioned, after everyone else flew to Hawaii I was picked up by my friend Terry’s aunt and taken to her apartment. I then met Terry’s Mother, cousin (who he calls sister because they are all single children) and their dogs Xiao Bai (Little White) and Bai Jin Jin (Shiny White) who rival my own dog – sorry Vera – in cuteness. They are “Guibings,” which I found out means they are poodles. After we got settled at his Aunt’s we went out to see different parts of the city, ate at a Japanese restaurant, and generally checked out the city.
The first noticeable thing about living with Terry’s family is that language barriers are the best way to learn a new language. Terry is the only one who can speak strong English in his family and thus my first day with them was horrifying for me. I actually felt homesick because I couldn’t communicate with them. There is a local dialect term “huichi” that roughly translates into “it sucks.” And it did. But the first night was definitely the worst because I didn’t want to try Chinese because my pronunciation was so bad and their conversation was incredibly fast.
After my initial shock I decided that I was either going to swim or die trying. So I started bringing a notebook with me everywhere and writing down every word I could learn from them. In 4 days I filled four pages of this notebook and learned probably a hundred new words. This means that within 4 days I learned approximately 1/6 of everything I learned at Miami in two years of Chinese. Yep, read that again and you will understand why I was scared out of my wits initially.
So anyways, the first night we went out to eat with Auntie’s husband, Auntie, Mama, Jiejie, Terry, Meimei, and myself. There I got to have some more duck tongue (we actually pulled the tongue from the jaw on this one), spicy tofu, chicken guts, and jellyfish. Then we came back and out to some bars in the international district. This wasn’t particularly exciting and it took a solid hour to drive there, but it was fun to hang out and chat with Terry’s family. From all the language struggles my head hurt, and I slept like a baby that night.
The second day I was able to wake up whenever I wanted (which meant I woke at 7:15 and forced myself back to sleep til 8:15 – yeah, lame I know) and got to dictate what I wanted to do. Since I had no idea what to do in Shanghai, I told them “surprise me!” I was first taken to the old town, where I went to a shady little shop and got to buy some Cubans for dirt-cheap and I got to try some Buba Naicha (Bubble milk tea).
From there I rode with Terry’s mother, his cousin, and himself back to Nantong. In the next blog I will take it from there! Until then, Zaijian!
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