Shanghai

Hi everyone!

So I know I'm a little late posting another blog and I know I went to Shanghai last weekend, but this week has been crazy. We are preparing for our midterm in the class, which is really a semester final back at UF. We are finished with Fall of Intermediate Chinese 1 and will begin Int. Chinese 2 on Tuesday. I hope all is well in your corner of the world! Here is my paper for class on Shanghai, hope you enjoy it, it was definately just a tweaking of what I sent my parents on email! Love to all and I miss you!

This weekend (13 June 2008) we traveled to Shanghai. However, before we left Beijing, we had a grand adventure getting to the Railway station. First off, we were all required to find the railway station in Beijing on our own, which wouldn't have been too bad, if there was not a MONSOON (exaggerating a little) on Friday afternoon when we needed to leave! We were told to leave the dorm by 5:30 Friday afternoon in order to have enough time to travel to the Railway station. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find any cabs by our university dorm or on the road outside of it, so we ended up walking 20-30 minutes to Wudaokou, which is the nearest subway stop. As we walked, the rain got harder and harder and the wind was blowing, so any attempt at an umbrella was pointless. I had on my rain jacket, which did little good; by the time we arrived at the subway, my feet (in tennis shoes) had been completely submerged in rain water, and I was soaking wet.

By the time we reached the subway, we all got separated and broken into smaller groups. When we stopped on the subway to switch lines again, we discovered (only through one of the girls on our program who happened to be in my group and is a fourth year student) that the stop we needed to get off at for the Railway station was closed. We frantically tried to text everyone to let them know about the changes.

We finally arrived at the stop before the railway station, and all the cabs, because it was raining, were charging an exorbitant fee to go three blocks to the railway station. By now it was close to 7 pm (we had to meet at 7 pm and our train left at 8:14 pm). So, we decided to walk yet again to the Railway station. Our small group finally got to the destination and found our meeting place (with some effort). Unfortunately, Hellen, our director who was going with us, was not there yet, nor was the majority of the group. After finally finding all the others, we literally ran to the platform, loading onto the train with three minutes to spare. We were all dirty and later discovered that all our clothes, even the ones in our bags, were soaked. It was a great start to our weekend.

On the train, we had hard sleeper cars, which means we had six beds to a room. Also, we were not able to get all six beds in each room, so we were spread around between two cars. On the way to Shanghai, a friend and I were in a car with four Chinese men. We arrived 13 hours later and immediately set off on a tour bus to go site-seeing.

We went to the top of the Shanghai Pearl Tower, which really isn't a pearl tower, but a TV station. The tower is the tallest building in Asia. It was raining, but we had a great aerial view of the city and the surrounding areas. We then traveled to the Bund, which is a riverside walkway. Along the walk, there were street vendors selling kites, watches and other souvenir goods. Next, we went to a small tea house and had a private tea ceremony. We got to try Green Tea, Flower Tea, Jasmine Tea, Black Tea and Ginseng Tea. I think green tea, not in a bag, taste so different and so much better. I drink green tea daily, so I enjoyed learning more about the differences between bag tea (which is what I typically drink) and fresh green tea leaves. I didn't buy any tea at the house due to the high prices for tourists, but would like to get some before I go back to the United States.

After lunch we traveled to the Old Shanghai street, which I had the opportunity to peruse when I came two years ago. I made many purchases there previously and was excited to see the area again. Regrettably, we were quickly led through the street, leaving no time to stop and shop. Our tour guide took us to the park on the other side of the street. After the park, we were finally able to return to the hotel and get a quick shower before heading to dinner.

On Saturday night, we had the option to go see an Acrobatic show. Having been to the same show before, I didn't have to go again, but was glad when many of my friends decided to see it. The show is fantastic and almost exactly as I remembered.

On Sunday, we went to ZhuJiaJiao, which is an old village outside of the city. There were many people at the entrance selling small goldfish. It is tradition to make a wish and release the fish back into the water. Many of our group purchased some and made a wish. The water along the village was filled with gondolas, reminding me of Venice, Italy. Locals milled around the streets, selling food, playing Chinese chess and sewing clothes. I enjoyed seeing an authentic village in China and seeing how people live daily outside of urban life.

We enjoyed a Mongolian BBQ for lunch. This style of eating is a unique experience. Set like a buffet, you can select whatever meats, vegetables and sauces you prefer. After filling your bowl, you take it to the chef, who throws it all on a circular skillet table to cook the food. I enjoyed the food and liked the light flavors of the dish.

Our tour bus then headed to the Jade Temple. My friend and I skipped the temple to get some shopping done, since we were only going to have one hour of free time before dinner. Getting a little lost, we got to walk along the streets in Shanghai. Our trip was concluded with dinner before heading back to the train station. This time we had more than an hour before the train left and were able to relax some before boarding. Again, our group was split between two cars. Completely exhausted, we slept all the way to Beijing. The weekend was a great taste of the city, but I felt, as did many others, that more time was needed in order to truly see the city. Shanghai is home to many museums and an aquarium, as well as many other attractions that we didn’t have time to see. I would like to go back and spend more time in Shanghai.