Saying goodbye is always hard, and it was no different this time saying goodbye to my family before leaving Auckland for Shanghai. I had booked on our national carrier, Air New Zealand for the eleven-hour flight to Shanghai in China. It was a good flight; I scored three seats together so I made full use of them for the overnight flight, so appreciated. The flight was extremely full; I think I was one of about three people that had three seats to themselves. Shanghai is going to be a fascinating stop.
Arriving into Shanghai was fascinating from the air, and before long, we had landed and very quickly through passport and customs areas. thankfully, the visa was in order. The people seem very friendly and helpful; one young man carried my bag up three flights of stairs at the train station. I did manage to keep up as well! The metro was breathing room only, but I made the stop I wanted after two changes of trains once I cottoned on to the announcements all in Chinese.
The taxi ride to the hostel was my first experience of bargaining. Unfortunately, for him I knew where the price was likely to be! The hostel was located down a side street, a pervading smell of sewerage obvious, but at least it was well away from the traffic noise. I found that smell to be quite common in the Chinese cities I visited. The hostel turned out to be more like a hotel with a swipe card and ensuite. Prices were cheap enough to have a twin room to myself, a pity the Wifi did not work in the room but then it did not really matter.
Then it is out to find something to eat and plan the next couple of days. Phone does not appear to be on roaming, I suspect it something I should have set up before leaving but not too worried about that.
Interesting, shopping expedition checked out one or two food stalls, but still trying to raise the courage to try some of it. Supermarket shopping has dead stuff I do not know the name of but displays of dead chooks and ducks with feet / heads still attached a little off putting! On the other hand, a meal combo at McDonalds of a double cheeseburger fries and coke was $2.80, which will help to keep the food budget under NZ$20 a day. Shanghai traffic is amazing, very loud with everyone’s horns going, people, bikes, scooters and brave or is it stupid pedestrians everywhere. It appeared to be total chaos at a fast speed in my eyes. Traffic police needed big time, I saw the odd difference of opinion, and they tend to be loud! NZ traffic is very sedate after watching this unbelievable scene! Strangely it was just a short time before I too, took to crossing the roads with a certain amount of bravado, and trepidation.
Next day a free Chinese breakfast was available at the hostel before heading out for the day on a tour. The first try of dumplings gave me concern for the waistline!
Bed in the hostel is like sleeping on concrete. I have made it a little more comfortable by raiding the other bed in the room, I knew beds were going to be hard so was expecting something along those lines but certainly not so character building.
I had the opportunity to sample a tea ceremony and wouldn’t you know it the elevator was out of order so four floors to climb by staircase:) A most interesting look at another aspect of the Chinese culture. The tearoom was within walking distance of the Yu gardens and set four floors above which gave outstanding views across the adjacent buildings
We were privileged to see and hear the Buddhist monks in full dress and chanting, with the rather heady smell of incense everywhere , the jingle of coins in the prayer stations in front of huge Buddha while on the tour and of course the Bund. Nobody seems to live in houses there are just huge apartment blocks everywhere , the cars are up market, VW’s ,Audi, peugeot etc but there are poor with their bikes with trailers on some so over loaded as to be a traffic hazard but nobody cares!
I hate to say it but Maccas food looks like becoming a staple! Cheap and everywhere, no senior coffees though The Yuan is worth less than 20 cents so five to our dollar are easy to work out. Did try the Chinese version of a beef wrap but it appeared to have something pink and much like spam but very pink, sad lettuce and plenty of mayo. I was starving so had to have something just tried not to look at what I was eating 🙂
I finally discovered the first of the many squat toilets to come at the train station. First one I walked into had a pile of faeces on the marble floor; somebody had obviously missed the hole! They are big on marble floors in some stations. Light bulb moment, try disabled, and eureka, a western toilet and that seemed to be the case in all the stations, so I have cracked that. The only problem with the disabled toilets is the doors do not appear to be lockable, or maybe it was just the particular toilets there.
I traveled to a place called Suzhou, famous for its water gardens and villages. The train covered 100 kms in just 20 minutes. A lot of the time doing over 300 kms an hour, fast and very smooth all for the price of $6! I bought the ticket and had to fish out my passport and money from my Velcro pocket in the tank top. Any pickpocket would have considerable difficulty in reaching the money.
The new station at Suzhou was a bit confusing as it was still under construction.
The Chinese are very patient and friendly the queues you would not believe, about 10/12 booths with at least 20/30 people in front of each, and then there is me. European and my grey hair standing out like a sore thumb! I know they are fascinated; I do not have to speak the language! on the other hand, whether it is just that I am in summer clothes and they dressed for winter!
Intriguing was the sight of a little boy around 18 months old, with a lovely suit on but no crutch leaving his little bottom open to the elements obviously saving on nappies 🙂
I had a Chinese girl try attaching herself to me to practice English, just could not get rid of her, finally jumped on a train when she was not looking. I am sure she was harmless but I will never know.
