Pretty in Pink

I had a good night with the 7 shanghainese people that stayed in my dorm. They spoke good english and even though Shanghai people speak a completely different dialect to what I'm used to hearing I understood their accent well but didn't know 90% of the words they used. One of the girls lived in Sheffield to do her post graduate degree and is one of the few people I've met in China who slows down the speech to the level I require. Even then I have to ask lots of questions in English. I can communicate essential thoughts not too badly but my listening skills are terrible.

I found out what the raw meat was that I had in my first day in Beijing. It's the wrist bone of a pig. Apparently it's a bone that's soft enough to eat. They mix it with pigs ears which gives the chewy element, that will be why it was called wriggly earwig. I managed 2 or 3 bits. I also found out that it wasn't raw pig I was having but the one in Beijing was just cold. It's marginally better when warm but still has a slippery texture when you crunch it. I also joined the chinese equivalent of twitter (weibo) to see the photo they took.

I've found out that the 12th of September is mid autumn festival. Ok, I already knew that but what I didn't know is that it translates to homesick festival. Apparently your meant to go home and see your family. Not having a home is the best method of preventing homesickness. 

From this photo I can see that I definitely need a shave. More importantly I needed clean clothes. I feel sorry for anyone that had to sit next to me. I'd used all my clean clothes and almost all of my clothes that were in the maybe pile. The dryer at the hostel broke and my clothes were hanging out to dry on a tree in the street. Luckily it didn't rain through the night. Carrying my bag to the train station is hard work even with dry clothes. Unfortunately another pair of my boxers went missing, I'm now down to 3. I made the schoolboy error of washing my clothes together. I now have one yellow t-shirt, one red and three pink. I have a pink pair of boxers and a pair of combats with a bit of pink mixed in with the khaki. I have a navy pair of jeans and a beige pair that have a few pink streaks. I think I'm going to stick to washing my clothes by hand.

Shanghai

Shanghai's been different from how I expected. When I arrived at about 8pm the main train station was relatively empty. There were no mad rushes on the subway, I got a seat right away. Despite being a city of 24 million the traffic is much calmer than Taiyuan which has about 5 million I think. The people are very tall and some are overweight. Fast food restaurants are as common as Chinese ones. Height is definitely more about nutrition than genetics although I'm sure genetics plays a part.

I went up the worlds 3rd tallest building which has the worlds highest public observation deck at 470 metres up. the view was phenomenal. I spent hours in the Urban Planning Hall which documents Shanghai's changes over the years and future developments. In 1980 Shanghai didn't have a building over 20 stories tall, now there are several thousand.  The speed of development here is mind blowing and if they plan to do something you can be confident it will get completed. The chinese government makes 5 year economic plans (every 5 years believe it or not). The current 5 year plan emphasises environmental protection and I really like some of the proposed projects to make Shanghai more ecologically friendly.

A panorama from the Huangpu river.

The haze in the photos doesn't do the view justice.

This was all farmland 25 years ago.

Shanghai looks stunning at night. Unfortunately I lost my glasses. The humidity here has been unbelievable. I've felt permanently clammy.  My glasses kept on slipping off every time I looked down the way so took them off while at a bench then forgot about them. They were a faithful companion for the 6 days I had them.

This is the view from Puxi to the Pudong skyline. shanghai is split in two, Puxi and Pudong, xi and Dong mean east and west and Pu refers to the Hangpu river. 

The Chinese were forced to open up to European traders after losing a war back in the 1800's and Shanghai became the Asian centre for European Banking corporations. The banks are congregated on the river on a street known as the Bund which is full of European styled buildings. 

Nanjiing Road at night.

Tea Parties

I got warned from several websites about pretty young girls that wander about the streets chatting up foreigners and inviting them to tea houses which charge thousands for a cup of tea and have big bad bouncers that sort you out if you don't pay. I took this opportunity to practice my Chinese skills. The girls are all really friendly and speak good English so I could chat away to them in Chinese and whenever I got stuck on a word they'd help me out. I learned a lot. They also complimented me for my good looks and told me I look Italian. They may have been hollow compliments but I'm still chuffed to be told I look like an Italian Stallion even if it was said with the aim of taking all my money.

I spent last night having a few beers with an American of Ethiopian descent and a a Scottish girl watching Frankie Boyle videos on Youtube. It was a good laugh. Myself and the Scottish girl are off to Hangzhou. I'm going to buy a cheap tent and camp in Huangshan and beyond.