Shanghai Day 1

After a mega long flight that started with a 5 a.m. trip to Los Angeles and ended with a 6 p.m. landing at the hotel, we got to China. I can’t believe sitting in one place is so exhausting, but we’re here! Mental note to self: check out melatonin next time. Long flights are so tedious. I feel like a little kid being all “are we there yet?” but 16 hours sitting next to a smelly fat man really made me wish I’d dragged the husband along. If anything, we could cuddle, right?

First thoughts about Shanghai – oh my goodness it. Is. cold. I’m officially a California girl because I was blown away by the 30-degree temps. Also, I was beyond stoked that our hotel has a giant bathtub.

It is about an hour taxi ride from the airport to the hotel, and it cost about $160 RMB. I think it is almost $1 to 7 RMB, so that would work out to be about $75. Good thing we split it three ways.

In our tired jet-lagged state, but still trying to be in the spirit of China we avoided Pizza Hut, Burger King and McDonalds – all options at the mall by our hotel – and got rice bowls. They were OK – tasted like they dumped black pepper on some gristly meat – and then I asked the server where to clear our plates. She yelled at me in Chinese and then another lady came over and yelled at us in Chinese.

So we didn’t bother to clear our plates. We just left.

Wednesday was our only day devoted to tourist stuff and so post-breakfast and being yelled at in Chinese again (I was trying to specify that I wanted water with lemon, not lemon tea) we took a bus tour that seemed to be the “top things tourists see in Shanghai,” plus a silk factory. First we climbed (alright, elevator-ed) the third tallest building in the world, the World Financial Center. Do this. For one, you get bragging rights because it is very high. And second, it was a good way to see the city and figure things out. I’m sure it would be totally different at night. Make sure you go to the observation deck with the glass floor.

Or you can go across the street to the Jinmao Tower, where they have the fastest elevator in the world,* to their observation deck. We opted for tallest building versus fastest elevator.

Then the Bund. This is the promenade by the river that divides the old and new parts of town. Interesting to stand in the middle. We’ll definitely be coming back here. It reminded me a little of walking along the Seine in Paris or the Embarcadero in San Diego. Just something you do that almost instantly gives you a feel for the city.

I cartwheeled there, crossing off something on my 2011 list already.

We ate lunch at a random hotel. I have no idea how these tour guides pick these places to eat but there were a lot of other tourists there. The food was actually decent. I went to China in 2005 and lived on white rice and watermelon so I am determined to embrace the cuisine here. I am happy to report that I tried almost everything. Mom, you’ll be happy to note that they still served watermelon as “dessert.”

Then it was the Jade Buddha Temple. This place seemed straight out of a movie. We kept saying that we expected a Hollywood worthy fight to come tumbling out onto the plaza where all sorts of people were praying and burning incense. They get very into their worship. Seeing all of the different Buddhas was interesting, and I thought of putting some money in and saying a prayer, like I did at the cathedrals in Paris – but then I realized that was idol worship. So I didn’t.

Of course we went to a silk factory, basically a demo of how they make silk, and then I’m pretty sure that the tour guide gets a commission. She was very into her sell.

The final point on the tour was this amazing garden, but I am not sure of the name. Totally a place I’d go if I lived there though. If I remember the story right, a scholar built it for his parents, but it took 20 years and by the time he finished, his parents had died. Sad, no? A lovely place to think though. I’m sure his parents appreciated the effort.

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Dinner was at a place called “Noble” that our professor recommended. I love the random English words. I ate pork stomach. The skin was tough but the inside was like a thick piece of bacon. Yes to the dress, it was yummy. I’ve vowed to be more adventurous. Next step is hot pots – though I’m a little wary after reading this article.

And after a day like today, I’m officially exhausted. But I shall leave you with a picture of the bathroom I had to use today. Not the toilet, which was a squatting apparatus, but the timer outside the doors. I’d never seen anything like it.

*after taking this tour, apparently Shanghai has the best of everything “in the world” and because I can’t really check anything on the Internet, I’m buying it for now.