Shanghai, China

Dear lovely reader,

Welcome to my findings of Shanghai, China.  I spent only two days in mainland China – more like one and a half. I wish I had more days to spend in Shanghai, but I can never forget what I did in a country, no matter if time is working against me. You learn to appreciate every day that I am on the ship, and even more every day I am on land. I found out how much different China is compared to Japan. And different neither good nor bad way – just different. Once again, I felt that tingling fresh port feeling again. We represent such a small population when we enter all these countries. I think I’m finally getting better at explaining that tingling fresh port feeling. To immerse yourself in a country, sink into the hearts of the country with the locals, it is so surreal. Weather in Shanghai was a lot like weather in Kobe – nippy enough to wear your winter jacket. Shanghai will be the last port we will experience such cold weather.

Day 1 of Shanghai:

Almost all the locals speak Mandarin and know little to no English at all. But with the help of Angela and Cindy, we were able to meet two locals, who were kind enough to let us follow them to People’s Square. Think of it almost as Times Square with the highly dense crowds and side street shops and restaurants. Within People’s Square, I set out to visit Shanghai’s Urban Planning Exhibition Center. The Exhibition Center is a six-story building which display’s Shanghai’s urban planning and development. But in my opinion, one of the coolest focuses of the exhibit is a large scale model of the entirety of urban Shanghai, showing existing buildings and approved future buildings. I recently had taken Professor Mazumdar’s Environmental Design course at UCI where one of our projects was to design a small scale model. It was incredible to see what features each house had, both inside and outside. Taking about half an hour to soak up the entire huge scale model from every angle, I saw the amazing design and intricate details in every single building. Shanghai completely blew me out of the water with how successfully urbanized it has become since the 1930s. What I loved about the Exhibition Center was that displays the past, present, and future of Shanghai. The Bund, a waterfront area in central Shanghai, especially has developed beautifully over the years. We don’t have many urban planning exhibitions in the States, or not that I know of. That’s why seeing this exhibition was so thrilling. It just helped manifest all my feelings about cities all in one place. In the museum, we had also met these two travelers from Australia, who were very kind enough to tell us how there’s so much to see in Shanghai, and also in Cape Town, South Africa. What is so wonderful about travelling is that you’re fascinated every time you see someone, and meet someone. And especially when you meet someone who speaks English, who befriends you, talks to you just for a brief moment; it’s always great when you cross paths with them, knowing that you can only cross paths if you keep travelling.

I know what every voyager is thinking in the back of their heads when they enter China. Two words – knock offs. Grey’s Anatomy Season 2 for 40 yuan. Two mp3 players for 60 yuan. Beats by Dr. Dre for 70 yuan. When I think more about it, I felt guilty for being too materialistic in China. When you think about it the difference between 30 yuan and 40 yuan is a little more than a dollar. And I know buying knock offs is supposed to get you better and better at bargaining. But shopping for goods that are cheaper in a foreign country shouldn’t be your priority. I think it was a little bit in Shanghai because the city is so commercialized and the thought of saving money excites anyone. The business and commercial districts of Shanghai didn’t necessarily take away from the cultural aspects of China. A misconception of culture is that culture needs to be associated with history. But culture could be anywhere in a foreign country, in the country, in the people, anywhere – you just have to look for it. I think what was a mistake on my part was that I didn’t seek out the “culture” of Shanghai. It was mostly finding out where to shop, where to eat, and where to drink. But having this be our third port, I’m learning that every port will be a completely different experience. Japan was just so memorably beautiful. I think it was because culture was just oozing everywhere. But here in China, everything happens so quickly, you can’t help but move fast-paced as well. When you’re travelling, time will be the most precious thing you can have as well as the biggest enemy that will challenge you.

Cindy’s very good friend, Marie, was sweet enough to escort us that last night. I think you’ll find a lot of bars and clubs in China that have expensive drinks. So the best rule applies to foreign countries too, especially if you want to save money: Buy and drink a couple of drinks and chasers at a convenience store before you enter the bars and clubs. It helps! We first met Marie at a fancy dancy hotel in Shanghai, which her aunt owns… BALLIN’!! The view from any room in the hotel is gorgeous – especially in the nighttime. You can see all the beautiful lights and skyscrapers while you’re showering or bathing, with windows tinted on the outside of course. We ran into some voyagers at one club but wanted to leave because someone attempted to roofie one of our girls. Sad to report, but some of our voyagers do get roofied unless they are not careful enough. So another traveler’s tip at bars: Keep eyes on your drinks from the time they make it to the time it lays on the table. Also, it’s better to use cash rather than cards at the bars. You never know if they’ll attempt to charge you for something you didn’t buy. But all in all, I had a great first night in Shanghai. The second club we went to had an empty dance floor before we took it over. And before we knew it, there were more and more locals getting up from their chairs.

Day 2 of Shanghai:

We spent a lot of our time on the second day going around different shopping areas and down towns where you could feel the Chinese New Year electrifying the streets and people with its decorations and lanterns. We went inside a buffet-style, pick-and-choose dim sum restaurant where we ate as many dumplings and pork buns as we could eat. I think more painful than being full was the fact that we couldn’t eat anymore. T’was so good >.<. The sucky thing is that we can’t bring any food on the ship unless it’s sealed and packaged. That includes fruit, opened bags of chips, and dim sum haha. But all the more to eat as much as you can right? I apologize for not filling up the second day of Shanghai with as many details. I’m becoming so behind in blogging as I’ve just finished my days in Saigon, Vietnam. However I’m determined to add as many blogs as I can before I head to Singapore. Next blog, is Hong Kong!! Thank you for reading!

All love and hope,

Kimmy

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”  --Maya Angelou