Day 7
Shanghai Day 2

The bed I slept on was not much better than the floor one bed, but wow the difference in noise allows me to sleep a lot better. This day is my last day in Shanghai. I fly out at night, back to Beijing. We flew in to one airport and we are leaving through a different airport. The one we are leaving from is the domestic airport and the one we came in on was the International airport.

I am not very hungry so I pass on the breakfast in favor of a coffee from the mini-mart. My friend pays for the breakfast because it is no longer free now that we are not on the first floor. We decide that we are going to head to "Shanghai's City God Temple" which is a Buddhist temple. There is some cool shopping around the place and some neat things to see.

We grab a taxi, deciding that we get to see so much more by taxi than in the subway. The place we arrive at looks like the traditional Chinese architecture. As we pull up in the taxi my door is surrounded with people and their wares. I get out and I have to explain that I do not want someone to watch my bags, or a Mao watch, or even a Rolex. How about a T-shirt? Nope just get out of my face. This gets old pretty fast. Plus I am not all that fond of being touched by people.


My friend wants to buy some stuff so we stop in a couple of small shops. I end up buying a couple of things, nothing to write home about. We slowly make our way into the shopping complex that used to be portions of the old temple. The buildings look great and I take lots of pictures of them. I notice what looks like water bubbling out of a manhole cover. I take a picture and then all of a sudden people start washing themselves in it and drinking the water. What the heck.



There is a bridge that has nine turns in it that leads to a tea house. The magical number nine. We make our way across the bridge thinking that the temple part has to be there, nope. It is pretty none the less.


We finally find the temple after directions from three different people. The entrance is hidden right next to where we got out of the taxi. We pay our 10 RMB and enter. Immediately we need to buy Incense so that we can pray. We buy one bundle and I am shown how to pray, well it is not really praying, but more like wishing good on others. I don't pretend to understand Buddhism, but a little wishing people well never hurt anyone.


There are some amazing things in this temple. First off the band starts to crank it up. Wow what a racket. They are banging on everything and screaming, maybe this is Chinese rock 'n roll. We listen for awhile and decide to check the rest of the temple out. There are these tree like structures that have little prayers in them. A person pays a bunch of money or does something really cool and they get to have theirs lit up in the temple. There is also a room that reminds me of the Duvall tavern. Except instead of dirty dollar bills hanging from the ceiling and walls, there are prayers. These prayers are from school children asking for good grades. Maybe this would have helped me in high school. Damn I wish my parents were Buddhist, someone besides myself would have been praying for a miracle during those tests.


The statues are amazing and I am given a story about the different ones. My friend's grandma was a Buddhist and so he had some education when he was younger. He is able to tell me about most of them. It is really interesting how each one symbolizes an emotion or a state of your life. But the general theme seems to be pray for happiness, and except that there will be times when you are not happy. Sounds reasonable.

After we leave the temple we decide to go down town and see the tall buildings. We head to the Bund, which is the water front across from downtown. The weird thing is that the downtown is so huge that it is now across the water to. When we first get out of the taxi we see a nice fountain but as we climb the steps behind it our breath is taken away. The river has a bunch of boats traveling up and down it, but on the other side of the water are the tallest buildings. The Oriental Pearl Radio and TV tower stands out as something special. Next to it are several other impressive buildings. Most notably the JinMao building. It is too bad that it is cloudy because the top of the buildings cannot be seen.


We decide to take the bund Sightseeing tunnel that goes under the river to the other side where the tall buildings are. We purchase a ticket for the Tunnel, JinMao (tall building) and to see the fish swimming. The tunnel sounds really cool, but it ends up being a cheesy light show in a tunnel. When we exit we look around for the where to see the fish. We walk and we walk, we find an aquarium and that is not the place. What the heck. We finally give up and grab some food. The two things that we need to do are go up in the Oriental Pearl and the JinMao building.

The oriental Pearl has three locations in which to view the city. One at 90 meters, one at 263 (863 feet) meters and the top floor of 350 meters. The tower is actually 468 (1535 feet) meters, but because it is a radio tower there is no way for a tourist to get to the top. Of course we buy the tickets to stop at all three floors. This is not only about seeing a cool city, but it is also about going as high as I can in a building. We get out at the 263 meters and take a couple of pictures. Boy it is foggy. I am so excited that I say let’s go to the top right now. So we jump in line to go to the top. We wait 15 minutes and then we head up. We get out of the elevator and guess what; we cannot see a damn thing. All we can see is clouds around us. Bummer. Oh well we are still way high in a cool building. We head back down to 263 and take a bunch of pictures of this great city.


After we finish taking pictures we head to the 90 meter stop and there is some weird playland toys things to try, I am not sure why we paid the extra money for this stupid kiddy crap. I know eleven year olds that would think these things are lame. Oh well we take some more pictures and then head down to the bottom floor.
On the bottom floor, we also have admission to the Shanghai History Museum. You get this when you purchase the uber ticket. We decide to check it out only because there are a bunch of cool cars that we can see. We start to take some pictures and then we realize that this museum is huge and so we just start walking fast through the place. I would have loved to have spent more time in the museum but we needed to see the JinMao and catch our flight back to Beijing. I felt like a flunk out on a field trip to a museum the way we cruised through the place. Here are some of the pictures we took on our flight through the museum.


We grab a taxi and head to the JinMao. This is called a building and the Oriental Pearl is called a tower. The distinction is subtle, but it is used to classify the fact that the Oriental Pearl is the highest tower in Asia and the third highest tower in the world. The JinMao is the 4th tallest building in the world at 420.5 meters (1380 feet). The cool thing is that you get to go to the top of a building unlike a tower. The JinMao also looks pretty cool. We are not as excited because we know that we will not be able to see much, but still we are going up in the 4th tallest building in the world. As a side note, I have been in the third tallest in Chicago. At the top we, of course, do not see much. I notice something strange, there is a building being built next to us. I stare at it and then suddenly a clearing, this building going up next to us is even taller. Wow. The way I noticed it was something was descending out of the clouds right next to us. We never did see the top of the building, but we did find out that it will be the tallest building in the world when it is complete. The coolest part about this building was that in the center of the top floor is a view to die for. The center of this hotel is open and on the top floor you can look down through the middle and see the lobby at the bottom. When you are looking down, you sense vertigo because you are lying on the window and looking straight down. It was really cool and well worth the trip up.


We have a couple of minutes to spare so we have some fresh squeezed juice and relax for a few minutes. We then decide to check out a shop next to us and then head to the airport. I take some pictures of the cool bridge on the way to the airport.


The airport is pretty straight forward, and the flight is comfortable. Although I think the seats are a little close together. My knees touch the seat in front of me and I am lucky that the old lady in front of me does not recline her seat. The Chinese are very funny about lines and rules. As soon as we land everyone turns on their cell phones and makes calls. Their seat belts go off and even before we have parked, people are taking their luggage down and lining up to get off the plane. They try and shove me around so they can make their way up the aisle, but I have an old lady to protect so I push back. I hear some grumbling in Chinese so I turn around, and for the first time nobody is staring at me. I am now back in Beijing and I can smell the air again.

Day 6
Shanghai Day 2

Not much sleep was had. I woke up to people waiting for the bus outside my room. Good thing I pulled the blinds. That would stop someone from coming in. I bet they have no idea someone is trying to sleep, otherwise they probably would be a lot quieter. At least with this room there is a free breakfast. I take advantage of the Chinese buffet. I have to say that a Chinese breakfast tastes a lot like a Chinese dinner. I grab some weird vegetable dishes and burn a couple pieces of toast. No matter I slather them with butter and jam. The coffee tastes a lot like burnt tea.


My writing has a pretty negative tone, but actually I was in very good spirits. I was so excited to see Shanghai. I decide to run across the street to the local mini-mart and get some canned coffee, I remember rating that one as a 4. While there I notice that there are no hotdogs rolling around or nacho cheese pumps. But they do have some weird bean curd things keeping warm in oil. Maybe I should try one, they look good and the locales are buying them. Wait I remember my hotel bathroom, better stay away. I guess I cannot be Chinese in that way right now.


My friend and I start walking. We are on our way to the Shanghai office, but we really have no idea where it is. We start calling the office and we get directions. Of course we get lost and call back. We talk to another admin and apparently as nice as the first person we talk to was; she has only been in Shanghai for two weeks and she sent us in the wrong direction. We try for 25 minutes to get a taxi, but we keep on getting scooped by the locales. Time to test out the new Shanghai subway. This subway is so much faster than the one in Beijing. You really need to hold on to something because the lurch at the beginning and the stop is pretty hard. I caught one passenger as she fell into me.


When we pop out of the subway after two stops we are again lost. We call and the admin walks us to the office. The meetings go great, the people are very friendly and wow are they smart. Plus their English is great. Man the good 'ol USA is in for some trouble if there are a bunch of people like this in China.

It is decided that we must go to lunch. My friend asks that it not be a traditional Chinese place. Our new found friend says he has just the place. We jump in a taxi and head off to a place called "Tasty" or dianping I am not sure but it was really good. It only cost 98 RMB or about $14 per person, and it was an eight course meal (I think I got 10 things, remember they are on the metric system so everything is different) Just look at the food:


As we eat, it is bugging me why there are so many kids out and about. I ask our guide about it and he says that it is China Children day. The parents take their kid out and spoil them rotten. The kids get to buy toys and eat in fancy restaurants. All of the kids are dressed up and their fancy clothes. It is kind of fun watching them walk/run around. Kids are annoying in any language though. Plus since I look so weird they would run up to our table and stare at me. Man I must look like a freak. It turns out that they love my red beard. Later I am asked how I get my beard to be that color. I laugh and say "get some Irish ancestors". Okay so it sounds lame, but the Chinese women I told it to loved it.

Lunch was awesome and now our guide wants to show us around Shanghai. He especially wants to show us a couple of shopping places. The first stop is another first class mall. This place is huge. Five or six stories and as big as a US mall on every floor. We head to the top and he shows us some expensive Chinese art so that we have an idea of what not to pay the local vendors when we are at a market. Apparently my company also has an office here in this mall, but in the business tower.


Okay so that was cool, but it gets better. Our guide and new best friend then takes us to an electronic mall. Yes a whole mall full of just electronics. None of that clothing or shoes crap, and especially none of those stinky perfume stores. Just good ol' fashioned stuff that takes electricity. I am absolutely blown away. Everything is here. I vow to come back. Unfortunately we do come back later and most of it is closed. But I browsed for awhile and I have some new ideas for my birthday that is coming up.


We have to get back to work, enough of this playing hooky. We go back talk business and then call it a day. My friend and I head back to the hotel to get an upgrade on our room. Sure enough we end up on the 4th floor, with a bigger room by at least two feet (now I can walk on 3 sides of my bed). We put on shorts, even though it has been raining, it is still hot. My friend wants to go to this night street and check it out.

We take the speedy subway. We actually have to push our way into the car. There is no room, but we make room by squishing women, children and old people. Good thing we are only going 5 stops. The street turns out to be pretty cool. We start out walking down the street with some daylight left, but as we check out the stores lights start to come on, on the buildings. We dash into a coffee house called UBC, to wait for nightfall and to get off our weary feet.


The coffee is good. We discuss how cool Shanghai is and then we notice that night has fallen and the town has lit up. As we leave and start walking down the street, I am asked if I want... well everything would be the best way to put it. You name it and I was asked. I declined all offers and spent my time taking pictures of the scenery.



We are starting to get hungry and all of the lost kids are starting to drag on us. We decide to head to the malls we saw earlier. My friend is hungry and he spots a Sushi place. Mmmm good stuff man. We stack our empty plates high, I try some new things and so does he. The conveyor belt-like thing is probably the best marketing gimmick ever. The electronics mall is closed so we decide to head back to the hotel and cry ourselves to sleep. Tomorrow will be a great day. But unfortunately we will also have to leave Shanghai to head back to Beijing.

Day 5

I am going to try and catch up on the blogging that I have not been able to get to. I was not able to take my laptop to Shanghai, and so my blogging stopped.

Day 5 started out with a taxi ride to the office. We survived, but I think that the cage around this taxi driver attested to him being beat by someone previously for his crappy driving. Check this paranoia out:


Work was especially hectic. They knew that I was flying out to Shanghai and so they had a bunch of questions for me before I could leave. I did not even get a chance to look at my email. This was not good because I had to leave my laptop behind, I did not have permission to take my laptop into the Shanghai office and my hotel in Shanghai does not have Internet. The team brought me lunch, which was real nice of them. I felt a ton better, but I was not ready for more Chinese food, but I ate it anyway.

I was still answering questions as I was walking out to get a taxi to the airport.

The airport was pretty uneventful. We boarded out plane, which was not as nice as the international flight. I was riding coach with the rest of the common folk. What the hell am I talking about. I am common folk, I normally ride in the back, I was just privileged on the way across the pacific. The flight took about 2.5 hours. One meal was served, more Chinese food. Don't these guys eat anything else?

Arriving in Shanghai I immediately notice how much newer everything seems. The airport is very modern with fancy name brands and shiny lights.


I am pretty excited, there is a Maglev Train here that goes 431 km/h (268 mph). It was the first one for commercial use. I have never gone this fast before on land. We spend the extra 50 RMB to sit in the VIP car. What the heck I deserve it. The chairs are comfy and nobody else paid the extra money. We get the whole car to ourselves. The first thing we notice is that there are no seat belts. I was expecting that safety would be a concern. As the train started to take off, it was a very smooth start and just some small jostling around. We could feel the acceleration, but it was not like a roller coaster. We quickly get up to 301 km/h and we max out. What the heck I want to go faster. Max this damn thing out. That is as fast as it gets going. After we depart we ask about it and that is the max speed at night, during the day it gets up to 431 km/h. Bummer, oh well it was still way fun and well worth the money. I recommend it to anybody.


After the train we grab a taxi and head off to our Hotel. This hotel is rated at a three star. I am excited to see this place, my company did not set this hotel up, it is something my friend setup. The payment is coming out of my wallet and I will expense it later. No need to blow through all of my money on a nice hotel. Maybe I should re-think that. My room is on the ground floor next to a very busy alley. The hallway outside my door is also a shortcut for the locales to get to the other side of the block. No carpeting makes all of the noises echo throughout my room. Not to mention that the room has a bed, and a small bathroom. There is not much room for anything else. But hey there is air conditioning up in the corner... ahh luxury.

At least there is a toilet and not a hole in the ground. But the bed is as hard as a sheet of plywood. I stood on the bed and took a picture to show you how much I did not sink in. I think a bowling ball dropped on this might break. I am tired, bed sounds good, and I am looking forward to it.

Trying Local Stuff

Just for fun I have been purchasing things at the stores that I would not be able to find at home. So far it has been drinks, but maybe I will try some candy or something fun like that. I then rate the product, giving it a score of 1 to 5.
1 being I could/did not finish it.
2 I am glad that I tried it.
3 being that I probably would not purchase it again.
4 I will and want to purchase it again.
5 I will be bringing some home with me.

You can see the pictures and ratings here:

Chinese Food Ratings