Radicoolous

8.25.10

This morning after bolting out of a jetlagged coma, I knocked on Kevin’s door to see if he was awake. He was and I asked him if he wanted to go see the Bund—the materialistic center of center Shanghai. We found a cab right away which took us over rooftop freeways to a spot on Nanjing Road. This place is like the Time Square meets Union Square of Shanghai. There were so many high end shops and huge billboards selling everything imaginable. The buildings were all built in a colonial style. And even at 5:45am in the morning there were still Chinese tourist crawling around.
We walked to the end of the Nanjing road and found the trademark Chinese colonial buildings consistent with the image of the Bund. We climbed up the stairs and saw the Huangpu River. On the walkway there were hundreds of people exercising and flying kites. There were old folks practicing traditional Chinese exercise methods, people would walk backwards and clap or rhythmically slap their heads. The sun was just coming up and I got some awesome shots of Pudong—the business center.
Kevin and I were hungry and we followed our stomachs away from the river and into the old town. We saw a few street stalls selling doughnuts and omelets with soy milk but Kevin was persistent in finding a sit down eatery. We kept walking and found the Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar which with its oriental architecture looks like something right out of Tintin and the Blue Lotus. Wandering around the place seemed like a bit of tourist trap but we did find the oldest tea house in the city. It was situated in a carp pond in the middle of the bazaar. It was nice because there were very few tourists here at 6:30 in the morning.
Exploring a little more we found a vegetarian restaurant but when we walked in EVERYONE (the place was full) stared at us. I guess we were a little out of place. We skipped out on that place and ended up finding a place that serves steamed buns. At this eatery we had to wait around for ever for the place to open but when they did it was completely worth it. The scaldingly hot buns were filled with a sausage like meat and they were dipped in vinegar and soup broth. They were delicious and we both ate about 20 of them!
Completely stuffed we rolled into a cab. Once again we went on another rooftop freeway, this time we could see more of the city. The buildings were amazing, the architecture exquisite. I feel the way this city looks is only something that pictures (the ones I haven’t really taken yet) can describe. Upon returning to the apartment I crashed into jet-lagged lethargy and fell into a deep sleep for the next three hours.
When I woke I could hear someone in the apartment. To my surprise my Chinese roommate, Song Ning or Marx (his English name) was moving in. He seems like a good guy but until I learn some Chinese there will definitely be a language gap. After he started his laundry him and the friends that he was with took me out to lunch. We ate so much at lunch, about five plates of cooked vegetables, pork, duck, lamb and soup. It was delicious and great to have met some Chinese people.
In the afternoon I stayed in. There was a big thunder storm outside and I watched the rain approach from the West and shower the city. Periodically lightning bolts would strike towers or cranes in the far off distance.
At one point the repairman came to fix the air conditioner and the water cooler. When Kevin was finally able to tell him that our water cooler on spews out warm water I had realized that the function of this water machine was actually to keep water warm—Chinese people don’t enjoy drinking cold beverages.
Later in the evening other people from my program arrived from the States. We ate dinner together in a restaurant close by and carried on some small talk. I retired to my room pretty early.
So far I can say, the language gap is a funny thing. Because I can’t read what anything says I feel like I am a toddler again. Knowing no spoken Chinese makes me feel completely useless and more or less like a tourist.
Another observation I have had was so many American businesses in China have had such poor luck in the States but are prominent here in Asia. These include Ramada hotels, Dairy Queen and the most interesting to me—Buick. It seems that sales of Buick in China alone could save GM’s stock prices.