China - Last Days

20 October, Pacific Hotel, People's Square, Shanghai

Shanghai's Bund is the city's old waterfront. Lined with late 19^th century and early 20^th century buildings, it is another of the iconic Chinese sights.

We wandered out of our hotel this morning and took a nice coffee and breakfast entertained by locals practising their ballroom dancing moves on the street at the top of the Nanjing Road pedestrian mall. As we sauntered along with the usual throng heading down to the Bund, we could have been in Paris, Vienna or Prague. All the big brands were there, plus many more Asian up-market stores we haven't seen before. But just wait for them!

 

 

Down at the Bund, the river was empty and the view across to the commercial heart of the city was fantastic. We did the Sunday morning Bund stroll with the well-heeled locals and larger numbers of foreigners than we experienced in Beijing.

Just as we were about to head off, a convoy of barges turned into our reach of the river. Obviously they have specific times to travel on the river. What were they hauling? Yep coal, all the way from Australia. We waited for 30 minutes or so for a good photo and they kept coming, more than fifty by the time we left.

 Our other targets for the day were a couple of older areas of the city. Tianzifang is an area of narrow lanes and streets that represent what large parts of the city were like well into the 1970's. Again, the need to maintain the area is supported by commerce. German bars, British pubs and European food outlets mix with Chinese shops selling mostly to the local and foreign tourist market. All the same, the area still has an authentic feel and it was miles more interesting than the other area we visited in the French Concession area, Xintiandi, which was purely European, a place for expats and locals seeking a Western experience.

We actually found more local colour wandering about looking for an antique market. The back streets of some parts of Shanghai still provide some authentic old city vistas, but you have to wear out some shoe leather to find them.

 

As the afternoon wore on, more and more locals hit the streets. The atmosphere was much like big cities everywhere. Where were we? Sometimes it was hard to tell this afternoon. As the number of people on the streets grow, the power balance between the cars, buses and bikes and pedestrians swings in our favour. As numbers build up at crossings, the crowds edge forward, progressively blocking off the vehicular traffic. Once the 'people flood' starts, that's it, traffic just stops and the roads are ours! When we don't have the numbers, the lights and pedestrian crossings don't mean much. You have to bluff or just wait. We have been to South-east Asia. We can bluff with the best of them!

Oh, by the way, the TV just reminded us that Shanghai has a Hooters Bar!

 

21 October, Pacific Hotel, Shanghai.

Last full day in Shanghai and China. What can we say, but WOW!

 Took another walk down Nanjing Road to the Bund this morning after another coffee and pastry while entertained by the Chinese version of Dancing With the Stars, well the old stars. These oldies meet every day on this corner and trip the light fantastic. Some of them are very good. Others are just in for the company.

The Chinese are nowhere near as easy to engage as the Vietnamese, Cambodians or Laotians, all of whom are up for a chat anytime. But from time to time you get to connect and share a laugh or a photo opportunity. These are confident people who don't feel the need to interact with the few Westerners who roam their streets. And why should they? When we reflect on what happens at home, it is a bit rich to expect a warm welcome from everybody you meet. On Australian streets, travellers from foreign lands are generally simply ignored.

Smog closed in as the morning drew on and by the time we took the ferry from the Bund (AUD$0.30) across the Huangpu River to Pudong, visibility was poor but not as bad as some days in Beijing. On a clear day, this would be one of the great value river crossings in the world. On one bank the 19^th century buildings of the Bund; on the Pudong side, one of the most spectacular skylines in the world. The riverside walk on the Pudong side of the Huangpu was almost deserted as this is the commercial heart of the city and except for lunch time, things are fairly quiet on the street. It was low tide as we enjoyed the rare solitude. Interestingly, the exposed muddy river flats were near spotless, as is most of the city.

The Oriental Pearl Tower  is an iconic Shanghai landmark. A trip up the tower would have been a bit of a waste on a hazy day like today, so we opted for the Shanghai History Museum in the basement of the tower. As with everything here in China, it was extremely well done and, for us, informative and interesting.

 

 

This narrative has skipped over many of the places we have visited in both Beijing and Shanghai, but be assured we haven't missed much, as we walk as much as reasonably possible. We have seen a lot of places most travellers or tourists miss, although this might be as a result of getting lost, often, despite the use of our faithful Samsung and its GPS linked maps. The following comments are based on experiences most visitors to China don't have.

 

China in Review

Guess the first thing that comes to mind is an unlikely meeting with a couple of European travellers we met a few years back in Sapa in the north of Vietnam, close to the Chinese border. These guys had just crossed over from China and they were staggered with the difference between China and Vietnam. To them China was just so developed in comparison. It stuck in our minds, because we had an image of China as much the same as Vietnam. Wrong!

Sure, Beijing and Shanghai are not representative of all China, but from what we have seen, including a 1500 km train trip between the two cities, this place is just amazing. We are no wide-eyed novices. We have been around a bit. Most of Beijing and virtually all of Shanghai is as developed as any Western city we have visited. Beijing is more traditional Chinese in its ways. Shanghai is very Western, more cosmopolitan, sophisticated and progressive.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese have moved into the middle class and tens of millions into the upper middle class, Hundreds of millions more will achieve dramatically increased standards of living in the very near future. What this all means for China and the rest of the world, who can tell?

 

22 October Pudong International Airport, Shanghai

 Postscript

 Standing on the queue this morning outside the Shanghai Museum, we recalled some of the things that probably are not to love about China. Queues are a bit of an issue in themselves, but even more of an annoyance is the behaviour of some Chinese people in queues. Queue-jumping is endemic in China, at least the parts we visited and, generally, tolerated by the locals. In Shanghai the odd voice is sometimes raised in protest - not that it makes much difference. An allied niggle is the constant pushing. Waiting to cross at the lights, getting in and out of doors, mounting escalators, it seems that every Chinese just has to be at the front of the line, first in or first off as the case may be. Universal subway etiquette is that exiting passengers go first while those entering stand aside. Not in China. Getting off a subway train is a bit like a rolling maul in Rugby, bind tight, head down and barge forward. All this might reasonably be attributed to the crowded nature of the mega Chinese cities, but it quickly becomes tiresome.

Spitting in the streets and even on the floors of restaurants is something we Westerners just can't come to grips with. To be fair, the habit is far from universal and some have learned to walk to the nearest rubbish bin to let loose. But, the pre-spit hawking, getting it all up from the toes, is still stomach-retching. Chinese mobile phones must have very poor microphones if the way people yell into them is any indication. Yelling at each other in public places is also widely practised. Finally, the tendency for every slightly secluded corner to double as a urinal warrants special mention. At times the smells in some subway entrances or underpasses can bring tears to the eyes. We have extended our lung capacity greatly by holding our breath and bolting through the offending area at top pace.

 As for the squat toilets, AND for those western toilets used as squats … enough said.

All that being said, for those considering a trip to China, just do it. The minor annoyances fade  to insignificance in the light of the truly unique experiences that await the visitor to China. For the experienced independent traveller, it is a breeze. Even for the novice it is easily achievable. Expect good value for money but China isn't a cheap destination by Asian standards.

 We will be back next year to see some more of China and take the China-Mongolia railway up into Siberia to connect with the Trans-Siberian Railway through to Moscow and St Petersburg.

The greatest adventures are always

ahead.