First Day in Shanghai

Before leaving for Shanghai I stopped into Powell’s Book Store with a friend. I was extolling her on the wisdom of Siddhartha: when I finished raving and rambling she decided to buy the book. So here I was in Powell’s, a place that is near impossible to leave without buying a book, and I see the brand new, shiny and bright, Lost on Planet China sitting in the best-seller rack. Being rather bored of travel books (ie lonely planet) this book fit my criteria of being about China and also engagingly written. Powell’s worked its magic and we both left with new reading material.

This book was my plane flight reading and between my long naps I would eagerly flip the pages looking for glimpses of what might await. By chapter two the author had expounded thoroughly upon the difficulty of the Chinese language, the horrific pollution, the deadly traffic laws, the frequency of phlegm filled spit flying through the air, public defecation, line cutting, disease, and a host of other concerns. These came in no particular order and each page held a new critique that left wondering what exactly I was doing on a plane to China.

My first evening was a hazy, jet-lagged and uneventful. The school I’m working for is owned by a luxury golf resort (weird huh) and for my first two months I can stay at room at the course for free. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) the resort is more than a hour outside of town . After reading about the horrors of Chinese cities for the past 18 hours I considered staying in my air-conditioned, green and lush, golf course resort. I don’t even golf but, I admit, I was tempted to stay inside and read about how bad China is as opposed to actually experiencing it myself.

Instead I threw the book in my bag, as if I hadn’t had enough, hailed a Taxi and off I went. I arrived in downtown Shanghai and to see a lightly clouded, almost pollution free, blue sky on a comfortable day. I found myself in the old French Concession and it was pleasantly populated, with wide streets that were clean and nice. I met a German friend and a German restaurant and settled down to a Rueben Sandwich and a German beer served by a Chinese waitress wearing a traditional German dress(See pics.) Where is this China I’d been reading about?

We decided to take the Metro the one stop to the very heart of the city, the People’s square. Here I thought for sure I would experience the craziness of overpopulation, the subway to the center of a thriving metropolis of more than 18 million. Yet again, I was surprised. Yes, the car was full, but I’ve been on way crazier crowded trains on Mexico City.

Maybe it was a good day. Maybe the Olympics are cleaning all large Chinese cities for a few weeks. Maybe in 3 weeks it’ll all be over. But I hope not! I’m hoping the China I’ve been reading about is a place I can explore on the weekend and gather a handful crazy tales of eating sheep’s brain and dodging spit. Until then I’m happy to live the Shanghai I found on my first day.