Day 5: Shanghai

Today was a pretty dreary day. It's been raining pretty much the whole day, and it's a good thing we left Suzhou for Shanghai because apparently it started snowing in Suzhou today. Our guide Mr. Huang was saying how the forecast of snow drove up the price of vegetables in one day because all the wives in the area were in a hurry to stock up on food before it was too late.

The way we've been eating it's like we've been stocking up on food ourselves. The funny thing about this trip is that although we've been eating Chinese food for 5 days straight, each place we eat is almost completely different than the last. Most of the places survive almost 100% on tourist groups meaning their food and attractions can be sometimes be a bit like a sideshow. I think it was the first night that they sang and danced, and today it was chinese food on roller skates. It's like taking your out of town friends to Ed Dibevick's(sp?) and to Sonic(?) and saying this is American food. The food has it's ups and downs but today was the first day we ate at a non-tour group location.

We were at a section of Shanghai that was modeled after a French european area and featured outdoor patios areas and expensive fancy coffee. Too bad Chinese people are cheap and don't like coffee. The place was a bit surreal and was a bit Disneyland-esque. It even had these holiday elf statues that resembled Snap, Crackle, and Pop but sang like Alvin and the Chipmunks. According to Mr. Huang, this place is popular among the european tourists and the Chinese youth. I guess it's their equivalent of Boba shops. The rain and prices kept us from stopping at any of the cafes and ended up at an indoor shopping area at the far end of the promenade. At this point we were just killing time and as we wandered through the mall enjoying being dry, I saw a Ding Tai Fung listing on the directory. I told them about the one in Arcadia and how it was pretty good and people raved about the ones in Taiwan, so my parents wanted to try it. It was fantastic to finally break away from the usual tourist places and finally have food that I was expecting from China. I know this place is a chain and that there's probably a billion better places for Chinese food, but this stuff was like heaven in my mouth after a couple of the places we've visited. The place we ate at the water village actually made me a little nauseous while I was eating it.

Since the Coffee Road stop was kind of a bust because of the rain, Mr. Huang actually took us to a Tea House for a tea ceremony demonstration and for tasting some of the different teas. Out of all the cultural stops we've made, I think this is the one I enjoyed most so far despite the obvious gift store that would follow the ceremony. The explanations of the different teas and the smelling and tasting of hot tea on a cold day was exactly what we needed.

On the way to the Tea House though, the driver actually got lost briefly while trying to make a shortcut through a part of the city which ended up being a part of the slums of Shanghai. This was probably the most interesting part of the day since this was more of the stereotyped view I had of China before I came here. The road was pretty much a single lane that was cramped with shops and stalls that lined the sides. People were walking in the middle of the road blocking the way and at one point there was a bicycle laden with vegetables blocking the road while the owner was haggling with customers. I was watching all of this from behind fogged up windows and was surprised by all the delapidated buildings falling apart while people were still living inside of them. The shops were all selling either food, fresh produce or raw bolts of cloth, since making your clothes is a lot cheaper. The most amazing thing was that in a city full of flashing lights and webs of raised freeways and enough glitz to rival NYC or Las Vegas, there are these small areas of old Shanghai that are still thriving and will not go away.

For every new building that gets put up here, I've realized that there is always something that will always end up showing China's real age, whether it's the crows feet on the walls of the hotel we stayed at in Suzhou or the push carts that the workers are using to prepare for the coming World's Fair. We actually went to go see a Chinese Acrobatic show tonight and my mom asked how long the theater has been around. Mr. Huang responded "Not very long, maybe 10 years?" For a country that's been around for thousands of years and still considers the 700 year history of Shanghai to be pretty young, 10 years is like a drop in a bucket. The show was fantastic but I couldn't help but compare it to Cirque Du Soleil. It's a bit unfair to compare them considering Cirque charges more than double for their tickets and probably hires away a lot of their most talented performers, but even the show was showing its age. The acts have been poached long ago by other circuses and even the costumes look like they've been in use for ages. At one point in the show, some contortionist tumbler girls appear out of some tiny holes in the ground right in front of us. I couldn't help but see the frayed edges of her costume and the worn patches on the knees and arms. Some of the costumes looked ill fitting as though they had multiple performers but only one costume to share between them. Even the styling of some of the costumes were showing its age. For one scene, the guys looked as though they were Super Sayan David Bowies with their super spiked hair, makeup and pointed shoulder armor. Despite all of this, the show was fantastic and I don't want to take anything away from the death defying acts which still made my heart race or the amount of effort these people put into making this show what it is.

I leave Shanghai in the morning and I have to say that this city is amazing and I only wish I had more time and more ability to really explore it. I feel like I've only gone to Disneyland and Citywalk and saying I've been to LA. Maybe I'll get to come back here one day and see the city again, but this time not from behind a fogged window.