Dispatch from Shanghai
It’s been a few days since I’ve spent any time on the internet or update the ol’ blog. We’ve been very busy of late and I’m trying to spend what little free time I have on fun stuff around the city. Some of the highlights:
Shopping: We went to an indoor market/mall/bazaar to shop for knock-offs. It’s a pretty crazy scene. Within minutes of arriving, I had at least half a dozen “friends” that were all more than willing to show me the shop with the “most quality and least price”. It seems that there is a fixed inventory but many small shops, so you can buy the same things just about anywhere.
The most popular items are watches, dress shirts, jackets, suitcases, belts, DVDs, and purses. The quality of some of these knockoffs is amazing–I honestly can’t tell the difference. The prices are all extremely fluid, but the haggling process is draining. The key phrases seem to be “best-friend price” and “no joke price”. Walking away also does wonders and dropping the final price.
It’s a fun experience, but the sensory overload of everyone telling you “hello friend, watch? DVD? bag? belt?” is draining. I tip my hat to the one shop keeper who got creative and tried “howdy big fella” instead.
Touring: We visited an ancient Chinese garden that’s been rebuilt as a tourist trap. The architecture and detailing of all the buildings is very impressive. I can’t fathom the effect on a dirt-poor peasant at just seeing the palaces and gardens the royalty lived in a thousand years ago.
The majority of the tourists were Chinese and everyone was taking photos. One cultural difference I observed is that very few non-Western people would smile in their photos. I imagine it’s a pretty exciting vacation to drive/fly from the western provinces in China to see Shanghai. Along the lines of visiting NYC after living in rural Wyoming all your life, I presume.
My favorite moment of our visit was when I spotted three little boys having their photo taken. I snapped a pic myself, after which they came over, said “hello”, and stood behind me so their father could take a photo with an American. I felt like a rockstar.
Night Life: We’ve been going out most nights to bars and dance clubs. We went to the Ice Bar one night, which is built entirely of ice (hence the name) and quite the novelty. The clubs are great; drinks are about equivalent to US prices. (Our cultural guide from the hotel has been directing us towards the ex-patriot oriented spots, which explains the high prices.) Another favorite was BonBon, offering an open bar for 88 RMB ($11) and some great DJs. Coolio (yes, Coolio) played a show there last night, but sadly I missed it. (I took a nap at 5pm, intending to go out a 9:00, but instead slept round the clock. oops.)
Shanghai is awesome. You need to visit!
Filed under Shanghai : Comments (1) : Aug 18th, 2007 by tadfad
August 19th, 2007 at 09:03
Great to hear from you again! Take care. You’re doing great!