Weblog Shanghai

In the beginning we had the idea that getting a train ticket to Suzhou, also named the Venice of the east, about an hour train ride from Shanghai can’t be that difficult.

The following will show that the model made up in our mind deviated by far from reality.

The story started yesterday around midday with the plan to get off to Suzhou the next morning. Cramming out a couple of travel books all come to the conclusion: Go to one of the numerous CITS (China International Travel Service) offices, all personnel can speak English, and order a train ticket.

So we went to the one near the Peace Hotel and somehow missed that in the travel book “also airline tickets” means, no train tickets.

Off to the next one “a couple of blocks” away down the bund. This one was really friendly but the English salesperson was off duty. With the help of a friend of the Chinese salesperson we finally learned that we should come tomorrow at 9:00 to buy train tickets. That is how the plan to leave Shanghai at 7:00 in the morning was cancelled.

Day two brought us to the main CITS on Beijing Rd. After getting there, the only thing we got slammed at us was go to the railway station. Which, oh surprise, we did. Actually we went to the Longmen Hotel just west of the station because we heard they have an English travel agent. After getting there we had our tickets in 5 minutes. All in all it took us 3 taxi rides and 6 different subways and about 7 hours of time.

Lets see it positive we just paid 5€ for a return ticket.

1. Go to McDonalds and order in English.

2. Listen to music from home or watch a DVD (try not to get one where the only language is Chinese, sort of spoils the idea)

3. Open a Tsingtao, pour it in a glass and hide the bottle. Remember that it was once introduced by the Germans. Want even more home feelings; try to find some “Weißwurst”, “Brezel” and sweet mustard to go with it.

4. Watch the German/English (Tagesschau/BBC) news via the internet. Although this can get tricky, getting the time right for the evening news over a couple of time zones.

5. Call/Write friends and family

6. Plan a trip in the green countryside to escape the city mist.

7. Stick some “Italien style noodles” in the microwave, a 70 cent trip around the globe in just 4 min. (They are regularly sold out at the supermarket, wonder if there are others out there thinking the same thing…)

The French hypermarket was the major stop for today. Almost everything on our shopping list was availiable. When it came to Kellogg’s the vast choice was depleted. Nevertheless we didn’t go for a live horseshoe crab instead. The combination of Chinese local food and international specialties makes this market a huge success in the east. See for yourself what we got.

Fruit on a Bavarian tablecloth

Located in the scenery old town of Shanghai Yu Garden boasts numerous quiet spots and beautiful wood carvings. On the way out we visited the mid-lake pavilion tea house located just outside the garden for a sip of jasmine flower tea, which isn’t only a delight to look at but also brings you with a tea ceremony a step closer to the traditional Chinese lifestyle.

Tip: Looking for the flower tea outside in the little shops gets you more value for money

Yu Garden

After checking out of the hotel we headed for our new stay, leaving the luggage at the hotel. Just in case things turn out different than expected and we are standing on the street with 80kg of luggage. The apartment on the 32nd floor was much nicer than on the 27th floor so we took it after looking through the rooms. After getting the suitcases from the hotel we headed for the near by supermarket which has quite some variety. Although a lot is unclear for what it is used (eat, clean the house or feed the bird) or how it is to be prepared. The next stop was IKEA where more foreigners where walking around than when visiting a tourist attraction. We were getting a loaded cart full of all the things the apartment was missing esp. sheets, glasses, pans, silverware. Prices on furniture aren't cheaper than in Germany but small things that add up to a large sum at home pretty fast are. They typically range from 10-50 cent.

View on our twin building

View one side

Guest room + View

Living room

Setting the alarm clock at 7:30h was theoretically a good idea but in practice we slept over it and hit the street at around 14:30h, trying to find a mobile phone card to start looking for an apartment in Shanghai. A couple of hours later we found a store plus an English speaking manager. 5 Min I got a number: 0086 13 564 547 759. Works everywhere (incl. subway) and is cheap ~4-6 cent/min if calling and receiving a call. This evening looking for an apartment started which isn't difficult but takes time. In the evening we started our first taxi ride after asking the hotel staff to write the Streets in Chinese characters. We had: No. 188, Ao Men Road, Guessing the result wouldn’t have been that difficult, he (see attached picture). About 15 min and $1,50 later we arrived at our first Chinese restaurant (not that we haven’t eaten before but US fast food chains aren't too bad a starting point if you are tired and not up to something too exotic), the young red rooster (Hongziji). After deciding on some food by pointing on an aquarium full of shrimp, some noodles and a pork dish which had a picture in the menu. Before dinner came to our table on roller-skates in the 3000 people holding restaurant, we were served a free entrée not the Italian style, white bread and olives but a we could have guessed it, a young red rooster ready cooked looking at us with his two eyes accompanied by a giggling waitress. It was hot and tasty so was the rest of our food a good starting point into Chinese cuisine.

After a 1:30h waiting in line for the Passport check and not finding our luggage because our flight was not shown on the list, "flying" downtown Shanghai with the "MagLev", Magnetic Lavation train at 431km/h (267 mph), gotten ripped of on our first taxi ride paying a 3x as high price and arriving at the hotel where they couldn't find our reservation (After calling the internet reservation company in Germany and waiting for a fax) we finally go to our small/windowless room which is clean, has high speed internet and a flat-screen TV. (travel time approx. 28h). Living 4 min from the "Bund"(Zhongshan Dong Yilu) in Dianchi Lu we managed to take a walk to see the amazing scenery. When arriving there it started to rain (first rain so far) and panic broke out although it was rather hard rain it was that type that ends after a couple of minutes. We were wondering but all the Chinese were running around and hiding in the underground entrance. Their sense for making money could be seen. For $1/1€ about 10-20 Chinese were selling umbrellas. Interesting enough only Chinese bought some (esp. young boys with their hysteric date, not wanting that a ruined hair could ruin their just started evening). Later on we could make sense out of the hysteric jumping around. Two weeks ago the strongest rain/typhoon for 15 years hit Shanghai badly.