Source: me
I’m on the plane in Hong Kong, and we’re just about to embark on the 15.5 hour flight to Toronto. I hope to be able to sleep most of the way. But I do want to write down some thoughts of Shanghai – what I liked, and what I did not.
I’m glad I had as much time there as I did. 4 days in Beijing, and 3 days in Xi’an was feeling a bit rushed to me, and so 6 days in Shanghai allowed me to see and do a lot, and give me the extra time to get to know the place a bit.
Beijing, for me, felt like an old city. I stayed next to the Forbidden City in the center of the city, and there was a lot of history there. As I described, stumbling into a garden that was actually hundreds of years old, you could feel the history in almost everything there. I did not really get to experience the new modern parts of that city. I was far from the subway, so I don’t even know what it looks like!
Of course, Xi’an is an old city that doesn’t feel like one. The place was called Xi’an even 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 years ago, and people had been known to inhabit the area for 6,000 years. The city wall, the bell and drum towers, all are showcases of that history. But most of the city feels new, with its bars and shopping malls. Blocks of 30, 40 condo buildings being built all at once. A giant nuclear power plant on the outskirts of town.
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Source: mathias.apitz at flickr
I am thankful to Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss. After watching their videos on their trip to China, I became aware of a couple of the more popular scams here. Now that I am here, I can honestly say that has probably saved me a lot of money, and so it’s my duty to pass the word along to fellow travelers.
I don’t know why there are so many in person scammers here in China. I would think that the Chinese government would shut them down fairly efficiently – one of the benefits of a communist government is it doesn’t have to worry about the rights of the shady business owners, although one of the downsides is that it doesn’t have to worry about the rights of the innocent consumer either. But still, hundreds of scammers roam the popular tourist spots, trying to trick tourists out of their money.
The most popular scam, by far, that I’ve encountered is the tea house scam, or the lets go get a drink scam. It’s happened to me in both Beijing and Shanghai. As an example, yesterday I was approached by three young-looking students (two girls and a guy) on The Bund – the popular waterfront promenade. First, they wanted me to take their picture with their digital camera in front of a landmark. Then they started quizzing me about where I was from, what I was doing here, how long I’d be here, etc. They knew of Canada, talked about the Maple Leaf flag, and Maple Syrup. And on and on, for about 5 minutes of getting to know you talk. Then the proposition – they were going over to a nearby tea house, and would I like to join?
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Source: lee_blake_somerset at flickr
Today is Day 3 of my visit to Shanghai. And it’s raining. It rains every day here for a little bit, or so it seems. And it’s not a light sprinkle rain either. Thunder, lightening, and the heavens above open completely and release a torrent of water upon the city.
Shanghai has not been cooler unfortunately. It seems to have the same ability to soak through t-shirts as Beijing did. The heat itself has not been difficult for me to stand, but going through 3 t-shirts a day has been tough on my laundry situation. So I think I packed enough clothes, and then it turns out I had no idea how fast I actually use them up.
In each city (Beijing, Xian and now Shanghai) I have been sending my laundry out to be done to replenish my supply of fresh clothes. That was always part of the plan anyways, but I had no idea I had to do it 3 times. There’s an irony, I suppose, in that I’ve probably spent $100 in getting my laundry done in China. Ancient Chinese secret, huh? Sounds like someone is making a lot of profit to me.
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Source: SF Bit at flickr
I have six days in Shanghai coming up, and I am hoping this will actually be a restful part of the trip. I spent only 4 days in Beijing and 3 in Xi’an, and have felt a bit rushed in those cities. I’d love to have time to see a bit more, and rest a bit more. Maybe do a bit less walking, as my hotel in Shanghai is not too far from the subway line.
The big thing going on in Shanghai right now is the Expo. In case you don’t know, every two years one international city hosts the World Expo, in which dozens of countries participate. A large site is developed with various country-specific buildings, and each country puts on some type of display for tourists. The displays vary from actual live shows, to food and drink from that nation, to more simple information booths.
The Shanghai Expo is quite large, with upwards of 50,000 people per day visiting the site. The Expo runs for only six months, and so they expect more than 10 million people to pass through. Those are staggering numbers. Now the majority of Shanghai Expo visitors, I hear, are mainland Chinese families. That means the most popular attractions are the Asian exhibits (particularly China which looks spectacular from the outside). I hear reservations to the China exhibit are gone out by 6:30am each day, and even with reservations the line up is a couple of hours long. The chances of me seeing the inside this time around are… none. I doubt I will be able to see Japan or Korea either as those are popular second choices for the Chinese.
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Source: B.D.'s World at flickr
It seems like I only have time to write these blog entries in the airport, as I sit once again in an airport waiting to catch a flight. I’m leaving the wonderful city of Xi’an and heading to Shanghai, which should be exciting.
As expected, the hotel in Xi’an was VERY nice. I only had three nights here, but I did manage to sleep until 2 in the afternoon one of those days on the very comfortable bed. I also took the opportunity to get a massage done at the hotel spa. I went in with a sore back, and I came out ready to fall asleep without a care in the world. Probably my first ever real massage, as all those neck and back people don’t seem to make any of my pains go away.
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Source: Fracisco Diez at flickr
I writing today’s entry at the Beijing airport, waiting to leave on my flight to Xi’an. Having spent 4 days here, I am of mixed emotions as I leave. On the one hand, I think I am ready to go to someplace new, and on the other, I feel like I hardly saw or did anything and will probably need to come back in order to experience it better. There is just so much to see and do here!
Did I have Peking Duck here? No. Did I have more than one or two decent meals? No. Did I even enter the Forbidden City, the most famous landmark in Beijing? Also no. (It was way too busy the day I went, and I was way too tired from walking there.) I have to ask myself, what DID I do?
There are two things about Beijing in the summer that makes it a difficult place to get around. One, it’s hot. The temperature never got below 35 degrees C during the day, and even late at night the heat makes you soak a shirt through in 5 minutes.
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Source: eviltomthai at flickr
It’s hard to call any city in China “the ancient city of” since most of them have been around for thousands of years. One city I will be going to is called Xi’an – which has more than 3,100 years of recorded history! Canada was formed as a country a mere 150 years ago, and North America was only discovered 500 years ago. (Thanks Chris!) I am fascinated by history, and China has a lot of it.
Of course, the most famous place just outside of Xi’an is the Terracotta Warriors (also called Terracotta Army) that were discovered buried in a farmer’s field only 35 years ago. These warriors date from around 300 BC! There are an estimated 8,000 statues buried, including men, and even horses. It is part of the mausoleum built for the First Emperor of China, and they say 700,000 workers worked on the site. By the Emperor’s command, every statue is made to look different.
The funny thing is, a small part of the Terracotta Army (20 soldiers) is currently on display at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) which is within walking distance of my apartment in Toronto. I could have saved $2,475 if I just bought a museum ticket to that instead of flying all this way!
I originally had 4 nights booked here, but a friend told me 2 would be enough. The same friend told me Shanghai was one of her favorite cities in the world, so that convinced me to change my plans. Luckily the plans were changeable (not easily, but it only cost me $13 in the end). So now I have 3 nights in Xi’an and I leave first thing on the fourth day to head to Shanghai.
I am staying in a really nice hotel. It may be my best hotel of the trip. If the town of Xi’an doesn’t have much to offer, perhaps I can swim in the hotel pool, and make use of the spa services? I don’t think I will at all be bored. No worries about that.
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