First taste of the Shanghai adventure
I arrived in Shanghai at about 8 in the morning on a Sunday. Not the busiest time, and the Pudong airport seemed almost empty! Nice to avvoid queuing, but there was a downside, no crowds to follow. So I was milling about, trying to figure out the signs. Most of them were translated, but not very well.
For instance, I was quite hesitant to use the “Cash Recycling Machine”, did not have quite the ATM ring to it. Anyway, as I was taking this picture of the machine, I totally forgot to pick up my card, instead I just grabbed my money and went. Luckily, a police officer saw me walking away, while I was staring confused at the signs, and he noticed the beeps from the machine. So he came running after me, “Halooo, your card sir!”. I was embarassed to say the least, and a bit stressed out, if the journey started like this, how would this end!?
I eventually found my way to the maglev station, and once again I could not figure out how the system worked.The stairs down to the plattform were closed, so I went looking for another set of stairs. But eventually I figured out thet this was a waiting area, for people to sit down while waiting, and the stairs would open a couple of minutes before the train arrieved, so we could board straight away. How very chinese! 🙂
Anyway, to my excitement, there were a speed indicator in the train, so we could monitor how fast we were going. I was thrilled to see it beyond 300 km/h, but suddenly it soared to a staggering 431 km/h! Thescenerey just flew by, and we were in the main rain station after only 10 minutes. Mind-blowing!
I had memorized the way to the hostel, so it was no big problem getting there. The subway stop had 20 exits tho, so I spent a while finding exit 1. Shanghai was beautiful, much nicer than expected. I live close to the people’s square, and loved the skscrapers and parks in the area.
I was walking around the neighbourhood when a couple of girls asked me where I was from. I replied, a bit hesitantly, that I was from Norway. I’m usually very cautious toward strangers in the streets, as I hate salespeople. But these girls were not selling anything, they just wanted to talk. They said they were on their way to have tea, and wondered if I wanted to join, and naturally I said yes.I kinda thought of it as a cup of cofee or similar, I totally forgot about the stuff I’d heard about how people drink tea in China!
We ended up in a small tea house a bit east of the people’s square. the girls led the way, and we got into a tiny room with 4 chairs around a table. A little girl in a traditional blue dress welcomed us, and negotiated different teas etc with the girls. It was all in Chinese, but luckily one of the girls would try and translate everything to me. We drank 6 different teas, and ate some nuts and fruit as well. For every new tea, the hostess would tell a little story about the tea, pass the box around so we could smell it, then pour some into a small cup.
The ceremony was well over an hour, and very intense. The girls would constantly ask me about Norway and my life there, and tell me how to hold my cup, about eye contact and other customs etc. I was almost exhausted afterwards, trying to keep up with the Chinese customs and understanding what the hell was going on. 🙂 But it was so much fun, and well worth the time and money. I also bought some tea with me, so I can remember this experience. I’d love to do it again, maybe I’ll enjoy it more once it’s a bit less foreign to me!
I parted with the girls and went back to the hostel, hope to see them again for dinner some other time. But first I’m up for some beer at the roof terrace!
Does anyone have some tips for things to do in Shanghai? I’m here for 6 nights, looking for adventure! 🙂
-Øyvind
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