Shang-shabang-hai
Today is my last day in the Shanghai after spending about 5 or days here. I leave for Japan tomorrow! Banzai!
Shanghai is a big-time party, eating and drinking city. Speaking of eating, I just came back from lunch in a little restaurant round the corner. I ducked into the little eatery and had a nice plate of fried egg and greens with rice meanwhile sitting next to a baby white rabbit. I assumed it was a pet although you can never be quite sure here! In the corner was a stack of glass tanks. The top two with live shrimp in, plus someone’s bottle of soya milk keeping nice and chilled. Next a mixture of cat fish and carp-type fish which were quite lively and kept trying to escape… on one occasion one jumped clean out and flapped around on the floor until the waitress managed to get a hold of it and throw it back. The bottom tank was full of live bullfrogs. Fried or grilled, I think the menu said.
I have been walking lots round the city. It is really quite different to Beijing. It has a huge French quarter in which some of the roads are only single lane – a far cry from the 6-lane monsters in Beijing. The weather was a bit chilly actually and raining when I got here – raining when I left, raining when I returned, a sign perhaps?
Japan is looming and my purse strings are a-quivering so I have been holding back here in an attempt to save some capital for the big-budget little country. If you know what you are doing (which I can’t say I do) I think you can get by very cheaply in Shanghai. The bright lights are hypnotic though and they keep tempting me with their pretty colours as they did in Hong Kong.
In a way the 2 cities are similar in their consumer heavens but you could definately tell when you got off that train from Hong Kong that you were in China proper again. You come off the train, walk down the platform and into the building to hit a traffic jam immediately – th arrival room has a layout that doesn’t lend itself to any more than 3 people passing through at one time. 300, and there’s a veritable pile-up.
The hostel is great. Well organised and run with friendly staff. The rooms are a good size and the place reminds me of the hostel in Beijing. The rooms in Hong Kong are a quarter of the size for the same amount of people. Bonkers Honkers.
I went to the Shanghai Art Gallery a few days ago and was very impressed. Thebuilding looked like perhaps a old Dutch station building with a clock tower. There were only 3 exhibits thank goodness as after a few hours I stop seeing and glaze over. There was a surrealist Chinese oil painter who was very interesting, a photographer that was ok with some nice shots, and then a exhibition of thework of Georgio Armani. I really thought I wouldn’t like this one but it turned out that I reallt enjoyed it.
The way the curator put the exhibition together was amazing. There were many different rooms with completely different feels with different colours and lighting in which groups of manakins were placed. The first room in particular struck me with it’s dim lighting and square columns of golden cord with groups of work placed around it. The photos don’t do it justice but maybe you get an idea. The way each room was set out and lit up made me really look at the garments. I began to understand why Armani is so famous. His use of ethnic influences and a constant referral to the body makes hie work very special. I now know why people want to wear his clothes… they are more pieces of art. Beauty is something very important here, it maybe problematic in someways in that it creates ideals that many of us cannot live up to as well as issues of the external being more important than the internal, but it is also a celebration of beauty and an exploration into what beauty is. I think this exhibition has been all over the world so if it comes to your country I definately recommend it
Below is a collection of photos of a few sights. If you run the mouse cursor over the picture you should get the title come up.
These two young ladies, just chilling out, nattering away, stopped to have a quick stretch, you know how it is. Shanghai, typical!
So, China today, Japan tomorrow. It has been an experience that will definately last. China has chaos and pollution, but it also offers a lot more. Hard to pin down like many other places and I guess it will take a little time to set in. Perhaps I should write review once I have got some distance from it.
I take the boat from here to Osaka, Japan tomorrow. It take aboout 46 hours (blimey!)and I am very excited. I am looking forward to getting into the mountains a few days after I arrive and breathing some cool fresh air, and spending some time with nature after the immense populus China.
Take care and I will catch you there.
Tags: Shanghai nights
Administrator
i love that photo with two ladies!!!
yes! i ll be waiting for you. toma!!!!
really looking forward to seeing in Tokyo!
2more weeks till Tokyo!! YESSSSSS!!!!!!
Tom….wow sounds so amazing. You sure are travelling your socks off. Im not so good sitting at computers so you are going to have to retell all of this to me face, Ha! Looking forward to some tea and massage swaps xx Love Louise