The China Chronicles: 8/15/04

Sunday morning found us enjoying the weird mix of Asian and Western influences at the hotel buffet breakfast. Angela opted for the breads and fresh fruit, I went for the steamed buns and my new favorite porridge, Congee. Congee is a liquidy rice porridge that is hopelessly bland by itself, but you spice up with the addition of various flavors and pickled vegatables, meats or tofu. I'd usually go for the roasted peanuts, some tofu, pickled vegetables and some soy sauce or soy vinegar. I soon discovered that vinegar is actually the condiment of choice here, not soy sauce. The dark tea is great, and I sip Angela's coffee. I finally realize that even with all our Starbucks and Coffee Bean & Tea Leafs-or Peets for the true believers-the USA still has some catching up to do in the realm of coffee. Our hotel brew is damn good. Damn good for hotel brew.



Krista met us at the Hotel and we walked to the Shanghai Subway system. The station had a gorgeous fountain and was at the bottom of a deep open place that reminded one of a theater proscenium rather than a subway station. Inside looked very similar to the Washington DC and San Francisco subways, clean, open and quick.

Rick takes us today to Zhongshan Road, known to us anglos as "The Bund". the Bund was the center of western culture in old Shanghai, and it's many old buildings are designed in the styles of colonial powers. It miraculously survived WWII and the destruction of the Japanese-rare in Shanghai-and now is a popular tourist stop for its various shops and night lives as well as it's walkway mall on the banks of the river.







The ride was a blessing as on our day, it's ribald with humidity that fogs my sunglasses as I emerge from the station in front of our first destination, the Peace Hotel.



Founded by an influential Jewish couple at the turn of the century, the hotel was once the only place non-chinese visitors could stay in Shanghai, and its jazz band was the toast of the infamouse Shanghai of the 1920's. Today it retained it's
Art Deco dignity with grand archeitecture and a quiet beauty during the morning even in the face of tour groups. The famous bar was silent with "Shanghai Jazz Band" emblazoned on the wall waiting for the first tip of the evening.

Rick saying "No".

We walked on the riverside of the Bund and took in the sights of a busy river in the third largest harbour in the world. Lots of traffic clogged the river and it was amusing to see the heavily laden barges chug by with parts of their hulls underwater from the weight of their loads.


By this time I am officially sweating like a pig again. I'm still wearing pants, but have discarded my standard undershirt. I'm slightly cooler, but now my short sleeved button down shirt has islands of perspiration and I realize my fear of old sweaty men.


Rick and Krista

Among a section of barking megaphones we choose a river cruise. Up and down the river for mere 25 quai. The boat is nice, filed with foreigners seeking our same goals. Judging from accents, our companions are Australians, Frenchmen and Ger-men. (I actually see very few americans on this trip, but tons of austrailians and germans.)



The tour is relaxing and breathtaking. Shanghai is a big city getting bigger. the Pu Dong industrial area is highlighted and I got plenty of great footage of container cranes and ships ( a pocket fave of mine. I think any crane 4 stories tall with a 4 room control center that rides on rails is coool.) The suspension bridges here are also cool. Most (I think all) that i've seen in china have the suspension cables linked in a line running down the face of the supports, instead of joining a big cable like the golden gate or brooklyn bridge is.. All of them have their name in metallic chinese script over the arch. I realize what strikes me the most about it is the newness. Most great bridges in the us were built during the 20's and 1930's. These are new.





Krista sees me watching her unwrapping her lunch and graciously offers me half. The heat actually takes my appetite away, but I don't want to hurt her feelings and as she expains, she has too much anyway. I later learn that she always has too much and is always ready to share. something else I love about her.

This is my first expeirence wwith what I will later learn is called zong zi; glutinous rice and meat, wrapped in bamboo or lotus leaves and steamed. (this differes from Zhang Ziyi, who is a woman). it's stained brown from the bamboo and sticky as glutinous rice eaten out of a leaf can be. the meat is pungent, and I hope it's lamb in origin, which I could take. my mind closes against the possibilities. It's a bit heavy for for the heat, but it's good.




The tour ends and next we taxi to the Jinmao tower in the Pu Dong New District. JInmao has an observation deck 88 stories up and is the highest point in shanghai Currently the 4th talest building in the world. I never made it to the top of the WTC, and was eager to, ahem, top my empire state experience.



It's tall up there, and cold. which was a relief. I looked out the bright windows and saw city from horizon to horizon. The phrase "Shanghai covers 245 square miles" is made vivid from up top. And everywhere were construction cranes. Most were in the Pu Dong area. I began to understand Shanghai's position as the metropolis of china, and the sweeping changes that cut deeper than a facelift.






55 floors up, the Jinmao hosts a marriot hotel and the cloud nine bar. From the observaion deck, you can peer down ward into the open space, feeling vertigo for 45 floors down. (I have video, but sorry, no pic.)

Rick wanted to hit the cloud nine and we regrouped there, drinking strong alcohol and having desert for lunch, while looking at shanghai from way up. Krista had a cosmopolitan and we watched her flush. i ordered coffee after my blue flame and marked again how goood the coffee was. I came to china for tea but was rediscovering coffee.



We walked the streets to our next destination. most of the streets were wide boulevards, filled with one or two skyscrapers, a direct contrast to shanghai's crowdedness. The pearl tv tower was even cooler close up, as you could see how the archeitecture worked with a tripod branching out from the last globe (what was in the tripod?). what little two story buildings remained were actually being demolished. Progress progresses.



We took the sightseeing tunnel back to the mainland. Now, THIS was a trip. a glass enclosed tram, underground, pulled on a track. the walls flash a multitude of lights and patterns with footage over music. Think a cross between Disney's space mountain and a pink floyd laserlight show those without such cuultural touchstones....well...it was just weird. cool, but weird.

Next was the famous Shanghai friendship store. Set up by the party as a 'showplace for the cultural delights of China', it's a big department store that carries everything the tourist could want to buy. No bargaining allowed, but the prices were good, the selection grand, the antiques guaranteed, and the staff...friendly. It even had a starbucks on the first floor, next to the ginseng and herbal sexual health section. (now why can't they duplicate that in the states? screw my frappucino, i want sexual health!)

We actually made out quite well here. Picked up some tshirts and a great silk robe. While finding my pattern and color in the correct size (this is China, and I'm much arger by their standards,) i amused the help by parading around in the pink robe that did fit: Size XXL, baby. ( I hope to never reach the american counterpart.) Angela found a robe in a beuatiful blue and scored big with ink paintings. i watched the jade and realized that every objet d'art purchase i considered was now made with my cat in mind. "Oh this is gorgeous. Hmm, Musik would topple and break it in...oh, 5 seconds. Ok, now this one is gorgeous...." No jade was purchased, you get what you pay for and the breathtaking pieces carried equally breathtaking prices. Rick found some great antiques and krista some vases as well.

An aside, i had to use the bathroom, but made a hastily retreat when the bathrooms contained not only no toilet paper, but no place in which to put it. (!)

we went to a great shangai restaurant that krista knew and she picked (again) food that we would never have ordered, but after eating will order again.

We then spent some time with more of Ricks friends from the show. Roy was great and taught me how to write chinese! He's a great inferno artist, so if anyone is hiring....


Fully sated and exhausted from the day, we went home and crashed.

View from the Hotel Room, Night & Day.