First impressions of Shanghai

China blocked my access to this blog while I was there, so I will be updating this blog with my summer adventures at a whirlwind pace! WATCH OUT!

Shanghai is freaking cool, I am really "digging" it. Peter (a fellow schoolmate whom I’ve been staying with) has been a doll showing me around the city. It compares to NYC but everything is new, clean and very contemporary, and the urban planning is well laid out. Grand boulevards are flanked by gorgeous parks, near skyscrapers and shops galore. Starbucks, Haagen Dazs cafes, and KFC restaurants dominate the city, there is practically two on every corner. I especially love the French Concession, which has tree lined streets, with French boutiques and cafes lined with private communities and decorative stone gates that shelter Spanish themed villas. In contrast the underneath side of elevated highways are decked out with blue lights, making me feel like I fell willy-nilly into a colorful, LED lit pinball machine. The city itself is very clean, and it simply thrives with every walk of life. I really like this place!

Peter's family is ultimately accommodating. They are letting me stay on the second floor of their apartment, which has a bedroom, an office for me to use, two terraces and a large bathroom with a marble tub. If only it weren't 95 degrees I could hang out on the terraces, but the air is not only terribly humid but quite polluted here...which deters from the idea of terrace chilling. Peter has acquired a bike for me. I plan on drifting through the city for an hour or two on some evenings, to substitute my daily exercise routine, plus low impact for the knee vs walking (my knee seems to be less agitated as of late, I am sure long walks in the city is not helping it heal, regular icing and ibuprofen continue..).

Despite its seemingly expansive luxuriousness I know that 23 million people don't enjoy quite as high a standard of living as the city makes it seem. I have a feeling I am only seeing the top tier of the upper and middle classes. The avenues are flocked with upscale cars, namely Audi, Mercedes, BMW, and Porsches everywhere you look. These ride side by side with schools of people on bikes and put-put scooters. Some bikes have a small electric motor attached, towing small carts strapped down with food and recycling stacked ten feet high. The very look of it seems to defy the laws of physics and frankly makes me giggle! My goal is to search out the masses and discover what daily life is like for the average Chinese, thinking about how the urban infrastructure of Shanghai supports their lifestyle. I have seen glimpses of that reality, down crowded alleyways buttressed with shoddy clothing lines, and through the entrances of small vestibules smaller than your average storage closet, where an entire restaurant kitchen is in full operation.

Highlights so far: My first day here (Saturday July 1st) I met up with Jingwei, a Shanghai guy who lived with my Aunt Halina for three years while he completed his college degree at the University of Washington. He now runs a factory in Guangdong, a region in Southern China situated in the Pearl River Delta just north of Hong Kong. This is the area where the Chinese industry thrives. He arranged a lunch at a restaurant in the Galaxy Hotel with the programming director of the main Shanghai TV station, an accomplished career woman, along with a city planning official in the municipal government. I discussed my project with them and drilled them with questions. They will arrange other contacts, people with whom I can interview regarding the cities' urban planning, housing and culture. The talk was invigorating and the food delicious! We picked items from a series of dishes laid out in the center of the table: clams, fish, shrimp, sautéed meats, tofu and peanuts, breaded rolls with crab tucked inside, and dumplings of all kinds. Served with tea, of course! Quite the unexpected first meal experience in Shanghai..

My second full day, (Sunday July 2nd), Peter and I toured the city for 9 hours. We explored more than I thought my eyes could see. We biked through the French Concession, through still standing 1930s Chinese neighborhoods with markets selling wilted lettuce and silly nick-knacks tucked away just blocks from major commercial lined shopping avenues dotted with Louis Vuitton, Gucci and the like. We explored the "People's Square," the geographic center of Shanghai, where the central Library and government buildings dominate. The square itself mimicked a downsized version of Central Park, the gray fog of pollution giving silver edges to the silhouettes of skyscrapers beyond the trees. We walked around "the Bund," a historical district where the city's government and financial institutions got its start. “The Bund” lines the Huangpu River, along with a handsome promenade that offers a stunning view of Pudong, Shanghai's new financial center where many of the new skyscrapers have sprouted within the last decade. We took a ferry across the river and explored Pudong as the last rays of the sun set. We had dinner in a dazzling mall whose shops looked down onto multiple curvilinear atriums adorned with glass and marble, giving the illusion that the floors and walls were dripping with gold. We ate dumplings filled with strange meat including goose liver, a spicy dish that featured the cartilage of chicken feet, an odd goopy looking dumpling filled with soup that one had to suck out prior to eating the dumpling's exterior (I have a video of me attempting to eat this!), shrimp with apples laced with multicolored sprinkles, and a dish with greens that looked normal at first sight until I discovered that the long white strips of a mysterious chewy substance were actually strips of pig ear. Who comes up with this stuff?! I found it all delicious.

We ended the night with a ride to the top of the world, the Shanghai World Finance Center Observatory, a steel framed structure reaching 492 meters into the sky. When the building was completed in 2008 it became the second tallest building in the world. The completion of the Burj Khalifa in January of 2010 knocked it back to third place. Here, looking out at the expanse of Shanghai structures I witnessed the frozen shapes of man's potential. The power of man's intellect built this city along with the immense skyscraper in which I stood. More skyscrapers will rise to meet the sky. By 2015, the Shanghai World Finance Center (nicknamed the can opener due to its appearance), will be knocked back to 9th place, as skyscrapers are erected elsewhere in China, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the US. The Shanghai Tower, under construction just a block south of "can opener," will rise to 632 meters in 2014, becoming the second tallest building in the world at its completion. A ride in Shanghai's efficient, ultra clean subway system brought us back to our bicycles in the center, and from there to a bar for a soothing half-liter of Vedette, a Shanghai brew with an orange kick.

Dislikes so far: 1) It's hot as balls! With the evil combination of intense humidity and temperatures in the upper 90's, touring the city while staying dry and hydrated will be a challenge. Sunscreen and water a must! Glad I packed light with short shorts and cami's ;-) 2) The pollution is thick, creating an everlasting fog and odd stench in the air. It is said the average Shanghai resident has never seen the blue sky... Perhaps it blocks the sun's heat, or even worse.. traps it beneath its envelop of malevolent gasses. 3) The public restrooms don't carry toilet paper, and some of the bathrooms don't have toilets at all, but offer holes in the ground over which you have to squat. I am not a fan. Considering the amount of attention to hygiene the Chinese observe, I am shocked by their lack of sanitary bathrooms. 4) Calories are not listed on the back of most foods, so I have no idea how much or even exactly what I am eating. 5) All water is boiled to be safe. It makes me wonder about the sanitary conditions of kitchens in the restaurants at which I will be eating out. 6) One cannot privately own property in Shanghai. All land is owned by the government. One can only lease the land from the Republic up to a maximum of 70 years. 7) Housing is ridiculously expensive, the prices have skyrocketed within the past ten years. A decent sized apartment of two or three bedrooms could cost you millions, easy. 8) China's communist philosophy: the city was supposedly built for the "people" and yet was likely constructed by thousands of penniless immigrant workers, who worked long hours on very little pay. Unions and set worker's wages are illegal. 9) A child’s career is pre-determined based on the scores they achieve on standardized tests in high-school, ie they have little free will in determining their future and purpose of their existence.

Dislikes aside, I am having a blast! Beijing last weekend, and Guangdong to witness the fires of industry next week. I am sticking to a productively tight schedule in order to get as much accomplished as possible. My success will be determined by my mind and my effort. It is my highest purpose to exercise the best of my effort and the fullest capacity of my mind in order to accomplish my research project. It is important that I stay on task, and make my goals for this project realistic, as my ambitions always seem to skyrocket through the roof beyond what I am able to achieve. I am working smart and focusing my subject content.

I hunger for action in my mind,

Alexandra