Fall Break Part 2: More of Shanghai

So, on another morning I got up (relatively) early (maybe 9 or so) to go and check out the nearby 中山 (zhong shan, roughly middle mountain) Park. I didn't see any 空竹 (kong zhu) or 绸子　（chou zi, ribbon dancing), but it was still a nice walk. We met a Chinese guy playing the harmonica, saw a cute kitty (cute kitties ALWAYS attract girls, which this one did too, whom Jamie proceeded to thoroughly charm), and even saw some dancing. Apparently there was some kind of cultural and arts performance going on, 'cause there were people performing some kind of song and play thing, and a while later it broke out into social dancing, during which Jamie and Dave jumped in to completely dominate the middle of the dance floor. A few timid Chinese people even started to mimic their movements, trying to do the kind of 'mock Irish step dancing' that Jamie and Dave were doing. Just another example of how the Chinese people just need someone to show them how to be wild and crazy, and then they can do it too. Just a little situational motivation.

After getting some street food Shanghai's 包子 (bao zi, meat inside a covering of dough, commonly translated as 'dumplings') are huge! maybe three inches across! We hopped the Subway, and then a taxi to head to a travel agent's office to pick up our train tickets for Hong Kong, and then hit up the Shanghai museum. It has a nice collection of old pottery and sculptures, some paintings which I wasn't interested in, and a lot of old coins. The minority art was some of the most interesting stuff, perhaps because they packed the best of a dozen different cultures into one area. There were some REALLY cool-looking masks. After the museum we were hanging around ina nice little public square near the museum when a group of girls approached us. We started chatting, and then we starting walking together. They led us to a tea house, at which point Jamie and I both started to get pretty suspicious. Jamie asked to see the menu, and after a few minutes of insisting he got to take a look. With all they stuff as expensive as it was, we decided not to waste our time with what already seemed like it was gonna be a tea scam.


After this we wandered around to get some cheap food, and then over to a main road to meet some other friends who also came to Shanghai. We meet up with them, and the a few of us went down to the waterfront to reserve some tickets on a river cruise for us all, since that was something that Jamie really liked. The river cruise was cool, although we all wondered why the boat has StarWars: Episode 1 pre-production sketches inside... hmmmm. The view of both shores from night time was nice though.


There are a few events which have gotten muddled together, and I am not exactly sure which day they happened, but they are worth telling. First and foremost, on one day, I think it was one of the first days, we hit the bund (an area of Shanghai by the waterfront), and what appeared to be a communist-era monument. I am sure that we were terribly disrespectful to the monument, but it was so much fun. We climbed, jumped, and scrabbled all over it. Pictures on photobucket can give more details to that. After that, we walked North more, and had a terrible time bartering with a Uighur candy salesman. We wanted just a little bit of candy, and he charged is 60 kuai, a ludicrous amount! The argument was getting so agitated that a crowd was gathering to watch. We eventually just gave him half of what he was asking for, and took half of the candy he gave us. We walked farther north and found a hotel where we asked for a map, and if they knew of any salsa clubs, but they just thought that we were weird foreigners. Granted, we were a bit strange, but we just wanted a salsa club. These people couldn't help us though. Walking out of the hotel, I saw a shop accross the street with strange purple lighting on the inside. Staring at it for a minute, I realized there was a lady, standing inside the door. She motioned at me to come over to her, and then I got to get a bit of a suspicious at to what kind of place that was. I suppose the sign above the shop saying "Pleasure" something could have helped that judgment, but I just hadn't seen it. We laughed a lot, and I had a bit of an urge to go and talk to her, to ask her how many foreigners they get, and what it is like being in that business, just I didn't have the courage.

The sex museum was pretty disappointing all in all, but there were a few interesting pieces. There was one culture that was not only it that a basically impossible position to sustain, they are also on the back of a dragon. Most intense sex. EVER.

I had mixed feelings to find a store in Shanghai with the A in a circle logo. It was cool to see, but was also sad that it, too, has now been appropriated by a corporation. (for those of you that don't know, the A in the circle in a symbol for anarchism, a school of thought which I have been interested in for a while)

There are a few other events in Shanghai which are worth noting, but those will have to be in a different post. I need to go to my philosophy class, and then to a dress rehearsal for a Halloween performance this Friday, "Death Prom", featuring jugglers, dancers, and lots of other stuff. Wish me luck.

Also, if you actually read this, please leave me a comment so that I know you are out there. I'm mostly assumed that it is just my mom and dad reading this, but I would be excited to know who else is reading my adventures, so leave me a comment please!