Author: Eric

We decided to explore the city’s transit network today, and to meet Eric’s plane at the airport in the process. This meant hopping on the Metro, changing lines, crossing under the river over to Pudong, then transferring to the Mag Lev train that rockets out to the Pudong International Airport.

Patrick had warned us that the signage in the subway system might be a challenge because the line colors are not consistent, but we followed the line numbers up escalators, down stairs, and around corners, and we successfully negotiated through the People’s Square station from Line 1 to Line 2. Line 2 took us seven stops east, just beond the Zhenliang Hi-Tech Park South to Longyiang Rd. South where we exited, crossed a small lane, then went up to the Maglev station to catch the train to the airport.

And by “Maglev” they mean “Magnetic Levitation” which means the trains do not roll on wheels, rather they float above magnetized tracks, and this allows them to reach very high speeds with little resistance. And high speeds we did reach — over 430 kph (almost 300 mph) — allowing us to reach the airport 20 miles away in just about five minutes. The speed was apparent but not palpable until a maglev train passed us going the opposite direction, which almost felt like a small explosion because suddenly the window was filled with a dark blur, our train jerked toward the blur, there was a loud “whomp”, and then it was gone and we continued on our way.

This morning when our friend Patrick met us to give us a quick tour, the first thing he did was hand us an umbrella and said, “it is definitely going to rain today.” I asked if he had seen a forecast on the news or the Internet, and he said while wiping his brow with a handkerchief, “no, I just know it from the feel — it’s warm and very humid, which means it is getting ready to rain.” And he was right.

We had planned to walk to The Bund — the famous landmark of Shanghai, a strip of colonial era buildings along the Huangpu River that separates Puxi (the west bank where we are) from Pudong (the east bank) — but the wet weather discouraged us from going further than the People’s Park in the center of what would be considered downtown.

We started walking east on Fuxing Rd., a major avenue through the French Concession but still lined with plane trees (a legacy of the French, obviously) and less manic than Huaihai Rd., which is chock-a-block with fancy retail stores and honking traffic. Instead we enjoyed seeing stores focused a little more on the local population, as well as alleys leading into the building blocks that are where many of the residents live and spend much of their time (similar to Hutongs in Beijing) but are fast disappearing as they are replaced with huge apartment hi-rises and office buildings. Earlier in the morning Patrick took us into one of them to show us how they work: outdoor kitchen prep areas with a spigot, basin, and cutting board/counter; chamber pots that are set out in the morning to be emptied at the communal toilet at one end of the alley; clothes hanging everywhere above the alley on bamboo poles suspended about 15 feet above.

Patrick pointed out that for most of the day we would see only very young or very old people in the alleys because everyone else was out working. He also pointed to a bulletin board at the entrance of the alley common to almost all alleys that contained news important to the residents of the alley, but also contained a list of the “Seven No’s”, or the seven important rules for everyone to follow. One of the rules is “No Jaywalking” but it’s been clear that either everyone on the street must live somewhere without access to a list of the Seven No’s, or it’s pretty widely ignored.
Continue reading “Wet Afternoon” →

JUMPING OFF
September 15, 2009 9:21:00 AM PDT

Here, beside the Richard Serra (withOUT the fuzzy red finish, though) slabs, we are about to leap over to Asia…at 3am EDT you can imagine that we are having our first impressions of China (perhaps getting detained for smuggling cheese?).

LANDING
September 16, 2009 7:33:34 AM PDT

Yes, in fact, we did fly over the arctic ocean, entering just north of Hudson Bay, and exiting well into Siberia (see photos). The Canadian tundra and Siberian tundra looked identical, and in between — despite global warming — there was an ice sheet, although there were cracks everywhere we flew (when the view was not obscured by clouds). And the sun never set on us.

But it was a LONG ASS flight. When I finally said to myself, “This is a *really* long flight…” we had three more hours to go. I must say, however, that Air Canada made it as comfy as possible in coach in a newish Boeing 777 — three full meals that were actually tasty (and all included a packet of hot sauce and a packet of soy sauce) including the Cup O’ Noodles for breakfast; reasonably spaced seats that reclined enough to keep your head back as you snoozed; and an on-demand entertainment system that allowed us to watch The Hangover, Star Trek, Anvil: The Story of Anvil, and the Pool (plus assorted award-winning Canadian short films, American TV shows, and endless promotions for the Air Canada Duty Free Shopping).

Our first impressions of Shanghai included a young woman who escorted us to a car service waiting for us who knew JUST enough English to pleasantly escort us from the arrivals area to the car pick-up, but when we tried to extend the conversation with, for example, “How is the weather in September?” She had no idea how to respond. But she delivered us to our waiting car, and the car delivered us to the doorstep of an awesome Craigs List apartment in the heart of the “West Village” of Shanghai (complete with Sephora and every other international “luxury brand” boutique).

Stay tuned…