Shang-high V

What else happened in Shanghai?

We saw the Bund also in the dark.

We took photos of buildings that looked almost like Europe.

We went to a tailor market and I got a custom-made traditional Chinese dress.
This picture is just outside the tailor shops.

And this as well.

We played beer pong with two amazingly annoying guys.

We ate at a restaurant in a same room with about 40 drunk, chain-smoking Chinese people.

We went for dinner with Eevi and ate salmiakki.

We went to Shanghai Design factory to see Eevi's school mates.
The design factory is inspired by the one in Otaniemi.

There's one design factory in Melbourne, one in Shanghai, and the original one in Otaniemi (NOT IN HELSINKI!).

We were hanging out with a bunch of Finnish students who went to a Finnish sauna on the rooftop of the school.

We relaxed in the elevator.

We ate GREAT Japanese food which was cooked in front of our eyes.
Cheap and good. So good.

And I had the worst airplane meal of my life! Seriously, why do you serve food at all if you do it so badly?

That was pretty much it...

Shang-high IV: Zhouzhuang

Our pink life-saver

I didn't even remember how frustrating it can be to travel somewhere and not to understand any of the language, or not being able to speak it at all. In Shanghai it was still easy, metro stations were written in English as well and restaurant menus had awkward but almost understandable translations for the foods (fried drunk husband being one of the dishes). But as soon as you get out of the city, everything becomes much much more difficult.

On Saturday we wanted to visit an old water town outside Shanghai, and after googling a bit we thought the way there sounded relatively easy. We asked the receptionist of our hostel to write our destination Zhouzhuang on a paper in Mandarin, and he checked from the Internet how to take the public transport there, and wrote that down as well. He said it should take us around 2 hours one-way and in the morning we were being very optimistic that we could really get there in such a short time... Well. In the end it took us seven hours from our hostel to Zhouzhuang, which is quite a long way for a one-day trip destination. We showed our little pink Mandarin note probably to 30 people during that day, and still we had no clue where we were or where we were supposed to be.

The bus station somewhere outside Shanghai

I will save you from a long description about how it was possible it took us so long to get there. Anyway at one point we were at a bus station where nobody spoke English and all the signs were in Chinese. People were staring at us, pointing at us and laughing at us, and it felt weird. Especially when adults stare at you so openly it's kind of confusing. Sandra and I were sitting outside a restaurant, being extremely frustrated about the whole trip and being so lost, when a Chinese cook working in the restaurant kitchen pointed at us through the glass window. A few seconds later, a boy around 2 or 3 years old came out of the restaurant and was looking around, obviously searching for something. He looked back at this man through the window to say that "I can't see it!", when the man pointed at us again, and this little boy turned around and saw us. It's very likely that we were the first non-Chinese people he had ever seen, because his reaction was so strong; he started laughing and got very shy and shocked but at the same time excited and ran fast back to the restaurant, the cooks watching from inside and laughing at this scene. The little boy and his reaction was one of the cutest and most genuine things I've seen in such a long time. Even now when I think about the situation it makes me smile, so funny that just our looks can get a little boy so confused :)

Finally in Zhouzhuang!

Actually Sandra was on a good mood. I just had a very good timing with this one.

A woman spreading poop.

You see the sun through the smog?

Sandra hates cats. Cats love Sandra.

This is China.

Zhouzhuang was absolutely beautiful. Full of tourists, but extremely interesting to see, and once you find an empty street you can really imagine what life there was like when the town was built some 800 years ago. And even though our way there took long and was frustrating at times, all in all it was a great experience to see some of the countryside as well, and we passed huge industrial areas in grey smoggy towns. Those factories are probably the ones where all that "Made in China" stuff comes from.

In the evening there were no buses going back to Shanghai, so we had to take a taxi. And guess how long it took us this time instead of 7 hours? Only 1 hour and 20 minutes! Haha.

I love the Chinese public transport system... So fast and convenient. Not. :)

Shang-high III: the Oriental Pearl Tower

Here's some pictures I took when walking to the Oriental Pearl Tower and finally being up there. It cost around 20 euros to get up and down with a lift, which I think is quite pricey, but then again going to Shanghai and not going up to the tower is like going to Oktoberfest and then not drinking any beer (I tried that last year and well, feels like I didn't go to Oktoberfest at all. Hah.).

Smog is actually quite a photogenic thing to have.

And now, a funny story from Shanghai. It is somewhat embarrassing for some people and might also be disgusting, and only in Finnish this time. Sorry ;D

Nukuin Shanghaissa hostellissa neljan hengen mixed dormissa, eli huoneessa jossa saattaa olla seka miehia etta naisia. Ensimmaiset paivat mun huonekamuina oli yksi taiwanilainen tytto, ja kaksi sveitsilaista miekkosta. Torstai-iltana mentiin yhdessa Sandran ja niiden kahden sveitsilaisen kanssa paikalliselle Pub Crawl -kierrokselle, joka kaytannossa tarkoittaa eraanlaista turistikierrosta, jonka aikana kierretaan pubeja ja baareja isolla joukolla. Illan paatteeksi otettiin sitten nelistaan taksi takaisin hostellille, ja menin saman tien nukkumaan omaan sankyyni. Yolla jossain vaiheessa heraan siihen, etta joku nykii peittoa mun paalta. Hetki kesti kunnes unenpopperossa tajusin, etta mun sangyssa on joku! Kaannyn ympari ja huomaan mun tyynylla haisevat jalat. Tassa vaiheessa alkaa jonkin verran paassa raksuttaa ja tajusin etta siina makoilee toinen sveitsilaisista. "Mita ihmetta sa teet siina??" kysyn kovaan aaneen ja tyyppi heraa, on hetken ihan pihalla ja menee nopeasti omaan sankyynsa nukkumaan. 

Aamulla heraan, toivotan hyvat huomenet, enka muistuta kyseista tyyppia sen yollisesta seikkailusta, koska veikkasin sen kavelleen vaan unissaan, enka halunnut sen olevan kamalan pahoillaan. Kun nousen ylos sangysta huomaan etta lattialla on vesilatakko, ja myos mun rinkka siina vieressa on vahan marka - mietin etta mitahan tohon lienee yolla kaatunut. Samana paivana sveitsilaiset jatkavat matkaa, toivottelen niille mukavaa Kiinan-reissua, ja sovitaan etta kun ne tulee noin kuukauden kuluttua Hongkongiin, niiden pitaa ottaa yhteytta muhun ja Sandraan etta voidaan sitten taas hengailla porukalla.

Vietetaan Sandran kanssa paiva kaupungilla kierrellen. Illalla kun palaan hostellille, tapaan huoneessa sen taiwanilaisen tyton joka siella on asustanut jo pari paivaa, nyt juttelen sen kanssa ekaa kertaa. "Kauhee se juttu mita viime yona tapahtui", tytto sanoo mulle ja pyorittelee paataan. En ihan tajunnut mista oli kyse, koska jalat mun tyynylla lahinna nauratti mua, ei se niin kamalaa ollut. "Siis mika juttu?" kysyn ihmeissani. "No se kun toi toinen noista miehista pissasi yolla tohon lattialle!"

...

Eli ilmeisesti taa sveitsilainen oli yolla lahtenyt kavelemaan unissaan, luullut olevansa vessassa, pissannut mun rinkan paalle, luullut mun sankya omakseen ja kompinyt sitten siihen. Mitahan tasta kuuluu ajatella? :D Rinkka sisaltoineen meni heti Hongkongissa pesuun, hyh.

Etta sellasta on hostelleissa.

Shang-high II

I liked Shanghai a lot. It's a fascinating mix of old & new China with some Western leftovers. Comparing to Hong Kong there is a lot of space, streets are wider and buildings lower. But Shanghai still is a lot bigger, there's no chance you could see the whole city through the thick smog even if looking from the highest of towers, and it took us more than an hour by bus to get out of the city when the starting point was close to the People's Square in the city center.

Last time I wrote there's not that many must-see sights in Shanghai, which I kind of like, because then you don't feel like you have to do something or see something. With Sandra we went to the Yuyuan Garden, which was a pretty place, definitely worth a visit. It was built in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty for the emperor as a place to spend leisure time and stroll around. The garden is surrounded by high walls and on the other side there are so many tourists and shops and such a buzz, that entering to the quiet garden felt like stepping to another planet. It's located in the middle of Shanghai and there's some beautiful old architecture for visitors to see. There were a lot of tourists, but the garden was big enough for the people to spread around so it didn't feel too crowded.

And at this point I can confess one thing: there are many things I miss about Europe. That is probably the reason why I get so excited when a place, a restaurant, or a meal reminds me of Europe, or we go to a place that looks like "it could be in Europe". When walking by the Bund, we saw some old buildings that we both thought could be in Prague or Budapest, and when a church bell started ringing I got very strong Europe vibes from the place. Also there is an area in Shanghai called the French Concession, which is strongly influenced by the colonial times, and when walking down the Anfu Road I almost felt like home. We got a Western style lunch at a lovely bakery and some heavenly coffee, and I enjoyed it amazingly much. Chinese / Japanese / Korean / Taiwanese / Thai food are all very good, but getting some bread and cheese every once in a while is so good for my soul...

Anfu Road

Sandra & the best coffee in Asia so far

Sunflour :P~~~~

Some more Europe vibes

Art outside a bar entrance

Everyone traveling in big, touristic Chinese cities should be aware of the fact that there are a LOT of scams around, especially in Beijing and Shanghai. One of the basic scams is that two Chinese people spot you and come and talk to you - usually they have an excuse for doing so, for example to me and Sandra these people came and asked if we could take a picture of them. After taking the picture, they start a small talk, telling they're students, being very interested in your home country, being very polite, asking questions and being overall nice. Then they ask what are you going to do next, and whatever the answer is, they'll have a reason why you should not do it. First two people said that "Yuyuan garden is way too crowded at this hour, you won't even get in", and the next two people said that "You shouldn't walk to Xintiandi, it will take you more than an hour!"

The next step is that they'll suggest you a "tea house" or a "tea festival" where you should go with them to learn more about Chinese culture. At this point you can be 100% sure it is a scam. We didn't go because we had heard about the scam before, but if we did, what would have happened is that those two locals would make you buy or try some crappy teas, and in the end the bill would be insanely high, for example 200 euros. At this point if you start to argue that the price is too high and you didn't know it would be so expensive, the owner of the tea house is totally in the scam as well, and everybody will tell you to pay the bill or they will "call the police". This scam is so common and I've heard several people falling into this trap... If you're a man traveling alone, there's a similar scam in which two hot Chinese girls come and talk to you and invite you for a drink so that they can practice their English. They'll take you to a bar in which the staff is in the scam as well, and at some point the girls just disappear or leave, and the lonely traveler is left behind with a bill full of the most expensive drinks of the bar, everything overpriced, or there's drinks nobody even drank.

Even if it would be nice to be able to trust everybody, it's better not to.

Those sneaky Chinese people...