Part 7. Exploring Shanghai

Part 7. Exploring Shanghai

Before I write Part 7 of the Diary, I would like to tell you something about Shanghai and its more recent history. I won’t go into details because the history is already available in books and on websites. As you probably know, Shanghai was one of the ports around the coastline which the Chinese rulers were forced to open for business following the second opium war. It is worth reading the terms of both the Nanjing Treaty (1842) and the various Treaties of Tianjin (1858) that the Chinese were forced to adopt. One of the saddest terms perhaps was that they had to allow Foreigners, especially Missionaries free access anywhere because this caused opposition to mission. Most of the causes of the war are hard to pinpoint; but one major cause was the fact that Britain, France, Holland, Russia and others were going bankrupt because of the one-way trade over tea exports! (Some while ago, I read a very small book entitled: All the Tea in China. It is still available and full of facts.)

The second part of their history involved the Japanese invasion, first in Manchuria, then across the entire East of the country. Then following the Japanese surrender after WWII, the Civil War proceeded up to the establishment of the Peoples’ Republic of China in 1949, under Chairman Mao Ze dong.

Shanghai today is a huge city-Port with a population perhaps equal to that of Ontario or 14 million. Looking at the map one can see that the city is divided by the winding river, the Huang Pu Jiang. In the five or more Km that it flows through the downtown area, that portion of the river flows from south to north. Continuing with the flow down stream, we come to the mouth of the river where it meets the estuary of the Yangze River. On my first visit to Shanghai in 1988, there was really nothing on the east side of the river, only farms and marshland. A small ferry would take you across for no more than a 100 metre walk just to see what was there. But today, it has changed and Wow! Has it ever changed!

(Now we move on to Shang-hai (meaning Up from- the Sea) Most of the city names in China relate to their geography or history. For example Bei-jing means North-Capital. Nan-jing means South-capital; and Dong-jing means East-capital. (But Dong jing is not a Chinese city: It is the Chinese name for Tokyo, Japan.) And there is no formal city name of Xi-jing meaning western capital: That city has a slightly different name which many of you know well. It is Xi-an meaning Western Peace. This was the location of perhaps their most influential Dynasty; Tang.)

With the knowledge that dong means east and xi means west, the land on the east side of the Pu River is called Pudong. Although most people call the city ‘Shanghai’, this really relates to the west side of the Pu River. Many locals refer to it as Pu xi. And whereas 20 years ago there was a single ferry boat to cross over, today three of the world’s largest suspension bridges span the river; plus many multi-lane traffic tunnels.

Until the turn of this century, Shanghai’s Municipal Government, the historical Peace and Cathay Hotels and many famous offices and banks lined the western bank of the River along a famous waterfront called the Bund. The Bund is wider now; ultramodern and crowded with people 24/7. A similar Bund for pedestrians is now growing even as you read this, along the Pudong Shoreline. The Municipal Government has been rebuilt at the other end of the historic Nanjing Road in Renmin Square (the former Horse Racing track of the British and French settlers.)

Pudong on the other hand now shares the honour of being the Financial capital of China together with Hong Kong; and possibly Asia as well. Only two weeks ago, I read that in Pudong within the last 20 years, they have built 5000 building with over 80 floors. The new international airport is now 35 km from the Bund. From Downtown, the Magnetic Levitation train (no wheels) can take you to the airport reaching a speed of 430 km/hour, in 7 minutes, for about $Cd10. It does not seem too long ago that I rode on the first subway on the first day for a distance of about five stations. In no time, there are now five separate subway lines. At a similar date, I was privileged to walk across the first of the suspension Bridges on the day before it was opened to the Public and traffic. Now it is part of Shanghai’s 250 km ring road.

I want to conclude with another observation. Twenty years ago in 1988, many of the streets of the foreign settlements still existed. The history of that era was evident in any tour. But gradually it was hidden or destroyed perhaps because of embarrassment for both contestants of the Opium Wars. But gradually, the history has returned with Chinese pride: One of their most advanced Museums technologically has been built and enlarged right in the basement of the first, and one of the tallest towers. They should be congratulated and admired for this.

Saturday, September 22nd.

Early that morning I met my friend in the lobby. I will simplify her name to Xin Mei . She is as beautiful and intelligent as ever. We set out to travel to Thames Town. Now I must explain this British name.

I heard about it first, perhaps a year ago from my Brother in England. One of several websites stated:

Chinese delegates from a town dubbed "Little Britain" have toured the Prince of Wales' model village in Dorset, England for inspiration for their own project.
Thames Town, on the outskirts of Shanghai, has been created to look like a quintessential English town. It has cobbled streets, mock Tudor houses, English-style boutiques, pubs and even a fish and chip shop. On Sunday, its civic leaders toured Poundbury to learn about Charles’s urban expansion to nearby Dorchester. Thames Town, created in Song jiang, has a sandstone church based on a Bristol Chapel; and a near to exact replica of The Rock Point Inn in Lyme Regis. The Town is one of nine satellite towns planned for Shanghai with replica German, Italian, and Spanish towns still under development.

That’s what the Google website wrote. These were the brain child of a former Shanghai Mayor.

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Now Xin and I were about to find out for ourselves. Believe me, it was not an easy place to find nor to reach by public transport. And it was raining. We took the subway directly to the Huating Sheraton Hotel. Then we walked through the rain to the huge Bus Station and caught the 10:30 am sightseeing bus heading for a place called Song Jian, some 40 km from where we started.

Sightseeing is not really a good description. The Bus wandered through various little villages and new industrial sites dropping passengers and picking up more. It was really a rural bus. Although the fare was only Y8, it took us until 12 noon through grid-locked traffic to get to Song Jian (not Thames Town.) Then we found a taxi to Tames Town, a Y14 ride. It would have made a great drawing for a children’s book. It was a fenced city, with very expensive homes. But it was a total surprise. There were very few people there walking the streets except for about 12 Brides and Grooms, who were there merely to take wedding photographs. And similar to Jinan, each couple had a scene director and cameraman. The chapel was really a small Cathedral according to one sign. But it too was locked. It was modeled on Christ Church, Clifton, Bristol. By its side was a large statue of Winston Churchill. This was located in the old style market square. Through the town flowed a narrow stream aptly called the Thames but truly a miniature. It seemed to flow into a lake. Therefore from the air we can imagine the streets to be shaped in several concentric circles but with the circles reduced to a letter ‘C’ shape.

And we were excited to stumble on the Rock Point Inn and Cobb Gate Fish Bar; a Fish and Chip Shop based on and copied from the one in Lyme Regis, England. We were hungry and anticipated something special. What we found was that these side by side buildings were empty and locked, with no furnishings whatsoever. So much for Fish and Chips: Not even a newspaper for wrapping them. There was a real estate office where Xin was able to discover that the homes sold for prices in the range of Y18, 000/square metre up to Y30,000. This compared with the prices of condominiums at MOMA in Beijing. I was surprised to learn that most of these hundreds of homes were already sold with only one other area available.

The Thames River was not so picturesque, but the City Hall was quite impressive. There were lots of Georgian style buildings: obviously a lot of planning and money had gone into this town, but it seemed so remote and somewhat like a white elephant. There was one small hotel where the restaurant was open and we had a great meal of fried Crab in curry sauce, turbot grilled with toast points, and chrysanthemum tea in a see-through teapot heated on a candle. Scattered through the town are the traditional red London phone booths. There were also some security guards who were dressed in uniforms that might have represented Tower of London Beefeaters, but I’m not sure. It is said that ultimately there could be three Universities there.

One of the big problems was the lack of public transport or even taxis to serve this city and its environs. We walked a long way to the main gate but nothing came. So we walked about two km to a busier road. We were able to stop a cab but he was not permitted to take us anywhere nearby. (I wish I could explain that.) However, he took us for free to another location where we were given a ride by a friendly free-lance driver who took us about 30 km to Zhu Jia Jiao to see the ancient traditional Chinese City.

(This was the second of the nine new cities surrounding Shanghai. We did not visit any others: They included An Ting (a German town); Luo Dian (Sweden); Pu Jiang (Italy); Feng Chang (Spain); Feng Jing (Canada); and Harbour Newtown, (European). Of these, only the German town is listed as being completed. (According to various websites, the Vice Mayor who is credited with creating this scheme of providing new university towns to accommodate 500,000 people, was arrested and demoted on a corruption land deal charge. Perhaps this had delayed progress.)

We were now in this extremely interesting and very picturesque ancient Chinese town with a great river, a lovely canal flowing into it, with stores and houses along it, tourist punts gliding through, and ancient arched bridges. But we were out of time; or rather, running out of daylight. We stayed for supper on a balcony overlooking the narrow canal: a gentle rain started to fall but it was pleasant and peaceful in this heat. I really enjoyed it! I would certainly go there again.

Sunday, September 23rd

This year, Shanghai was host city for the 2007 Disabled (Para) Olympics. Xin and I met at 8:15, took the subway to Renmin Square and then started to walk the Nanjing Road towards the Bund. (All visitors do this.) Near the square, there were about 2000 yellow shirted volunteers rallying to enjoy a pep-talk before being assigned to tasks and duties at the games. All along the road, many disabled were practicing dancing, possibly part of the opening ceremonies; others were singing in groups; yet others, very young, not even teenagers, were walking high up on stilts: Even their feet were higher than my head. Others from the crowds of onlookers were posing with them for photos. One can sense the enthusiasm and uplifted spirits like a charge of electricity in the air. There were even teams of local hospital nurses at tables, volunteering to monitor our blood pressure. I was 120/80 and received an Olympic sticker on my arm for taking part. What a happy party it was.

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By the time we had reached the Bund, it was raining hard. So we took the laser tunnel to Pudong. (Earlier, I mentioned that Pudong was across the river. I have yet to find a way to walk to the other side. Public transport is the only way; one cannot merely ‘cross over!’) This tunnel is similar to an amusement park ride. Buy a ticket; Go down the escalator; get on a small exclusive enclosed remotely powered carriage; stand by the front window, and ride the tunnel slowly. It is a dazzling laser light show with scary creatures that jump out, lights that blind and lights in extremely pretty patterns and colours. The ride lasts about ten to 15 minutes on the Pudong side.

From there we walked straight to the Oriental Pearl Tower. This was the first of the high buildings and has remained the symbol of Shanghai’s skyline in every ad and every TV view. There are three vertical legs, three spherical viewing and exhibition platforms, and the place where you can see today’s Shanghai’s River scene in daylight, at sunset, and at night in floodlights. (Oh! what a difference it is now compared with 1988 when I first saw it, and hated it.) Some critics say that it is now more western. What an insult! It is now unique. If you want to know what Shanghai looked like originally, then go under the main floor of the Pearl Tower and spend some hours in the imaginative museum with its street scenes and stores from the Victorian era. It was not the first visit for either of us, but we never tire from visits. This time we were there for over three hours. It was fabulous.)

Two years ago, they had built another tower, Xin Mau, that soared above the original Pearl. Now a third tower is rising which has already eclipsed these two and is still heading star wards. After a Japanese lunch nearby, we went for a repeat visit to the Aquarium. There are many spectacular ones all over China, but this is our favorite: Multi-level and by far the best anywhere. It is not so much what they exhibit there; it is more the surprise at finding so much that we never knew existed in the ocean depths. I often wonder what a preschooler would invent if they were asked to draw the weirdest fish they could imagine; and in the brightest colours. Then take them to this place and surprise them just how unimaginative they had been.

At the lowest level, you enter a chamber with huge aqua tanks. Then you descend on the escalator and enter a transparent tubular tunnel with a moving belt floor. The floor wanders in a snake fashion through the aquarium so that the fish are swimming overhead and along each side. It appears as if you are riding underwater along the ocean bed with unbelievably beautiful coral reefs on each side. In reality we are passing through individual tanks which separate the eaters from the edibles. But primarily at mealtimes, SCUBA clad divers appear with food and hand feed the hungry fast moving species. At other times, divers move along cleaning the tubular glass of algae. In a way, I learned a lot: But I retained very little of what I saw. It is knowledge saturation at its best.

It was just before supper when we left and the sun was blindingly bright. We walked back to the river to see the view from the new Pudong ‘Bund’ and stayed for a while watching the river traffic and other activities. It is so restful, peaceful, and overwhelming because of their incredible imaginations. We could see a high building with about seven floors housing every type and name of fast food outlet you have ever encountered. We tried to find an outlet with windows on the River side. We ended up with a no-window Burger-King. One creative graffiti artist had replaced the B and g in Burger with and M and d, to read Murder-King.

We found a subway station, returned to the Puxi side, and walked back to the Bund. There in the darkness, we watched the illuminated boats. There were a few riverboats cruising along slowly, that carried huge video screens, I suppose; displaying Commercials of familiar products. From there we walked the several km back along the Nanjing Lu to Renmin Guang Chang (meaning People’s Square.) Then we caught the subway back to the main station and my Hotel. (Ah! those subways! Crush crowds everywhere. Very personal!) Incidentally, in order to make attempts to reduce air pollution, primarily for 2008, some cities restrict cars by various methods. Cars have either odd or even licence numbers: In some places, they are restricted for use only on odd or even dates. Others ban all private cars for say, a week. On those days, buses and subways are burger!) Tonight was no exception. So I had a foot massage.

Monday September 24th.

Another fabulous day with my Friend: It is such a pleasure to be with adventurous explorers who have still much to see for the very first time; and to observe their reactions. We went to the famous and beautiful Shanghai Zoo. At the entrance there were at least 400 school children all dressed in spotless identical white and blue uniforms: They were all full of energy, excitement, and anticipation. It was a great Sunny day, and very hot. We needed hats and suntan lotion.

The Zoo is a huge area, with beautiful manicured lawns; streams, lakes, and hidden layouts with open enclosures and cages. We started at the gate with turtles, alligators, and fish, and ended up this first section by attending an elephant show. My friend had never seen a real live elephant before, and now there were five of them to perform. I was surprised to discover that most of the audience was scared of these elephants, even with handlers on their backs. It was announced that these handlers were from Xi shuang banna, Yunnan, the Province in the remote south-west corner of China. That’s where elephants are from.

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The elephants came right to the railing. Other handlers were selling bags of cucumber, sliced lengthwise, to feed them. It seemed to be quite a treat. I stood under the trunk of one while holding a slice. The trunk was quite soft at the tip as it sought the cucumber in my hand. This seemed to give others the confidence to come closer.

The elephants were well trained; we saw them dance on hind legs; throw a basket ball; kick soccer balls to try and score goals, and the typical narrow beam walk. The fun part really occurred when a teen aged boy and girl volunteered to lie down and were each covered with a blanket. Then an elephant proceeded to place its foot on the girl first. But to ensure safety, the elephant used its trunk to feel the body of the girl for quite some time before placing its foot down gently on her stomach. Afterwards the girl was asked if she was scared: I was told that she had answered; ‘Yes, and embarrassed’. The spectacular trick was when a handler stood under the trunk, raised himself up onto the tusks and then placed his head completely in the elephant’s mouth. Then the elephant galloped across the small arena.

After the show, members of the audience were invited to sit on an elephant for a small fee while photos were taken. Two elephants linked their trunks to form a low swing. There was another elephant standing by, so I asked permission to ride on it. I stood with my back to the trunk. It slid its trunk between my knees, then up and around my waist. Then it lifted me into the air and held me firmly on its forehead with each of my feet planted on a tusk. It was very secure. Then it lowered me down so gently. For women, it placed the trunk around their waist and hoisted them up onto its forehead securely.

There was every kind of animal and bird there located in very picturesque settings and enclosures. The highlight had to be the xiao mao and da xiong mao. The xiao mao are the more common lesser pandas. They are quite small and live in trees, with a face (and size) quite similar to a Canadian raccoon. They are extremely friendly and will take food from your fingers. Also they are quite common in zoos around the world. The Da xiong mao is the Giant Panda. I think there were about six of them at this zoo. The houses were not that well kept, but this was where they fed on Bamboo. (Nowadays, pandas are fed other foods such as apples and milk with cereal. This provides far more nourishment in captivity and results in a life extension of eight to ten years over those in the wild.) There was one other panda outdoors wandering around for exercise.

I want to describe one other setting that was truly a cultural problem for me. It was the first time ever at a zoo anywhere that I have visited, where they exhibited various breeds and sizes of dogs in cages. These were not pets by any measure: But neither were they wild. And most of them were noisy and barking. This made me angry at first and I walked away. But why am I not angry when I see all the other conventional animals in captivity. Even the others did not bother me and I fed them snacks of cereal. Perhaps they have adapted to the captive cage and found it less dangerous than being out in the wild and a potential member of the food chain. I have still not reconciled my ambiguous viewpoint.

This is not a new zoo: I can recall passing it in 1988, and many times since, because it is quite near the original airport. However, it would appear to have undergone several extensions and numerous reconstruction projects to accommodate new species. A large one was undergoing reconstruction at this time. After six hours of walking and viewing, we were very tired. So we took a cab to Zhong Shan Park and walked a bit more. There were quite a few young people flying kites. Then we had a barbeque supper. While walking to the subway, we passed a small supermarket. At that instant, an old lady climbing three or four steps started to lose her balance. So I stepped up and grabbed her arm to help her up. I was behind her, but she spoke to my friend. I asked: What did she say? I was told that she said that whomever saved her had to be a foreigner. Back at McDonald’s near the hotel, it was time for a sad farewell. But comings and goings are always like that, aren’t they! It had been three great days of discovery in Shanghai and a deeper friendship.

Throughout China, the Chinese name, Zhong Shan is well used for main street and park names. In English, the name is more familiar as Sun Yat Sen, the first leader of the Republic from 1911 to 1925, following the last Dynasty of Qing.

Tuesday, September 25th.

Today was a special day in China. It is known as the Mid-Autumn festival, and the day that people unite to celebrate with a family meal and Moon cakes. Perhaps it is also traditionally the end of the harvest; but much of China has three harvests. In the morning I was met at the Hotel by my old friend, Wang Yue. I had not seen him for four years.

Let me tell you briefly how we first met: In the early 1990s I was travelling through China trying to interest governments in a new idea which we called a Hybrid aircraft because it was like a rigid dirigible, the size of a Boeing 747, that could fly quite fast; it could hover like a helicopter, and could take off and land vertically. I had introduced it to Canadians and others at the Lighter than Air conference at Expo 86 in Vancouver.

In Shanghai, the aircraft manufacturer, (and also Premier Zhu Rongji,) were interested. At a meeting, several high ranking officials met to discuss the idea in greater detail. But there was one representative, who was the Head of Aerospace for the Shanghai Government. We were closeted together for several hours at a separate table to discuss all the technical side. Mr. Wang was and is a real gentleman and we trusted each other right from the start. For many years after that, we worked together in presentations and shows in Eastern China. Although we were unsuccessful in convincing the Canadian Government to cooperate, our friendship bond was firm. Now we are both retired with fond memories and dreams of what might have been.

We drove to his home to meet his wife, and talked over old times and reminisced about all the people we knew in the past. Then we had a delightful traditional lunch she had prepared, including a moon cake. Mr. Wang then explained the reasons for the moon cakes. The tradition came from the 12th century in the Yuan Dynasty. China’s Song Dynasty had been overrun and conquered by the Northern hordes, the Monguls, led by Genghis Kahn. He went on to conquer Asia and as far west as Poland and the Bosphorus. Three Emperors later, China was still ruled by his Grandson Kublai Kahn from his Palace in Nei Mongu (Inner Mongolia) which he called Xanadu. (If that name is familiar, it was the name used on the Californian estate of the William Randolph Hearst family known as Hearst Castle at San Simeon. In the fictional story of Citizen Cane, the Castle was used and named Xanadu.)

During the time of Kublai Kahn, the peasants became organized secretly into a revolutionary army to overthrow this foreign ruler. In order to keep the date of the uprising secret until the last moment, the plan was to bake cakes and the date was written and inserted in the cakes to coincide with the next mid-Autumn full moon. The revolution failed but the tradition of having small cakes (usually very sweet) and with a tasty centre filling has continued to this very day.

Then he and I walked many blocks to visit the famous Fudan University and campus. It now embodies an ultramodern five corner shopping plaza at one end, a new highway under a tunnel to minimize traffic noise, and the campus itself with the enormous old statue of Chairman Mao. There were students flowing everywhere. But the shopping mall comprises many unique designs and floral gardens.

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One of Mr. Wang’s sons is a resident of Vancouver. His wife and daughter were visiting from Canada, and a reunion supper for the families had been arranged and booked in one of a plaza of restaurants not far from the University. Again it was a traditional supper with a wide variety of dishes. (One surprise was roasted doves.) It concluded with Moon Cake. After supper, I bid them au revoir and taxied back to the Hotel.

Wednesday, September 26th.

You might say that this is when education and learning has to be transformed into experience using experimentation and logic. In other words, I was on my own and about to get lost in an environment where I could not speak nor read the character language; only pinyin. In fact, Shanghai has its own unique dialect. As a very simple example, the phrase thank you (Xie xie) becomes Xia xia Nong, or at least that is what it sounds like. I mentioned earlier that Shanghai has five separate subway lines. Two of the later ones are, for much of the way, elevated above ground. That presents an interesting challenge to discover and experience these routes.

I set out this morning to use the subway from the Shanghai railway station (red line 1) to the Bund; changing at Renmin Guang chang to the green line 2. (Instead, I walked to the Bund along the Nanjing Road. At one point a young man asked me to take his photo for him in front of the famous pedestrian entrance. He happened to be from Jilin, so soon we were walking together and talking and sharing memories of Chang chun. Along the Bund, (in fact near Mr. Wang’s original office) we parted and I headed further south along the river, taking in all the amazing changes within the last two years. Finally I turned west and wound my way by memory up to Yu yuan, a famous walled garden with an equally famous teahouse built in a lake where Queen Elizabeth once had tea. The garden was good but disappointing mainly because it was crowded with hundreds of tourists of many languages, and tour guides competing with megaphones in several languages. I had visited here numerous times in the past, but I remembered it as being much larger, and more beautiful. Then again, gardens deserve silence. Then I found my way cross-town back to the Nanjing Lu. Perhaps because of the sun and heat or just low blood/sugar, I did not feel too well: So I had a second breakfast. It was really hot and humid. I drank a whole bottle of orange juice; walked in an ice cold store, and then sat on a low wall to have a sitting-up forty winks near Renmin square. I was thinking of going back to the Bronze exhibits in the museum again because it is one of the most interesting in the world and because it demonstrates with a series of models just how the ancient complex bronze shapes and interlocking pieces were cast. But I have photographed it numerous times, so instead I took the green line subway to Pudong and to the first station on the Mag-Lev high speed line to the Pudong Fei ji gang (airport). (Seniors are fortunate all over China because we either have very low fares or no fares.) The wheel-less train is as good as ever: One of the smoothest rides for 30 km; It reaches a speed of 430 km / hour just briefly (about 2 to 3 minutes) and completes the distance in a few seconds over 7 minutes. There I was able to check out details of my flight for the next day, and had a lovely quiet lunch watching the passengers come and go. After that I took the return leg back to Shanghai. Quite surprisingly, I saw a Mag-Lev museum. For passengers the entrance fee was half if you had just ridden on the train. So I went in. It displayed the entire history of Krauss-Maffei’s development of the technology and trains in Alach, Bavaria. For anyone who recalls the Bill Davis era in Ontario, Canada tried to share those early Mag-Lev development days through Spar Aerospace and also UTDC in Kingston. I recall the first experimental track on Caledonia Road; and I also made more than one trip to Alach for the train business and the Leopard Tank. I spent more than an hour at the Museum learning so much more, buying the only book in English, and photographing the various models and displays. Then I took the subway back to the Shanghai main rail station by detouring to the new blue 4 line that was above ground and elevated. It had been a really interesting and satisfying day. I finished the day by checking my email, having a McDonald’s Filet of fish, and phoning Xin to say good bye before packing. Then I watched the Norway versus Germany Women’s soccer (Football) final being played in Tian jin.

Tomorrow, early, I leave Shanghai for Shenzhen. See you in the morning!