Shanghai

Yes, Shanghai is for sure not China.
and, I doubt it is something from this world.

I went to the highest tower in China, third tallest in the world, oriental pearl tower.
It looks like a space rocket made of two giant pearls.
We went there at around sunset, to enjoy the night light, but when we finally got to the top it was already dark.

The view from up there?...astonishing.
Shanghai is a city with more than 18 million people. and its big!
One can see light from buildings as far as the view allows.
Around the tower there other giant buildings such as the shanghai world financial center, and a countless number of other skyscrapers.
It does't look real, maybe because of the magnitude of the whole thing. Its difficult to mentally conceive such a construction, thats why its easy to imagine it in miniature, like toys.

The buildings seem to be alive, because they are covered with lights that change colors or dynamic commercials.

Down there, is a town full of life. A friend said that it is like a fusion of oriental with occidental, maybe its true. Skyscrapers growing like mushrooms on top of old china markets, scooters, traffic, people selling all kinds of fruit, fake stuff, strange roasted animals, clothes, together with big banks, shopping centers, and the asymmetries go on and on.

I am impressed.

First impressions of shanghai.

I was starving. I had had only breakfast and some water during the train trip, we agreed on a recommended LP restaurant,1221.
Result: The Best meal ever!
Crispy duck, dumplings, sweet and sour pig, eggplant with ginger, fried rice with chicken and pineapple, fried noodles and mushrooms, special rice with banana plus a few other dishes, mixed Chinese tea, served in a acrobatic manner red cabernet sauvignon/merlot for 12 eurs. It was just what i needed.

From there we moved to a bars street, and went to Zapatas,
Its a club with a with big garden outside and bar with two floors inside, there is quite a lot of expats.

It was a lot of fun, most of the songs were a bit outdated, but most of the people were having a lot of fun, I had caipirinha!!

Yes, Shanghai is a city like no other, if I thought Geneva was the babel tower, where nationalities mix, i might have to reconsider my opinion.
Shanghai has for sure the same as Geneva, embedded in the asian mix.

Leaving hefei going to shanghai

The conference finished and it was time to move to Shanghai.
Since there were a lot of people from the conference leaving hefei, we had to wait in front of the hotel for a taxi. I travelled with two Italian colleagues, and since there was quite some luggage and most taxis run of gas (not petrol), meaning that most of the trunk is occupied by a gas cylinder, we had to go in two taxis to the train station. The Italians shared one, and I went alone in the other one.
Although I tried to tell my driver to follow the other taxi, the bastard did the opposite.
And there I was, in a direction that was probably not the right one, with my luggage and some of the other friends, going to a place I didn’t know how long it would take, with no references on how to meet my friends, and hoping that both taxis would arrive to the same train station (because there is more than one),
After driving through crowded hefei center for 50 minutes I arrive to the train station, that seemed to be still under construction, and arriving at the same time, the other taxi with my friends.

The entrance to the station was not clear, since there was just a big square, and some boards displaying information in Chinese.
There was a lot of people queuing to something that looked to be more like a bus terminal, but we were told that it was there the train station.
We queued, being smashed by a big crowd, we passed an x-ray machine placed on the street leading to what seem to be the terminal.
It wasn’t, that was just a pavilion where everybody going in the same train had to wait before going to the train platform.
The train was packed all the way to shanghai, we had seated seats, but there are other ways for traveling such as standing or seating on newspapers in the corridor.. The train was quite good, air-conditioned and fast, with a top speed at 260 km/h, the landscape shifted in between little lakes and farmed lands, to cities with buildings under construction,

When we arrived to shanghai it was night, and a big ocean of people traveled through tunnels until we reached the city surface. Skyscrapers, neon-lights and a city full of life.

We negotiated the taxi ride with a non-taxi driver for 5 eur, it took 1h30 to go through the rush hour traffic in the city center. The driver was fun and with a happy spirit, he made us repeat some Chinese phrases over and over. When we arrived to the hotel he asked for 10 eurs, with the excuse that it had taken a long time to get there, only because he was a fun guy we payed 7 eurs for 1h30 traffic ride and Chinese language class, ta-Buu-txi, pingwa.

Being a turist in hefei

In general, Chinese people don't look exactly like us, they have a different shape of eyes, different skin, different height, etc etc.

In the same way we are interested by their looks and culture, they do feel the same about us.
Although China has been receiving an increasing number or tourists every year, somehow we still are subject of interest.

Its common to see them looking/staring at us, sometimes giving us a big smile, waving, pointing etc. Somehow while walking around in hefei, i could feel like an exotic specie.

My experience so far makes me thing that chinese people are shy, curious, and kind.
yesterday in the center of hefei in a very busy walking street, while asking for directions, people stopped to look at us and others trying to help giving directions, at some point there was already a quite big group of people surrounding us.

In the first bar we went, the music was very loud and most of the chinese seemd to be playing drinking games. In the second one the manager at the door received us speaking english, his name was turbo kong and lead us to the bar. here also most of the people was playing the same drinking game.
He explained that the game consists in rolling a set of 5 dice, the person that has more dice with the same number wins. (the game is a bit more complicated since one can cheat and lie about the result, but if you are caught you loose).

In both bars, We were the only 'whites', the bar 'No 88' was decorated with lamps and red laser lights. most of the people was ordering strange drinks served in big jars, that all the people from the same group would share. time to time people would come and cheer with us.
The music in the bar was ok, and a few times some performers came to sing (like karaoke) to cheer up the whole crowd.
They played the best "Happy Birthday" version ever :). I had never seen so many people dancing to 'happy birthday'

It was fun.

still so much too see

Today was my presentation, i gave it in the main auditorium, which is a huge room that can seat more than 500 people, but luckilly it was not full, otherwise I would have been more stressed.

I think it went very well, and i hadled it nicelly, and remain cool during a series of provocative questions.

few words from colleagues: excellent, exceptional, very good, you were relaxed.

 

So I have reasons to be happy!

 

Because I have been restraining myself, not to go out in order to concentrate to the presentation, I still havent seen as much as I should.

 

Yesterday, the organisers of the conference arranged a chineese cultural evening, in the hotel, there were acrobats, opera singers, dancers and...the face changing performance.

For those that like magic tricks you should see this. Its quite stunning.

 

Tonight I will have some drinks to comemorate my presentation. gambei!

china taxi experience

In the last two days I have been moving around by taxi around hefei.

A taxi ride that in geneva would cost about 20chf (13 eur), here costs about 1 chf.

The question is how can these people have as main job being a taxi driver, pay the gas, spend some gas to drive around looking for clients and still have some money in the end of the day to pay the meals.

either that, or ocidental taxi drivers are making too much money.

 

Taxis are mainly old cars, about to die, or that are miracles of the car industry for still being able to move around.

But one can also find better cars for a little more money, 1.2 chf instead of 1 chf. Thats how much you have to pay for confort around here.

 

The normal taxis, dont have seat bealts in the back seat. In the front seat there are usually seat bealts, but sometimes dont work, or are too dusty for never being used.

 

The driving is quite safe, taxi drivers keep on klaxoning all the time to other cars to catch their attention.

Sometimes I think it would be possible to drive with the eyes closed, and like bats do, following the sound to know about the surroundings.

 

To see how safe is driving around here, scooters drivers dont ware helmets, and sometimes you have the whole familly on it, father mother and little children.

 

Hefei - First impressions

In Beijing I found most of my colleagues, that came with different airlines, we all picked the fight to Hefei where a Bus from the hotel was waiting for us.
In that bus ride, there were about 30 people, coming from different places in the world to attend the same conference.
The ride from the airport was quite enlightening.

The bus driver was using the klaxon at every move from other cars, and other drivers  were doing the same. For some moment it reminded me "Little Miss Sunshine" movie.
The three-lane street was comfortably large for cars to get some speed. There were scooters  on the side with 2, 3 people on it. no one wears helmet.

The landscape was populated by tall new buildings, 90% of the cases still under construction. here it seems that the construction waste is burnt directly on site.
In some more open areas there are small buildings and people walking. There are repair shops,small markets or other small business I don't know what they do. The air looks  heavy and it threatens to rain.

We arrive at the Hotel, a new modern building with triangular shape. Tired, I check-in  and go up to my new room.
It has all the comfort, big bed, big screen tv, big bathroom  with shower and bathtub. the bathroom is separated from the room with a big glass window, one  can have a bath having a view over the city.
Since I wanted to have a shower, i tried to let the water run...and...big water leak!!

After my shower i go to the reception and ask for help to 2 girls with very poor english.
I try to explain myself by saying in simple language: "Big problem, my room, shower,  water everywhere".

They look confused, but nod their heads affirmatively, and dont react.
I say "I show you", and one of them comes with me.. at some point she starts leading the  way and takes me to see the swimming pool. she says "here, shower".

I think "oh sh#t"
I say: " You come, I show you Big Problem, my shower"
i managed to convince her to follow me, and finally show her the new fountain in my  room. She says: "Ooooohhhhh", and calls someone, then leaves.

A few minutes later, I have 3 people turning the bathtub around trying to fix the  problem..

Tired and jetlaged, seeing the mess, I decided to call the reception, saying i want a new  room. "No problem, me sends key". And a few minutes later was relaxing in my new room.
When I say 'new', I mean new. The hotel seems to have been finished a few weeks ago, and  everything is shining and ...with some leaks.

At 7pm i go down to the reception dinner, great food, lots of it, I stuffed my self. Had 1 glass of  wine too much, to help me sleep.

Wake up at 6h30am for breakfast, conference starts at 8am.
On the way to the conference site, all buildings look new and somehow  inhabited.
The sun is shining, one can see the blue sky by looking up, but at the horizon level there is pollution.

Departure towards China

The journey begun with a taxi ride to the airport, I managed to convince the gallician driver that i was really late, and i was, this resulted in a crazy driving reaching for every red light in town.
But it helped, because although i was the last to board, i didn't miss the flight.

The flight to Frankfurt was semi full, and i choose an empty space in the aisle with an empty space separating me from the next person, i like to have space in airplanes..
But my effort was in vain, a few minutes after take off, my neighbor an Indian young man, moves closer to me.
He was clearly nervous, holding his hands together in front of his face, almost like in a prayer.
He started the conversation with the excuse that that would keep him calm through the flight. he talked most of the time, but sometimes i couldn't hear him because of the noise from the engines, but i continued nodding my head like if I did.
He is a representative of Gucci watches in India, Imram was his name and in the end of the flight gave my his business card, in case i decide one day to go and visit mombai.

The next flight to Beijing was normal, was operated by air china and lasted 9 hours, my neighbor this time was a German man, but we only talked about the casual bumps due to the confined space, and the performance of the pilot during the landing. The dinner was chicken and the breakfast was pork. The time during the flight was spent trying to sleep in order to trick the jet-lag, but didn't managed.
Arrived at 6am local time, and in front of me another 6 hours before my next flight to hefei.

Tired and sleepy i spent most of the time from lounge to lounge, listening to music, and seeing the amazing performance of the Chinese officials. They look so proud with those uniforms. Here no matter which job you do you get an uniform.

China

Tomorrow I will be traveling there. For business and leisure, over a period of two weeks.
About 10 years ago i visited Macau at that time still under Portuguese administration and Hong Kong that had just been converted into a special administrative region of China.

My memories are very good, great traditions and superstitions, vivid colors and dense smells, a different culture, on the other side of the globe.

During this time, a lot have changed, China is growing at an impressive pace, and I expect to see a big contrast.

Some might argue that 2 weeks is not enough to sense the real china, 1 month can be not even sufficient, and one year might be still little...

The population of China grows more that 10 Million people per year, that's more than the whole population of Portugal. Its difficult to conceive that every year a new country grows inside a country...

China is changing, with its goods and bads, and i am going to get the feel of it.

keep tuned.