Welcome to China!

My journey to China began with my co-worker Casey and my cousin Beth; our first destination was Shanghai. The journey to get to the airport to go to China proved to be more challenging than expected and at times I was even unsure we were going to make it to Shanghai. We had to wake up at 5am to make our 8:40 flight. Between 5 and 8 more things went wrong than I could have planned for. I realized I lost my wallet(I had my passport though), Casey overslept, the first bus to the airport was full, we waited in the wrong line at the airport, and they wanted to see my Alien Registration Card before I boarded, which was in my missing wallet. We finally made it through security a little after 8, grabbed a coffee and boarded the plane! We figured everything that could go wrong on our trip happened in the first 3 hours of our morning, so our trip was bound to be great! (My wallet was returned to me a week after I got back to Seoul, only in Korea would a Taxi driver mail you your wallet)

We arrived in Shanghai around 9:30, where Casey, Beth and I met Casey's friend Will. He is teaching in Beijing and flew over to meet us in Shanghai because he hadn’t been there yet. It was so helpful having someone who understands Chinese culture and can navigate better than we can in China. We started off our trip by taking the Maglev, a fast bullet train, with speeds of 240 miles per hour. I have to admit I actually got a little scared on this! The only other one of these in the world is in Japan, which I think I will be forced to go onto again when I am there next month. We arrived at our hostel, which was one of the best hostels I have stayed at. Part of the reason I choose the hostel was because of its name, the Koala Garden Inn. And I have to say the name proved true. It was an adorable hostel, will very friendly staff members surrounded by the art district of Shanghai.

After refreshing a bit, we headed to Renmin Park, where we found a nice restaurant that over looked the pond at the park. We sat back, enjoyed a beer, and took in the scenery. Next, we headed to Park hotel, right across the street from Renmin park. We read this hotel had some amazing views of Shanghai so we figured we would see for ourselves. The hotel was beautiful and the views were just as breathtaking as the book described. After this we headed to the Bund to see more views of the city. Our goal was to go on a boat cruise since it was sunny and clear out, but we accidentally bought tickets for a ferry instead. The ferry was crowded and all in doors, we quickly bailed and deiced it was ok to lose the 40 cents the ticket cost us. We headed back to Renmin Park, where we had seen Happy hour signs for a restaurant attached to the Art Museum. Taking taxis in China is an experience in itself. First, the drivers speak no English at all, and even when you show them on a map., written in Mandarin, they still can’t figure out where you want to go. I am very thankful for Will being there and having some experience with taxi drivers. Also, everything in China is cheap, including taxi rides. The average cost for a taxi ride was about $1.50. When we arrived at the Art Museum we had a little trouble finding the actual restaurant but once we did, we understood what all the hype was about. The restaurant was on roof top of the museum with an amazing view of the city. They weren’t really too eager to serve us the happy hour menu, but after some convincing on our parts, they finally gave in! Although extremely overpriced and snobby, the view made up for everything else.
Our second day in Shanghai was the definitely the highlight of our time in Shangahi. We started off going to the Bazaar. Here we learned the art of negotiation. It was a game to see how low we could make the shop owners go to get what we wanted. Beth and I definitely bought our share of goods that day. We learned what happens when you insult them with too low of a price and how when you walk away 9 times out of 10 they follow you and give you the price you want! After the Bazaar we went to Yuyuan Gardens and feed the fish in the ponds. We then headed to the Bund again to take the sightseeing tour. This was the most ridiculous experience ever! The book described it as such, but to actually go on it is like nothing I can even explain accurately. It is an underground gondola that transports you to one side the river to the other. You go through numerous psychedelic light rooms, some of the ones I remember are: “The Magma Room” and my favorite “Paradise and Hell.” When they said this last one everyone on the gondola stopped and became silent and then just burst out in laughter. Other highlights included blow up Santa dolls. It was a mind blowing experience, and well worth every penny! Once on the other side of the river we walked to Jin Mao tower, China’s second largest building. The plan was head to the observation deck on the 88th floor, but the line was too long and we were tired and hungry. Instead we headed to the 87th floor at the Cloud 9 bar. We enjoyed an experience drink and took in the views. I recently decided that I am skyline snob and really appreciate pretty skylines. I compare most to Seattle, but Shanghai may outrank Seattle in the most breathtaking category. At the end of the day we all agreed this was a perfect day and we couldn’t have asked for a better day together.

Day three in Shanghai, also out last day, was a bit more of a culture shock experience. We went to the Jade Buddha temple. I have never been to a Buddhist temple before, but I have been to other religious temples and thought I knew what to expect. I can usually find some sort of peace and spiritual experience at any religious building despite it not being Christian. However, at the Jade Buddha temple I had an uneasy feeling the whole time we were there. From the moment we walked in all it was a shopping experience and the workers of the temple trying to push merchandise on us. There was nothing spiritual about this place at all. Even in the various rooms where people were supposed to pray to Buddha, they were selling items and taking really loudly. I saw some people who I am assuming were Buddhist kneeling and doing their ritual practices, but even so it seemed like such a production and show. Then, to see the actual Jade Buddha we had to be extra money. I didn’t want to out of principal for how sacrilegious the whole experience was, but I chose to only to say I went there and no one should waste their money. The Jade Buddha was a sigh to see, but not worth the rest of the experience. I left feeling like I had lost something in myself by how corrupt the whole experience was. I want to go to another Buddha temple because I can’t imagine them all being this disrespectful to Buddhism.


After this experience we found a local Chinese restaurant where Will ordered us some amazing Chinese food! We enjoyed a long lunch and then headed back to the hostel before we left for our over night train to Beijing. I was sad to leave Shanghai, but excited to meet up with Toriann and Mark in Beijing!