I treated the Koreans to a sunday roast dinner in Shanghai. They were delighted to finally find out what a Yorkshire pudding was. ("Oooh and gravy!") And they loved their Strongbow cider (I tried to dissuade them from drinking that but to no avail..."Chavs drink that" is meaningless to them). However I think Sara accurately summed up their opinion of it: "it would be better with kimchee".
Koreans eh.
Monday, or Tuesday (or maybe even Sunday who knows) was Tomb Sweeping day in China. This is where you go and sweep tombs. (This is about all the information I got out of my Chinese friends. The new generation doesn't know very much about tradition... Also I heard that the government is thinking of limiting the kind of tomb you can have as the nouveau riche here are determined to rot in as much luxury as they wallowed in in life-some of them put even the First Emperor's rivers of mecury and terracotta army to shame...)
However, if you are Sara, Boram and I, you take advantage of the two days extra holiday and jet off to Shanghai. Those two had never been, and I will never turn down a visit, so we booked the cheapest flights, all scheduled for midnight, and promptly spent the money saved on paying the higher nighttime taxi rates to the airport. We flew into Pudong airport and this was rather bittersweet as it has always been my ambition to ride the 430km/h maglev (I'm turning into a bit of a train nut...) which connects it to the city and I had been waiting for the opportunity to use Pudong (internal flights normally go to Hongqiao) just so I could ride the maglev.
But as we arrived so late it had finished running... So we got a coach instead. At least we got the entertainment of two elderly folks screaming at each other in the Shanghai dialect, Wu, for half the journey.
Bizarrely, this trip I heard so many people speaking Wu. I swear I did not hear it last time... It's interesting that is survives so strongly in such a cosmopolitan city when Mandarin is used so much.
1st stop were the Yu gardens. I don't like the Yu gardens. They are not actually gardens but a collection of ye olde style buildings crammed with tacky shops. Tourists go because they think they can see old China. Tip: never go to a ye olde tourist spot in China. Partly because these are also the places where, like Sara, you make a surprise, and slightly unwilling, donation to someone's cigarette fund when you realise your bag is hanging open and your purse is 200 yuan lighter than it was...
Far more interesting was the network of houses and shops north-east of Yu Gardens. These are actually fairly old and are crammed with stalls selling vegetables and people hacking bits of meat on the floor. And small dogs trying to eat your ankles. And old men playing mahjong in the road just where young men want to ride their mopeds.
We bought dumplings (Shanghai's speciality) and Sara gobbled one up before realising it was boiling hot and then spent an agonising 10 seconds trying to not to spit it out before finally going against 20 years of Korean manners and ejecting it into the soy sauce...
I showed the Koreans the antique market underneath Yu Gardens. I'd bought some toffee haws on-a-stick and consequently had sticky hands so I ducked into one of the shops looking for a bin. It turned out to be one I'd visited back in October and bought something from. The owner remembered me. And promptly spent the next 5 minutes stroking my arm and saying we were "old friends". I left having bought some shoes (terrifyingly small ones- for bound feet. Actually terrifyingly small) for too much money. Damn she's good. Amusingly an actual "old friend" of hers turned up halfway through the bargaining and the owner promptly turned from gentle cajoling to snappy "GO AWAY I'M BUSY".
I like travelling with the Koreans as they like going to places of interest to Korea, which I would never normally visit but always find fascinating. This time we went to the site of the first government of Korea. Due to the Japanese occupation of Korea, this was in Shanghai. It was just a small house in some mews, which added to the poignancy. There were letters on the walls, mostly in Korean (old style Korean which, like Japanese, made extensive use of Chinese characters as well as their own alphabet. This is quite rare today) however there were some in English pleading with the Americans to help kick the Japanese out. Sara and Boram were very excited to see the place as they had studied it at school.
I always feel sad visiting these places as it places in stark contrast how hard the Koreans fought for a free country, and how much it meant to them, with how the Powers dealt with it- literally "ok we'll have this bit up to here arounnnnnd maybeeeeee the 38th parallel? Yeah 38th. Ok and you can have this bit. Right, lunch". I'm sure the Koreans didn't die so that their country could be torn in half only a few years later creating a distinction that had barely existed before between North and South. And certainly not so that now half of them live in standards worse than 50 years ago under an emperor just as bad as the last actual one... And now I'm not sure that the two will ever be reunited- too much blood spilt between them.
We had lunch at a Thai restaurant. Sara is allergic to mango. We opened the menu. The first two pages, in a blaze of yellow, were devoted exclusively to mango dishes.
Boram went to use the shower in the hostel and a Western man walked out wearing only a towel. I don't think they do this in Korea.
Speaking of Boram brings us to the Comedy Moment of the trip which was thus:
Me: Lol this restaurant is called El Willy. Lol, do you know what Willy means in playground speak?
Boram (proudly): Yes. Find Willy.
Me: ...Er?
Boram: Find Willy. In a crowd.
Me: ...in a .... crowd?
Turns out she meant "Where's Wally". I pointed out the real meaning. Then Sara and I cried with laughter.
This was further compounded when Boram used the men's loos by mistake in a pub, leading to relentless teasing by Sara and I... Oh Boram...
Sara had her own little comedy moment. When in Suzhou we caught a bus from Tiger Hill into town. When I had visited in October we had shyed away from using the bus due to a small mob wanting to use the bus too. But, with the memory of a small hike to find a taxi fresh in my mind, we braved the bus. Predictably we ended up in a crush trying to get on (OMG LEARN TO QUEUE CHINA), people pushing from everywhere, barely able to move. In the midst of all the turmoil and yelling, Sara piped up, asking the general crowd "Excuse me, excuse me! Is this a 1 or 2yuan bus?" "WHO CARES" I hollered, ribs gently snapping.
However Sara is useful in a crush. Somehow she managed to elbow on in front and save Boram and me seats. That's a useful skill.
We had gone to Suzhou to find Louise a qipao. I hate Chinese changing rooms. Just you, 5 other customers and 3 assistants in one small space. I miss privacy...
We went into the park at Tiger Hill. There were lots of daffodils. This made me happy as I had been sad that I wouldn't see all the daffodils back home as they are my favourite flower and I love seeing them bloom in spring. Qingdao doesn't really have flowers. It has pictures of flowers.
Shanghai had a little park full of blossoming trees which were lovely to smell. Mmmm nature, I miss you sometimes...
On the last night in Shanghai we Went Out. I, being a classy bird, had filled my water bottle with a mixture of the cheapest baijiu I could find, and sprite (to drink before heading out so we don't need to buy too many expensive drinks in a bar.) At first it didn't taste good but after a warm glow and the odd spasm, it got better. Sara and I didn't tell Boram what was in it and offered it to her. She, thinking it was lemonade, took a huge gulp. Baijiu's taste can be a bit of a shock when you aren't expecting it. Boram, a look of panic on her face, hurriedly run around the room desperately looking for somewhere to spit it out before finally, reluctantly, swallowing.
Hehe.
However the club we visited had one big problem. It is Shanghai fashion week at the moment so it was full of male and female models. Horribly attractive people. The women were nothing special, female models rarely are actually beautiful, but the men were the prettiest I have ever seen. And achingly well dressed.
Boram, Sara and I felt very ugly.
We visited the riverside in Pudong so we could see the Bund from afar. The European buildings looked very small and dirty besides the glittering skyscrapers looming behind them. After, the model-filled club, I sympathised...
I spent far too much in Shanghai... on the other hand I now have a picture of Mao Yeye (Grandpa Mao lol) having his cigarette lit by a pretty women while ten others crowd around him laughing flirtatiously. Oh you old dog... And some chopsticks that look like pencils. And some shoes that fit my big feet. Well. Nearly do.
I need a rich boyfriend. Please apply...
No comments:
Post a Comment