Metros, Trains and Automobiles

 For Veleta’s last weekend in China we decided to go to Shanghai. A couple of friends, Alan and his wife Cecilia came along and spent Saturday with us. That made the trip easier since they knew their way around the area where the hotel was and the Metro (subway) lines. Veleta and I both have been to Shanghai but only for day trips to go shopping so we looked forward to seeing the city at night.

 We took the train into Shanghai at 8:30 AM and arrived before 9:00 AM. The train had a top speed of somewhere around 320 kilometers an hour, that’s about 200 miles per hour. This makes what would be an hour and a half to a two hour drive less than thirty minutes, got to love the train and it’s cheap, less than $10. Speaking of that in the States we are so behind on public transportation, why don’t we have high speed trains running up and down the East coast? Anyway, I digress. So we decided it would be better to take a taxi to the hotel than to jump on the metro because Veleta had all of her bags with her and the metro can get very crowded so a foreigner with three pieces of luggage does not fit into the equation. Veleta’s flight back home left from Shanghai Monday morning so we were staying there until then. So that meant Monday morning I would leave Shanghai and go straight to work back in Suzhou, but I will get to that later.

 Once we got to the hotel we took a quick rest and then ventured out on the town to an American place called Malones for some lunch. There used to be one of these in Atlanta but I’m not sure if they are still around. The girls settled for salad while I had some ribs (OK but not as good as home) and Alan had a big juicy burger which is very hard to come by. So, this was a nice start to our first day in Shanghai.

 After lunch we walked to a “mall” type place where the typical bargaining and “hey lady you need bags, come lookie in my shop, just lookie, lookie”. This time I was on a mission though, I needed a new wallet because mine had started to rip from trying to hide 100’s in the credit card pockets. I also needed some sun glasses, the ones I brought were scratched. So first I scored a Mont Blanc wallet for about $15. Now I’m not up on brands but the wallet had the features I was looking for. Once I got home I looked up the brand and I guess it’s a very expensive German company. As for the shades I wanted some Ray Ban so to get them I had to ask. See most things in these stores are on display, even things like computer software. I don’t understand why they hide some of the things they have but they do. When I asked for Ray Ban the girl said "follow me” and took down a couple of tie racks to have access to a hidden door. Once we walked thru the door it was like a small closet, then the girl started taking down some shelves and opened the wall. It was like Batman’s cave. Once she opened the wall she pulled out box after box of Ray Ban and Gucci sun glasses. I found a pair I liked and paid about thirty bucks for them, I probably could have gotten them cheaper but, whatever. I had her throw a nice hard case for them in so I felt Ok with the transaction. Then she shut the wall, put the shelves back and signaled her co worker that we were coming back out. It was a very elaborate system well hidden and it even had electronic locks on the door ways. So, mission accomplished, I got what I came for.

 After that we all went back to the hotel to get some rest before going out that night. It was very hot and walking around takes the juice out of you, by that I mean I was seating like a pig in a slaughter house. Once we all got our energy back we took a taxi to a little tapas place and had some excellent chicken, shrimp, pork and sangria. Typical of many western style restaurants the place was not crowded at all so it made for a nice easy dinner. After dinner we walked a few blocks down the road to a bar called Shanghai Band Sanctuary to see a band. Well, we saw the band and were not impressed. I was waiting for the male singer to go into some back street boys any minute. But, he didn’t, at least not in the few minutes we stuck around. The drinks were very expensive there too. Shanghai is making a killing of the Expo thing. Speaking of Expo, none of us had any interest in checking it out because we have been hearing that you could stand in line for up to four hours just to see one pavilion. Four hours in the heat and two million Chinese is not too different than walking the streets but at the Expo you have to pay to do it.

 Back to Saturday night, after tapas we walked down to the local hot spot called Zapatas which is really a Mexican restaurant, Veleta and I ate at the one in Suzhou, excellent fajitas. The Zapatas in Shanghai turns into a dance club at night but also has a large patio to just sit and have some drinks. Long story short we had a nice relaxing evening and then walked back to the hotel.

 Sunday we slept in and went to have lunch with Alan and Cecelia before their train left to go back to Suzhou. After they left Veleta and I wandered around People’s Square (People’s Park) which is I guess like New York’s Central Park. We got lost looking for the Shanghai museum counting more than five Starbuck’s. There is a Starbuck’s on almost every corner, just like back home. I think more Chinese people drink coffee than they do tea now, no, not really, everybody still drinks tea all of the time but Starbuck’s is very popular. Once we found the museum we decided not to go, it was free to get in and the line was ridiculous. After all that walking we decided to take the metro back toward the hotel and get out of the heat for a while.

 After resting we took the metro to The Bund area which is a cool part of town that is river side. We went to a building called The Jin Mao Tower where we had heard we could see some great views of the city in a lounge called Cloud Nine on the eighty seventh floor. Well, we made it to the lounge but just to get in there was a 120 rmb minimum for each of us and we didn’t plan on eating there so we settled for the view from the 56th floor which was great anyway. The river and the boats with the back drop of huge buildings and the Oriental Pearl Tower all lit up was really something to see. Shanghai has twenty million people and is probably the size of five New York cities.

 Time for some dumplings now, I took Veleta to a place that Scott had taken me the last time I was in Shanghai. It’s in the Super Brand Mall which is located right next to the Pearl Tower. Super Brand is a huge mall with every store you can think of and also the dumpling restaurant Din Tai Fung. The Shanghai dumplings are the best I’ve had without a doubt. Actually everything we ordered was very good and inexpensive. It’s on the third floor above Hooters if you ever make it too Shanghai.

 After dinner we walked down to the river side and watched some of the lit up boats cruise by before we jumped back on the metro to get back to the hotel. Veleta’s flight was at 10:00 AM and it was an hour taxi ride to the airport. I had to be at work in Suzhou by 8:00 AM so I got up at 4:45 AM got ready and told Veleta good bye for the last time in China. Then I walked to the metro, rode it to the train station and caught the train back to Suzhou where I then took a taxi to work. Now that’s a commute and while carrying twenty pounds of clothes, steel toed shoes and a heavy lap top. Actually I made it to work a little early to stand out in the heat while waiting on the others to unlock the office.

 It’s good to know that Veleta is back home safe and sound now, I’m sure she is probably sleeping right now, I hope so since it’s 2:30 AM in the states. I’m sure Dylan will be happy to see her and I can’t wait to see them both in one week. Until then, it’s China time.