Shanghai is beautifully situated to take advantage of important Chinese rivers and the East China Sea. These trade routes made it a phenomenal commercial success hundreds of years ago which continues to this day in feeding the world’s insatiable need for Chinese goods. The ports and all of the businesses that support them have created a import/export center and shopping Mecca. Some of this city’s past nicknames have included “Paris of the East” and “Whore of the Orient”. Both still apply.
The Communist government preserved the beautiful European buildings along the Bund (on the riverfront) which, upon first, sight evoke the capital on the Seine. The Whore still lives as the amount of neon signs mimics the garish makeup on a Lady of the Night. Fifty eight years of Communist rule has not dampened the spirit nor the look of this unique Chinese city.
As in Beijing, we are living in a neighborhood of hutongs (small alleyways) that probably date thousands of years. There are five of these areas around our hotel each with unique characteristics.
As with those in Beijing, many include shops (even in half-torn down buildings), apartments and offices. They are crowded, very old and with no modern conveniences. Bathrooms are down the street, the electricity is rigged up (none-too-safely, it seems), and there is no space for appliances which are left in the yard or the street.
October 1st marks the celebration of the New China but the holiday, Golden Week, pays homage to consumerism in a way similar to Christmas shopping in the Western World. Every store has a sale, every sale had a buyer. Crowds packed every street for shopping, cultural shows, fireworks, you name it.
While there were many police on street corners in the evenings, these were mostly to keep street vendors off the main thoroughfares. Because this was also the year of the pig, there were pigs of every style, size and permutation made of plastic, paper, food (cookies and such), gold, silver, etc. etc. etc. Some are cute others are weird and others still are kind of gross.
Funny Stuff In Shanghai: Locals probably think the white foreigners are weird for taking photos of signs or other everyday things but, so what? Here are a few for your enjoyment. Like in Chinatowns everywhere, you see a lot of food hanging around. In the real China, it is usually duck but sometimes chickens and pigeons.
Stores are dedicated to the narrowest selection possible such as those that sell nothing but chopsticks. And then there is all of the English signs where you sometimes can decipher what is intended and many times not.
At night, the streets of Shanghai really come alive with hundreds of people and this is especially true during the holiday week. Vendors sell everything including a service to measure your weight and height right there on the street. Nothing is very private in China as you can see by the myriad of people walking around in their pajamas.
Speaking of lack of privacy: we had dinner one night in a restaurant known for its hairy crab. When we arrived we saw a “Welcome to the Wedding Party” and were seated at the back of the room where dozens of other dinners were eating. We finally figured out that in the front of the large dining room a wedding reception was taking place while the restaurant was doing business as usual at the back of the restaurant. We were accidental wedding crashers.