Saturdays in Shanghai

"Hey, you want to go into Shanghai on Saturday?"

Shanghai Skyline

This question would always provoke in me an internal, and sometimes external, series of hysterics.  Because never, not once in my entire life, had I thought that I would consider spending Saturday in Shanghai with the same nonchalance that I would have had towards going to the mall back in my hometown.  I mean, Saturdays in Shanghai was so far outside of where I thought my life was going, that when I was confronted with the reality, I would occasionally burst into laughter or stare off into the distance as my mind exploded.

Yup, you guessed it, I am taking a pedagogical break again.  This time to talk about Shanghai, our oft frequented metropolis.  Shanghai is only about 40 minutes away from Hangzhou via high speed train, 3 hours if you are driving or taking a bus.   The high speed train is very cheap, only about 78.00 RMB, which is about 13.00 USD, for a one-way ticket.   And these trains run back and forth between Hangzhou and Shanghai about every 30 minutes from about 6:00 am to about 10:00 pm.

The train ticket on the left is actually from a trip to Nanjing, but the ticket to Shanghai looks the same, just a different price. On the right is Pat and I on the high speed train to Shanghai!

We were drawn to Shanghai for many reasons.  The first and foremost of those reasons is that it is a very international city and it is a hub for international business.  This means that it has many stores and restaurants that cater to western tastes.  For example they have a Krispy Kreme, a Carls Jr, a Hershey's store, a Morton's of Chicago, and a grocery store that is well stocked with imported snacks and foods.  So we would head into Shanghai when we felt the need for some American luxuries that we just couldn't get in Hangzhou.  We would even occasionally go into Shanghai for no other reason than to get some kind of western food fix.  We went once just so we could eat at Krispy Kreme and then literally walk next door and eat a burger at Carls Jr.   We would run into a grocery store with a large imports section solely for Diet Coke and Cool Ranch Doritos, and some ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies.

I think we had seen this sign before without ever really putting two and two together.  When we realized what this meant, we bee-lined for the Reese's  Mmmmmm, chocolate covered peanut butter. 

Krispy Kreme, Carl's Jr, and Diet Coke, all on the same pedestrian street! I would advise checking out Nanjing Xi Lu, there's lots of good stuff on that street! (I have learned recently that street's name is actually Wujiang Lu, off of Nanjing Xi Lu). 

Another thing that drew us to Shanghai was the shopping, and not just for the food.  Now, there are quite a lot of legitimate high end department stores all over China, Shanghai (and Hangzhou) included. I am talking Gucci, Fendi, Armani, etc. But, those are extremely expensive.  Most large cities also have popular  not-so-expensive western brands too, such as H&M and Zara's   Shanghai even recently opened a Forever 21, which we stumbled onto accidentally,  much to our delight.  But even though these stores are fairly reasonable back home, they can be pricey in China, especially when earning a Chinese income.  But hey, every good shopper knows how to budget...and how to throw the budget out the window when presented with wonderful clothes that look awesome and fit (finding sizes that fit Americans in Chinese stores can be challenging).

The sound we me made when we saw this...we'd been having a disappointing day (Krispy Kreme and Dunkin closed and we did not know their new locations)  But we cured our disappointment by a shopping binge in this newly opened, 4 floored, shopping heaven. 

However, if you take the subway a few stops away from Shanghai's city center (the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum Stop on line 2) you wind up in this underground warren of stalls that sell everything, real and knock offs, souvenir items, pearls, clothes, t-shirts, electronics...everything.  Just imagine a maze of 12x12 stalls (some are larger) that are stuffed with merchandise, and separated by about 4 ft wide aisles.  Inside, the merchandise is packed in so that there is barely enough room to walk around. The sales person is stuffed in the corner of this store, sitting on a stool.

The best part about this underground shopping center is that you can bargain.  Since Shanghai is such an international city, most of the shopkeepers are well versed enough in English to communicate business transactions.  Although it does tend to go better for you, as the buyer, if you know a certain amount of Chinese.  Usually, if you go to these places, you will be shouted at from a variety of vendors, in English and Chinese, inviting you to come in and look at the merchandise.  These vendors are going to be very friendly because you are foreign, which means there is a good chance that you work for one of the large, wealthy, foreign companies, and so you have a lot of money to spend.  This also means that many of them are going to charge you 6x what they would charge a Chinese shopper.   Because, for many of the foreigners shopping in China, the price they ask is still lower than what they would pay in their home country for that product.  However, as teachers, who were being paid by a Chinese company in Chinese currency, we would bargain the shit out of these vendors.

Tai Gui Le!, we would shout indignantly when they would throw a price out at as.  This means 'too expensive.'  They would usually then counter with a 'special' price, due to our "Chinese being so good!" They would throw another price out at us that was lower, but not where we wanted it.  Thus began the bargaining war.   They would then ask us what price we wanted, and we would throw out a price that was as ridiculously low as their's was unreasonably high.  They would then shake their heads and wave their hands and say "impossible!" And we would then argue back and forth and then sometimes commence with the walk away strategy, and they would usually cave at whatever our last price was.  You can also try stating your final price in a very firm manner, indicating that you will not budge past it.  I once walked into a vendor, pointed at what I wanted, told him it was going to be 120 RMB.  He went to argue, but I restated the price in a non-negotiable tone of voice.  He looked like he wanted to argue with me, but then nodded and started to wrap the package. Win one for the buyer! One of the best compliments I had ever received was by a vendor in Shanghai who told me I bargained very well, for someone so young.  I guess you get more discerning and stingy when you get older...it's nice to know I got a head start on frugal.

Bargaining can be a bit stressful, when you are not sure of what a good asking price is for the goods (I suggest doing some research if there are specific items you want) and when you are conducting the bargaining in your non-native tongue.  However, with experience, you get better at knowing how low most vendors will lower their prices and how to finagle the price you want.  Eventually, you might even begin to enjoy bargaining. And remember, if they won't give you the price you want, there are literally going to be 20 other vendors with the same merchandise, so feel free to shop around.

Shanghai Scenes

A third reason that we would go to Shanghai was to appreciate the skyline.  Shanghai, being a port city, has a lot of different influences in architecture from various times in Shanghai's history.  There are western influences, eastern influences, traditional Chinese influence, and some interesting modern influences.  You can take a hop on/hop off bus for about 30 RMB, that is good for an entire day, and you can tour various districts of the city, go shopping, visit museums, and take tons of pictures of different parts of the city. Shanghai reminds me a lot of New York City; it's huge, there are people everywhere, influences from all over the world, and an awesome skyline.  The city has a really great skyline (see above) and lots of great places where you can stop and admire the view and take some pictures.  If you are on the hop on/hop off bus, it will stop at these places.  Or you can take the subway and walk a bit; I suggest getting off at the East Nanjing stop and walking towards the river, especially around sunset on a clear day; it's a pretty awesome sight.

On one trip to Shanghai, in which Dave wanted to try and find somewhere to buy some super specific brand of protein powder, and all 3 of us wanted to get a nice American meal at Pete's Tex Mex and Grill, Liv and I went to the Shanghai history museum.  We learned a great deal about the history of Shanghai and about how to make wax figures even creepier.  If you are into museums, there are several available in Shanghai, and many of them are free or low cost.

I mean, really, what would you do, if presented with a miniature town?  And yes, we are yelling Godzilla while we pretend to rampage. 

The final reason to visit Shanghai is for the nightlife.  I did most of my partying in Hangzhou, so I cannot personally speak to the nightlife in Shanghai.  The one time we when we were going to be in Shanghai and had no evening plans, we were just too exhausted to really get into the clubbing state of mind.  But I have heard great things from people who have visited Shanghai and have partaken of the nightlife.  Going out in China is a lot of fun, and I will have to do a blog entry on that experience at some later date, so if you are in Shanghai, and have the time, check out the nightlife.

If you are living anywhere near Shanghai, I highly recommend a visit. Of course, if you live anywhere near Shanghai, it will likely be the airport you come through when you arrive in China, and will likely be the airport anyone who visits you will go through too, so chances are you will be spending some time in this city.  If you ever have to overnight and are looking for a clean and inexpensive place to stay, I recommend checking out hostelworld.com. I personally recommend either the Mingtown International Youth Hostel or the Le Tour Traveler's Rest Youth Hostel.

A 3-Bed Private Room, with Private Bath. To the right is the exterior of the hostel.