Another busy month of traveling (I was in Rome for half of the month), which means this blog has been neglected. I've been posting some pictures over at my flickr account of my travels, but I'll use the blog to catch up on some of the things I've been seeing, and write more in-depth commentary. I still have some stuff to catch-up on from my trip to Shanghai, so I'll start there.
Shanghai really blew me away -- there's a vibrancy and vitality in the city that I have rarely felt in other urban areas. There's an excitement that is palpable in many parts of the city. Much of the media coverage surrounding the Expo has focused on the amount of construction and the wide-spread dislocation of old parts of the city. The construction was totally amazing. Margaret took me on the brand-new subway lines that were literally finished within 10-12 months. They were massive in scale. She also showed me this huge plaza/square that was finished within 3 months. Impressive.
But a lot of the monumentality of the new Shanghai feels a little bit off to me. The subway, despite its new-ness, often does not feel like it's scaled to fit the size of the amount of people riding it. Also, a lot of the subway does not feel completely user-friendly -- there is little attention to detail that would benefit users of the trains -- such as easily readable maps, schedules, subsequent stops on the train etc.
And despite the rapid changes and increase in wealth, you still have charming reminders of its less wealthy parts -- such as clothes drying between telephone poles.
And drying racks everywhere you look!
My favorite part of Shanghai was found in parts of the old town. I loved seeing the Yuyuan Garden, which dates back to the 1550s, during the Ming Dynasty. There are some amazing rooftops, entry ways, decorative rocks, as well as fake waterfalls. We started our visit by eating at this amazing dumpling place. I never knew you could make spring rolls this good, but they were able to make something both crispy and fluffy.
We then entered the garden, here's a typical shot of what the garden looks like.
I loved the statues on the rooftops.
Dragons on the rooftops. Oh Disney, why did you have to ruin my image of dragons (cue Eddie Murphy voice a la Mulan)?
This was the roof inlay of one of the outdoor stages.
What was probably most moving to me was seeing a group of older Chinese tourists, excited to be in Shanghai for the first time, walking around in the garden, taking pictures of the digital camera in front of one of the fake waterfalls. As much as the American media likes to demonize the economic ascent of China, I can't but help think of the amount of turmoil these older Chinese people must have suffered throughout the 60s and 70s, and to think that they can now travel around to Shanghai, taking pictures in front of places they probably never could have dreamed of. That has to be somewhat of a good thing, right?
We then walked to the nearby City God Temple (Chenghuang miao), which was restored and reconsecrated by Daoists in 2006. I was curious to see what the face of public worship looked like in China.
This was the main plaza inside the temple, with a altar to burn incense.
Prayers of the people. All of the red envelopes on the ceilings represent little prayers and wishes that you can purchase from Daoist clergy. The three major types of prayers, as indicated on the wall, are wishes for good results in the college entrance exam, health and peace, and financial success.
Bad picture, but the people sitting at the desk are selling the prayers.
More from my Shanghai trip in the next post...
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