Zai Jian Shanghai, part deux

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If the title confuses you, we've already published a "Zai Jian Shanghai part 1" that didn't seem to get through...so feel free to check it out, and comment please on our homage to our visitors.

As for this final Shanghai blog, we have to say that even putting the words Zai Jian to paper brings a lump to our throats…but we appreciate that the Chinese words for ‘Good-bye’ (Zai meaning ‘again’ and Jian ‘meet’) amount to something akin to au revoir. So as we wave zai jian, or au revoir, to this incredible place called ‘Shanghai’, and close the book on this amazing adventure, we find that mixed with our incredible sadness at leaving is an equally huge happiness at coming home.

But if we’ve learned nothing else after two years in Asia, we know that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, in this final blog, we decided to list a few of our all-time highs and lows—or as the theme of many a blog refers to them--the yins and yangs of our two-year stay in Shanghai.

On the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea………

Surely the most misnamed of all cities, Shanghai literally meaning ‘shang’ (for ‘on’) and ‘hai’ (the sea) hardly offered us a glimpse of the salty brine. Even ostensibly biking through nearby Nanhui this spring to view peach blossoms in the a.m., with an afternoon destination of pushing on to the sea, due to sheer exhaustion Amy had to sit out the final stretch at the Shanghai Flower Port (another misnmomer, since it was miles from any water). And even though Roel managed to make the coast after a 60 km haul against the wind (and has yet to let her live this down) he said the water view was reached only by crossing a muddy dike under construction, and the final sight of the sea offered an equally disappointing vista of brown water. So for our two-year quest of spending some quality time seaside (and if in doubt, see the blogs on Qingdao and Chong Ming Island) and for failing to live up to its name, we rate our “on the-sea” Shanghai/China experience overall as one big yang!

You and I, Oh how happy we’ll be…on the patio!

But the yins…oh, the yins! We’ll never forget them! And one of our top, top, top highlights is chillin’ for many an hour, or two, or three…on one of Shanghai’s cool patios! A recent article “36 Hours in Toronto” by the NY Times talks about T.O.’s cool scene…(and we concur!) but somehow I can’t see the Queen St. West “beard and flannel posse” moving over to allow us in when we return…or for that matter, us wanting to crash their scene. Shanghai’s cool patios are open to all and we’ve been enthusiastic hipsters for the past two years…and we’re going to miss that.

So the haunts that provided us our most memorable al fresco wining and dining experiences are, namely (and in descending order!): Cotton’s, Sasha’s, Paulaner’s, Abbey Road, The Blarney Stone, New Heights, Kabb, and Element Fresh. (Interestingly, last year that list would probably have been reversed…but this year we broadened our horizons, and learned to love, love, love our new neighbourhood mostly FOR it’s local bistros....


...but traffic on sidewalks, and NO rules…

Are things we're NOT going to miss at all. The steady stream of bikes and silent stealthy electric motor vehicles that infest the sidewalks and streets…and the traffic in general…was one of the biggest yangs for us of life in Shanghai.

However, as Shanghai feverishly prepares for next year’s Expo (shades of Beijing’s clean-up for the Olympics) with street re-paving, highway building, airport expansions and even new fancy sidewalks…they need to address the fact that visitors will scarcely get a chance to eye these splendours if they’re too busy dodging, tucking and rolling their way through the city. It’s true that in order to navigate through the traffic mayhem we’ve learned to grow eyeballs in the back of our heads, but we’ve never gotten used to the fact that we had to! (And to have them open 24/7!)

So, our parting advice to all Shanghainese! You are wonderful inhabitants of an equally amazing city, but please, please, please adopt some traffic rules!

Cough!

The pollution has been another stealthy invader of our equanimity, and could possibly be the main culprit of the number of illnesses and hay fever attacks that plagued Amy this year. Can’t wait to breath that clean T.O. air….

…cough!

No, it’s not a war zone…

But the sheer volume of construction in the city, which often disrupts our sleep--and daytime calm too--will be a positive joy to escape! However, our love/hate relationship with Shanghai’s growth is equal parts awe, loathing, and sheer admiration. For example, when we first witnessed the Chinese Government’s massive plans of connecting Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou into one multi-city hub for next year’s World Expo, it seemed an impossibly large undertaking, (something akin to the Three Gorges Dam, we thought, but without the water). Nevertheless, we’ve also no doubt from watching it go up daily before our eyes—literally--that when the first visitors arrive next May the super-highways will be in place, allowing people to connect easily(?) with all three locations. (Even tho’ the 1,000 cars per day being added to the roads will be jamming them up, no doubt, before one can even say….next mega-highway anyone?)

MIP and WIP Sightings

According to our sources (Shanghai Daily…a decent little paper we’re also going to miss, along with a host of magazines: City Weekend and Talk being a couple of faves... the government is urging its citizens to clean up their act for next year’s expo. To this end they’re advising people to line up, stop spitting…and to quit wearing pajamas in broad daylight.

To the first two advisements, we concur wholeheartedly (we could write entire blogs--and have --about the sheer frustrations and even disgust that line-hopping and hawking have caused us over the past two years) but to telling people how to dress, we say if the Shanghainese feel comfortable enough to go about their business in pajamas and heels, then who should tell them otherwise! Besides, a sighting of an MIP and WIP (men/women in pajama) always brightens one’s day—as the pic can attest—and will no doubt continue to do so long into the future…as one thing we’ve learned over here is that a pronouncement vs. enforcement of a government edict are two entirely different things.

So for not having anymore WIP or MIP sightings to look forward to, we rate this as a yin to be missed...

So how about it Toronto…P.J.'s anyone? Anyone?

Zai Jian Shanghai....here's to Carly and Craig's upcoming adventure in your glorious ancient neighbour -- Beijing!

See you soon Toronto!
Amy & Roel

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