Hang on to your murse

Well as you saw from the last posting we've arrived safely in Shanghai. Sunday was another day of "getting settled" in which included getting to know our neighbourhood and getting set up with mobile phones. At this point we're still jet-lagged beyond belief and I think we passed out around dinnertime on Saturday evening, only to wake up around 3:30am on Sunday. Why fight it? So we woke up and made some breakfast, which consisted of some food rations we brought from home in our suitcases - generally involving crackers with peanut butter smeared on them. It's a good thing we thought ahead because we had no idea where to buy decent food yet, so while our breakfast wasn't exactly breakfast at Cora's, it still hit the spot. As I think I mentioned in my last posting there is a corner store on the same block as the hotel but it really doesn't serve any "Western" food whatsoever (unless you like to have "Dried Spicy Duck Tongue" in the morning). Thankfully they do sell bottled water - including Evian and Nestle - which is going to come in a lot of use since we can't drink from the tap and you can get easily dehydrated with the heat.

So after taking a late-morning nap we were met by a colleague who took us shopping for cellphones. As I know you're all an astute audience you're probably thinking why a colleague would meet up with me on a Sunday. Well, I wondered the exact same thing - but she insisted and was more than happy to take personal time to help us out! I really did feel bad for letting her do it but after the shopping was over she seemed so personally satisfied by it that I chalked it up to the amazing hospitality of Asians that I've heard about from many of you who have been to this place already. Based on the experience there's certainly no way we could have bought cellphones on our own, since it was a very different process from what we're used to and none of the store owners spoke a word of English. Firstly we walked down to Nanjing Road and browsed a couple of cellphone stores. I guess the way it works here is that you first have to buy the actual phone, then once you've got it you go to a local network provider (China Mobile seems to be the big one here) to register and purchase a SIM card so you can have a local phone number. The great part about it is that when we go back to Canada all we do is buy a Canadian SIM card to get a Canadian phone number. It certainly beats the setup in Canada where cellphones are almost exclusively sold by Rogers, Bell or Telus and they lock the phones so you can only use them on their network. So even in Communist China there are elements of a free market. I won't bore you with our pickiness of buying the phones (Vivian, my colleague, showed Herculean patience with us), but there was one thing about the process I thought would be of interest to you shop-a-holics out there. When we decided on phones and told the shopkeeper we wanted to buy them she motioned for us to follow her. We ended up walking across the entire mall to the other side of the floor....when I looked at Vivian with a baffled look (images of walking into an interrogation room flashing into my head) she smiled and calmly explained that most malls here have one cashier on each floor rather than a cashier in each store. Collectivism at its finest! So we paid at the register and returned to the store where we claimed our new phones.

We spoke with Vivian some more who gave us some great local tips, including a suggestion for a grocery store that sells Western food, and strong warnings to keep a tight grip on purses (and murses...) since there's a lot of petty theft around here. On the walk back you could really get a sense of the gap between rich and poor around here. Among the glitz and glam of ads for Rolex, L'Oreal and Nike were children and people with severe disabilities and deformities begging for money. You also had a lot of street hawkers that would walk up to you and grab your sleeve trying to sell everything from watches to handbags. They generally don't take a hint from a smile and shake of the head so you have to clearly say "bu yao" (no need), don't make eye contact and keep walking quickly. And hang on to your murse.

---

---