Chinese New Year in Shanghai

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We had a full week off for spring festival to celebrate Chinese New Year, this was like my Christmas holidays coming late! We (Adam, Demond and myself) booked return flights to Shanghai and got them at a great price considering it was the holidays. Our flight was from Tianjin (a city 1 and 1/2hours away by train) at 4pm so we decided to set off early giving ourselves loads of time to get to the airport and get checked in etc. Firstly when we got to our local train station it was eerily quiet, never before had I ever seen any train station in China like this, usually they are packed with people and they are a great staring opportunity for all the locals when we three foreigners walk in, but not this time. It was the morning of Feb 2nd which was Chinese New Year’s Eve so most people had travelled to their home towns already which was great for us. The train to Tianjin was like a dream, definitely the best train journey I have had in China so far. It was practically empty and so quiet except for the incessant Chinese music they were playing which normally can't be heard over the noise of the passengers, however with my iPod on it was a perfectly relaxing train journey, which is so uncommon in China.

Off we got at Tianjin station and we wanted to get the shuttle bus to the airport however this wasn't easy... I had looked up online where to catch the bus however this still didn't seem to help as the north exit which we needed to find the bus was closed off so after asking a few different people (well Demond did the asking in Chinese) and being pointed in all different directions we still couldn't find the bus. So we just gave up and decided to split the taxi between the three of us. The language barrier was most likely our biggest problem here, we probably would of been able to find the bus if we could communicate better, then again possibly not, as organisation and efficiency are definitely lacking in the Chinese culture.

Anyways arrived at the airport at 1.30pm loads of time, got our bags checked in eventually after ridiculously slow service. Got through security and then decided to chill out have something to eat and relax we walked up and down the airport deciding where to eat as we’d loads of time. Note at this point I said “Wouldn’t it be funny if we decided to run through the airport now, then they’d really stare” as we were being stared at because we were foreign as usual. I think you can guess what’s coming next.... So we eventually settled in for some food, had free Wi-Fi so we were whittling away the time and at about 3.30 we decided to start making a move to our gate so up we went and started leisurely strolling to gate 37 following gate 31, 32 etc then we got to the end and realised it stopped at gate 33, gates 34-37 were located right at the other end of the terminal. Just as we realised this we starting hearing them calling our flight, but then they starting saying final boarding for our flight...SHIT, so we had to start pegging it down to the other end as I had previously mentioned would be a very funny thing to do. But this wasn’t funny this corridor seemed to go on forever and we were running like our lives depended on it! We finally made it, dying, out of breath but in true Chinese style nothing was said and we boarded at about 3.50pm. We got on and started to discuss how did we nearly missed the flight then we looked at our tickets and of course there was a “boarding time”... 3.30pm, not one of us had considered this even though between all of us we had all flown many times before this didn’t dawn on any of us, we just were thinking flight 4pm all I can say is IDIOTS but hey we made it and we were off to Shanghai!!

Just realised that if I go into all my stories in this much detail I’ll never get my blog written about Shanghai and I’m now on the move again and I’ve already loads of stories between Shanghai and now so I’ll try and keep the rest brief.... however as you all know storytelling, brief and Elaine are three things that don’t usually go together but I’ll do my best!!

Ok so first night even though it was Chinese New Year’s Eve we were all wrecked after our day of travelling so we decided to go to bed early as it is really a family thing and it’s not like back home where there are parties everywhere etc. But at around midnight we were awoken with what sounded like a huge war had just broken out in the city. So we went outside to look it was fireworks of course but because we were in the middle of Shanghai and it was so built up we couldn’t see anything we just listened to the madness for hours. In Tangshan we did get to see loads of fireworks which were amazing especially on the last day of spring festival.

Chinese New Year’s Day started off great as we were deciding whether to go to Starbucks or Costa Coffee for breakfast we heard a commotion over beside Costa and that was the decision made. Turns out there was a really cool street performance taking place with dragons dancing and a band playing, it was just very good timing on our part. So watched this till it ended and then headed into Costa, within 5minutes or so the performers had followed us into the coffee shop and performed some sort of ritual thing at the door where the band played and one of the dragons did a whole cool dance and ate a lettuce that was hanging in the door frame. It was really fascinating to watch. My interpretation is that it was a New Year’s offering type thing but as it was all done in Chinese it could have been anything really but great to watch all the same!

Then we wandered down to the famous Bund area which is a very wealthy part of Shanghai with really old buildings along the promenade and the Pudong area which is the new Shanghai is across the water. The crowds were immense and I don’t think we had ever gotten as many stares as this day. While we were taking pictures people were stopping and taking pictures of us not the views, it was hilarious. At one stage when myself, Demond and Adam were posing for a photo about 15 people (no exaggeration) whipped out their cameras and took our picture too, it really was incredibly funny. We felt like we were bloody movie stars or something! Then this couple comes up to me and gives me their baby and wants a photo of all of us and their baby. The poor child looked at me and then starting balling crying, poor thing scarred for life for being thrust among these foreigners, it was so bizarre!

We then went to the top of the TV tower for a view of Shanghai. On one level which is 259m high there is a glass floor so you are walking around looking down hundreds of feet. It was so scary but it was a real adrenaline rush, it was really cool. Poor Adam who is afraid of heights even did it, I’ve no idea how because usually I don’t mind heights but I was petrified at this point!

Day 2 myself and Adam spent the whole day in the Shanghai history museum, 4 different floors (Demond had been before). There was so much to see, no photos really as you got to be there and read all the captions that go with the artefacts to appreciate it. But I’ll just say this it truly is amazing what the Chinese made and did literally thousands of years before anyone else. Oh and one great thing was that this amazing museum was free!! That night we spent about an hour or more going between the metro and taxis and walking trying to find this cool pub mentioned in the lonely planet, never to find it and instead went back to the hostel for a few drinks!

Day 3 we went to the French quarters which were full of cobbled streets, lots of coffee shops with seating outside and all English menus, it really was a world away from China and it felt so European. Here was also the location of the first meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC); we actually got to stand in the room where the first meeting took place which is quite a historic place. We then wandered through all the little souvenir shops and had a fabulous Indian for lunch!! That evening turned into a great night staring off with a few drinks and some cards. We met some fellow travellers and the night got going. Almost half a bottle of Gordon’s gin later and I was clubbing with Sarah and Steve from New Zealand. Only for me and Sarah to get completely lost at 6am in two different taxis trying to find our way back to the hostel which was only a five minute walk from the club oops?!

Day 4 after a SLOW start myself and Adam went to visit the Jade Buddha temple, which is one of the very few working Buddhist temples in China. It was a great experience loads of people were burning incense and praying and there were monks all around going about their daily life, some amazing statues but didn’t think it right to be taking photographs in what was there house of worship, thought it might have been a bit rude. That night we walked along the bund for some beautiful night time pictures.

Day 5 Adam and I went to see the old town and the gardens nearby some of it was very cliché but the more we wandered through some of the little narrow alleyways the more you could really see the old Chinese life taking place. Then we visited a really cool art district where there were real working studios unfortunately much of it was still closed because of the New Year’s holidays. That night we met Nina and Lisa from Nottingham and we had another big night with them with some more gin, beers and some vodka. A night of cards and some drinks and then clubbing was the plan however it turned into a night of cards and A LOT of drinking but was great fun.

Day 6 Adam, Nina, Lisa and I set off to find the sex culture museum that was mentioned in the lonely planet. We thought it’d be fun to see, as sex is such a taboo subject in China. However it seems that it is so taboo that it is completely hidden from the public view, following the map and circling for ages we eventually gave up and went back to the French quarters for some nice lunch! We then took a stroll around the financial district that evening and took a few photos. Back to the hostel for a much more civilised night of cards and just a few beers!

Our final day in Shanghai and again Nina, Lisa, Adam and I headed off on another adventure. This time to find a town called Zhujiajio an hour outside the city. It was described as an ancient water town with many beautiful bridges and waterways and seemed deserving of a look. After getting on what we hoped was the right bus we set off and landed in this place with no water at all in site. Oh dear.... where the hell were we, however after a little bit of very dubious wandering around we came across a map on a wall that gave us some hope as it seemed to contain water and bridges?! And after not too long we found what we were looking for and it was really worth it. It was this quaint little town full of canals and bridges lots of small souvenir shops and restaurants. We spent a great day strolling around and stopped for some good food mid way. It really was like a mini Venice in China, it was a great find!

But alas our trip had come to an end, I had had a great time one of the best things for me was having the company of Nina and Lisa for the few days. While teaching my only form of foreign contact was all males and as much as get along with Adam, Demond, Ron and Eddie, it was so refreshing for me to have the girls to chat with and have girlie topics discussed like make-up or fake tan etc, I loved it and gave me the excitement to get on the road again!

Our plane wasn’t until 9.30pm, then we still had to get the train back to Tangshan from Tianjin, and this was hellish to say the least. As it was coming to the end of spring festival everyone was returning to work so the train was packed, delayed and awful. We didn’t arrive home till 4am in the end up it was a far cry as to how our journey had started out on the blissfully empty train a few days earlier.

I think I’ve wrote for long enough at this stage, more updates soon currently on the move as my teaching has finished and I’m backpacking down through China so there are stories galore!!

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