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Published: August 24th 2008
Rural countryside of China
This is outside Shanghai heading to NanjingEUROPEAN CITY IN CHINA
It's time to leave Shanghai, this wild city of lights and excitement. Perhaps what I've noticed most about Shanghai is that I don't stand out as much. There are many, many nationalities in Shanghai. What's another white woman? It's nice to blend in again.
Shanghai has seemed to drop many of the communist trappings Nanjing bends under. Buildings are newer and nicer. They lack the rundown look ever present in Nanjing. I am reminded of what Prague looked like 10 years ago shortly after getting out from under communist rule. There was such an air of neglect in the Czech Republic then. Buildings were dirty and decrepit. They hadn't been taken care of. This is how Nanjing looks, as well. Cheap hardware is used on the windows and to bolt up air conditioners. Within just a few years, it rusts down the once bright walls. But Shanghai is different. Buildings were erected with care and have remained after nearly 100 years. They stand proudly along the Bund, looking out over the commerce that has taken place on the river for hundreds of years. The city reminded more of a European city than an Asian one. But,
I don't have much to compare it to either. We'll see what I think after we visit Beijing.
LONG VAN RIDE
We're taking a long van ride today and I have to be on my best behavior. We're heading to a Japanese plant in Changshu. Jesse is checking out the supplier Daikin and the PTFE reisen they produce. My goal is to be friendly and to stay out of the way. The drive takes 2 1/2 hours and we arrive at the plant, which is surrounded by rice patties and vegetable fields. It's a large plant, and must have been built recently. As the bigshots meet, I squirrel myself away in an unused conference room, reading a Jodi Piccoult novel. Three hours later, we gather for a traditional Japanese lunch.
It's been catered in, and includes breaded shrimp, cabbage with bits of meat, other vegetables with another meat, plain sticky white rice, and traditional Japanese soup. It's filling, and doesn't scare me away. Thank goodness, because I think I would have had to eat it all no matter what, just to avoid offending the Japanese. Kindly, they've provided Jesse and I with fork, spoon and knife. Jesse ignores
Water heater
Note the solar water heater on the rooftop. Most homes have them. his, but I'm grateful for mine.
We hop aboard another van for the 3 1/2 hour ride to Nanjing. I wish we could have taken a train, but Changshu isn't on the rail line. We would have had to drive back to Shanghai to meet the train, wasting time. Thus, we drive. We pass fields and small cities. I'm amazed to see so many two-story homes and I ask Helen if they're multi-family units or just single-family homes. She says just one family lives in each home, but it is the extended family.
YOU'RE A WHAT?!
During lunch with the Japanese, Jesse mentions that the watermelon here in China is picked before it's ripe. Helen, his co-worker, says that's how the Chinese prefer. She teases him about being a farmer. When Jesse says that he actually worked as a farmer in high school, conversation just stops. With that small detail, Jesse lost face.
Crazy that they associate farmers with being lower class, huh?
CHATTY WOMEN
It is amazing how fast and how much some women can speak. Jesse has been paired with two chatty Chinese women while in Shanghai, Michelle and Helen. I don't quite believe
Driving to Daikin
We were driven to Daikin's plant in Changshu. It took about 3 hours to get there. From there it was another 2 1/2 to Nanjing. The train was a lot faster. him when he says they talk so much until I spend 2 1/2 hours in a van with Helen. She's a smart woman and hits quite a range of topics. Knowing I'm pregnant and I require lots of snacks she had brought me a bag of fruit candy and moon cakes. What a sweetheart! Out of the blue, she asks if I have cats and tells me pregnant women and those with young children shouldn't have cats. She also tells me that most women in China opt to have Cesarean sections; in fact, the rate is at a whopping 80%! (Compared to 20% in the USA.)
BACK IN NANJING
Coming back to the Crowne Plaza feels like coming back home. It's nice to have something familiar when everything is so different. I still don't recognize most of the streets, although I pick out a few buildings out of the hundreds we pass by. I feel like I should know my way around more, but I haven't even yet figured out which way is north. It's hard when you never see the sun.
We dine again at Jack's, the place we ate at the first night I was in
Toll booth
The roads were expressway toll booths. Much of the roads are also elevated. Nanjing. It is satisfying and frustrating at the same time. Jesse upgrades to a meal that includes "soft drinks". Mistakenly, we think that means pop. It actually means hot chocolate, coffee, tea, or a chocolate shake. It's not actually a shake though, but more like chocolate milk. I read garden salad with fixings in the menu, but get plain lettuce that hasn't been washed well. The chicken is deliciously seasoned with dill and lemon, but that's it. No pasta. I'm so glad we got bruschetta again, and Jesse gave me his caprese. Oh, I love fresh, ripe tomatoes. I'm tempted to order another, but realize I'm full.
TOWARDS RELAXATION
We decide to treat ourselves to a massage after so many nights sleeping on hard beds. (They don't make beds, chairs or couches soft here in China. Think foutons.) We go to the place down the street where Jesse flashes his VIP card. He's been to Yi Zhi Tang Foot Massage before - and brought several co-workers. We're led to a small room with 3 beds lined up. They're hard, really hard; I think we're just lying on boards. For a one-hour full-body massage and one-hour foot massage we pay
Daikin's toilet
Check out this automated bidot! 60 RMB (less than $10). What a deal. The masseuse I have doesn't believe in a soft massage, but stands on a stool so he can really leverage his weight. I feel his elbow grinding away at my knots -which seem to take up my entire back.
The experience is quite different than one's I've had in the United States. There isn't the focus on atmosphere like there is at home. No candles, incense or soft music. During the foot massage, the TV was blaring and we watched the ping-pong competition. I keep my eyes closed for most of the massage, and drift away.
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Amy
non-member comment
Wow! I didn't know that about farmers in China...well, maybe I sort of did, but not really. And I can't believe that cesearean rate!! Holy smokes. I wonder if women choose that or if it's pushed by the doctors. Any idea? That's just insane. I read somewhere that no country should have higher a rate higher than 2-3% , which means the U.S. has a lot of work to do, too. AND, don't I wish that I could get a massage for $10 around here. Sweet!