Since I've been gone...Shanghai, you've changed

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Shanghai is busy preparing for the big 2010 Expo which opens May 1 with 70 million expected visitors. There has been nonstop construction since we arrived in 2008, and supposedly, that will slow and perhaps even pause/end when the Expo starts. I am interested to see if that’s the case.

A very famous food street, Wuliang Lu, near Mark’s old office, has been torn down and beautified. These changes are sad to watch because they are erasing historic parts of a very modern city which I (among many food fans) would rather see maintained alongside all of the new. Ironically, Krispy Kreme is now open just down the street from the former food street.

Even in my own neighborhood, we noticed a lot of cosmetic updating. The slummish housing next door is getting a dramatic face lift. Sadly, I think the improvements are exterior only and I wonder if any of the updates will benefit the residents. I will try to go get a closer look and report back. We have seen a lot of other signs of preparation. Traffic flow barricades have been installed at the subway. Reminds me of Hong Kong. This is a needed change. We’ll see how well people adapt to the change. Signage continues to improve as well. Just the other day, I noticed a bilingual traffic sign indicating which way to go if you want to find the Skin Disease and STD Hospital. Yikes.

Over the weekend, Mark and I went to the local police station to renew our address registration documents. The police officer spoke no English and so we managed to get through the process with Chinese and gesturing. It was a painful, slow process and my jetlag was hitting hard. We managed to bring all the right copies and documents with us this time (we’ve done this process several times now for ourselves and our visitors). This is step 1 in a multi-step process to renew our Chinese Residency Visas.

Yesterday, because the kids and my visas were set to expire today, I had to battle wind and snow/rain to apply for our renewals. The process is so complicated and the forms are always confusing. Basically, Mark and I devised a Chinese Government Form Strategy (CGFS). We fill out all the fields, regardless of whether we understand what’s being requested or whether we indeed have the information. For example, Landlord’s phone number—don’t have it. If we left it blank, big trouble.

Mark had renewed his Visa last week, and I had to pick his up first before submitting the new applications. He had given me a big envelope of supporting documents, and I sort of knew what to do, but there was inevitable confusion. After waiting about 45 minutes for my number to be called, I found out I was missing copies of some documents I had and letters which I didn’t think I had (but later found out I did). The police officer was really patient with me, as I (stupidly) attempted to debate what he was asking for. This goes against the CGFS, paragraph 2, subsection 1, “Never talk back and never question local authority”. In the end, I made a few copies, returned to my friendly police officer, and was on my way home.

Sadly, due to the aforementioned jetlag, I get a lot loopy in the afternoons. This visa process took a couple hours out of my life, and by the time I left, I was hungry and tired. I made the mistake of calling Mark to give him a recap while I was leaving the visa building and somehow I made a wrong turn heading back to the subway. I got totally and completely lost. I was in a residential neighborhood in Pudong and there were no signs of subway stations. I managed to walk in a giant circle and with the help of several kind strangers, I finally found the subway again. During my walkabout, I saw a couple I recognized from the visa office. They were apparently lost too, but before I realized this, I opted to follow them. When they turned around and passed me again, I didn’t follow a second time. I decided I would turn this in to an exploration opportunity, test my weak navigational skills and see what I could see. Plus, I was getting more exercise and that was good—even though it was windy, cold and snowish.

While on this mini-excursion, I found a lovely little park (won’t ever find it again, but I did take pictures). It was in the midst of all the urban cement that is Pudong (aka Pu-Jersey), the more modern, new section of Shanghai home to many businesses and expat families.I also enjoyed seeing the more residential, yet still urban, neighborhood I was lost in because it still felt like China and that surprised me. Much of Pudong is so suburban and new.

I arrived home after my saga to a passed out Nathan and a wide awake Emily. Emily helped me make a feast of Chicken stirfry and cauliflower curry soup with a yogurt cup dessert (we made the mini dessert cups from scratch). Emily fell asleep before dinnertime, though so she had her dessert for breakfast.
We are still pretty turned around with our timezone issues and school starts tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

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Comments

[Geeze]

Shanghai, you've changed..
Wow Suzanne, I am exhausted just trying to absorb all this. Had to remember to breath! A lot going on over there. The Expo sounds incredible! 70 million visitors in six months makes Epcot Center look tame. Keep writing! Love you tons. Geeze

[Linda]

Yikes
Re-entry sounds tedious and exhausting. Talk about the state of "being ready to expire"! Sounds like Nathan had the right idea. The "oasis" in the photo looks lovely. I can appreciate that solo moment.