I am Home!

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Shanghai's mornings come early. Before 6:00 am the hullabaloo of traffic has already alarmed me up from a good night sleep. I am observing the modernity of Shanghai from Jason's fabulous 19th - floor - apartment in the upscale residential quarter. The dedicated man-made gardens and lakes have really make this place a paradise to live in. Even though overpowered by the surrounding noises and pollution.

People from all over the country rush into this metropolis, competing with the local Shanghainese for jobs, they have contributed so much to this city's prosperity. With an average salary of about 1800 yuans/month, Chinese people work maybe for their whole life just for a comfortable home like this. Do the math, a house in Shanghai costs about 15000-18000 yuans/square meter. Whereas a caucasian like Jason, applies for an English teaching position as he wishes, and gets to stay in a cozzy house with luxurious furniture and electrical appliance.

People here lack smiles on their faces, maybe due to the stressful everyday life in a big city, or maybe it's a way to protect themselves from this complicated society. Endless quarrels go on quite often on the streets. My smiles used to come out naturally, but not any more in Shanghai. Instead, it usually takes effort and energy.

To a lot of foreigners, Chinese people can be the most difficult group of people in the world to deal with. But being Chinese, I know the Chinese well enough, be patient, soon they will gradually open themselves up, and treat you like a family member.

As the citizens of the biggest city in China, some Shanghainese walk with their chests high, looking down at the rest of the Chinese as if their chins are always elevated. But I'm such a lucky girl, always run into friendly people on my trip, the same thing happens here.

I spent a whole day with my junior high school friend -- Zizi, a clever, knowledgable University student in Shanghai. We roamed around the french concession area, digged into the alleys beyond the tourist attractions. I enjoyed listening to her under-the-surface stories about Shanghainese life. More honourable, I was invited to a local Shanghainese family's house for dinner with her.

The door was opened by Jie, the only daughter of Xu's family. Beyond her friendly face with pure skin and a dedicated nose, you can easily feel the art talent from her every small movement. Yes, she is an artist, and an editor for Shanghai people's fine arts publishing house. Oh man, I was so excited to see her art works, colorful and scented with innocent, girly sweetness. I jumped up and down, took as many pictures as I could. But couldn't describe how much I admire her! Auntie Xu is a lovely chubby woman, always has a wide smile on her natural red face. She loves cooking and she cooks a lot especially when there's a guest visiting. And she cooks so well that we couldn't stop eating and highly recommended her to open a restaurant in Vancouver/Laughing. Not just food, she's got home-made soy milk, coffee, tea, juice...etc. Uncle Xu is a typical Chinese businessman, didn't come home for dinner, but as soon as he came back, everyone gathered around the table, chated, joked and laughed. His English wasn't that bad, loved to say,"How are you? How do you do?" and "Long live Chairman Mao!" The first time feeling the warmth of a family since I left home, that hospitality almost moved me to tears. And I was embarrassed, came here with empty hands and left with a full, satisfied stomach, and a CD of Jie's artwork and her publication, and a bottle of cream from auntie Xu for the mosquito bites all over my body. And finally, uncle Xu drove me back to my hostel safely.

Most Chinese people describe the Shanghainese as arrogant and unfriendly, fortunately, I see the opposite.

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Photos

Our dinner
The raw shrimps and snails are my favorite dishes! Yammmyy...

xin tiandi
Has Quebec feel..

A man
combs his hair facing the traffic for an hour, I sat there and watched him.

Comments

[Fay]

i love Jie's artworks! also, the pictures of old Shanghai are very nice. Maybe i should visit Shanghai in January...a good add-on to my plan ^^

[Eva]

bald head with "beard" on the neck -very trendy kid!
You're very good in capturing the beautiful sceneries and people Sandra. Very professional. The best one is the bald head kid with "beard" on his neck, super cool. By the way, how did u get the day and night scene of the bund? Did u stand there from day til night? Hehe...even if you did, it's quite worth it cuz without the day picture, the bund wouldn't look so splendid at night. Keep up the good work Sandra as we always tell our tutees when they've done a good job. I like the pictures that you took. Can't wait to see more.

[Fang in JapanLand]

Eva~
That's why I love ya Eva, you always have a good sense of humour that I lack of~~My hotel was sooo far away from the bund, it would take me 5 minutes to walk back and forth. So I stay there the whole day to capture the nightview~~/laugh.