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Published: December 29th 2014
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Pearl TV Tower, Pudong, Shanghai
Major tourist attraction in Pudong and a two-minute walk from my hotel. Well…home again…
It seems like a no time at all that four months has flown by…as I mentioned in a previous post, time is very elastic…
My flights and transit to Nanaimo were more or less flawless, including a trip on the third generation high-speed train from Jinhua to Shanghai: around 320kms at a top speed of 320km/h in first-class for $42—amazing!
I stayed at the Oriental Riverside Bund View Hotel in Pudong, Shanghai overnight, which was a welcome break before I headed home—very nice hotel in the ultra-modern Pudong area. Shanghai is high-speed hustle and bustle and money is clearly evident. On the way to the hotel from the train station the taxi went by the Shanghai Four Seasons Hotel, which has Maserati and Ferrari dealerships on the main floor…
My worries about getting my guitar (yes, I ‘acquired’ another one…) home were unfounded as there is a packing station for fragile items in the airport operated by airport security that packed the guitar efficiently in about 10 minutes for $30—a bargain! For anyone reading this that might need the same service, the packing station is between sections E and F by the main entrance at
Pudong,Shanghai
Ultra-modern architecture reflects the face of modern China. Shanghai Pudong International.
Apart from the usual line-ups for customs, immigration and all the other delights of modern air travel the departure was seamless and easy. The flights to Nanaimo were also straightforward and on-time all the way.
Of course as soon as I was on the plane and all settled and (relatively) comfy I am thinking about where the next trip might take me (and Mary of course). Who knows?
As always my departure from Jinhua was a mixture of relief and anticipation that I am going home and the bittersweet emotions of leaving my students and the folk that helped me through my time there. Belinda took me to the brand-spanking new train station in Jinhua and was definitely teary-eyed as she waved good bye. She gave me a big tin of wedding candies as a going away gift: she is getting married January 1
st and apologized profusely that I would not be there for it…as if it were her fault…very sweet and very Chinese. My students seemed genuinely sad to see me go, as were Jin, Gue and Holly, as well as Keith who was my ‘main’ translator. Even my naughty boys seemed subdued
(for once…)
One aspect of Chinese life I came to appreciate was, believe it or not, Chinese bus drivers…they are calm, efficient and have reflexes of a scared cat…I swear they have compound eyes like a fly and can rotate their eyeballs 360-dgrees. If the Chinese ever get a F1 Racing team together they should definitely recruit from the bus drivers. Of the several bazillion trips I took I did not once see a bus driver lose it with other drivers and all the crazed road ‘behaviour’ that I witnessed. Organized chaos at its finest…
There are, of course, many things I will miss about China and, of course, many things I definitely won’t miss about China. I won’t miss the noise…aaaarrrgghhhh…probably the one aspect of living in China that can seriously erode the experience and eventually grind you down. I won’t miss being almost run down at least daily, it seems, by one or more Audis (usually black) and/or electric scooters that wiz silently by within millimetres of you (no lights at night—wears down the battery…). I won’t miss being stared at constantly and I REALLY won’t miss the spitting…
I will, however, miss the hospitality
The Beer Bar, Jinhua...
...no mistaking their main business... and genuine warmth inherent in most Chinese people, the generosity of spirit and willingness to get ‘stuff done’ and the ambition to move their citizens towards economic, environmental and social parity with the developed nations of the planet, for better or worse.
Anyway, I truly appreciate all the support of everyone at home that encouraged me to undertake my Chinese adventures, and those who took the time to actually read my random meanderings in this blog…THANKS!!
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Dave Robinson
non-member comment
Thanks Merv
Cheers Merv your stories and insights have been a mix of hilarity and education, welcome home man! Dave and Laureen x