China Trip Day Five - Shanghai, a day of rest! - 2013-01-17

This Sunday morning, I took a rest or we could say that the mix of jetlag and the energy of the change of environment visited a rest upon me. In any case, it was well into the afternoon in China before I became conscious back into this world. The hotel room is become 'home'. The word often made me think with all the traveling that I have done. "Home", House" and "Hotel"

Home - I see it as dwelling of me
House - I see it as dwelling I use
Hotel - I see it as dwelling that is away from "home".

And with the traveling, houses and hotels very quickly become home because is where I am and it can also include my closest family an friends. It is an emotional place rather than a physical location. And nationality is similar, I see myself the nationalities of the places I have stayed and interacted significantly like Irish, English, Norwegian, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, American, Mexican, German, Swiss etc. It is funny that after such a short time in a mystical land far away to begin to feel at home already. China is where I am even though the language, culture and so many things are unknown, this is where I am and I can feel my sense of fascination for the place growing...

Nanjing Road East has become my focal point in Shanghai. Off for breakfast in my Starbucks (http://www.starbucks.com.cn/en/), I know I am missing out on what a Chinese breakfast is but a few things at a time. I am consciously saying 'Ni hao' (你好, hello) and 'Xie Xie' (谢谢, thank you) to the girls behind the counter and listening to what they are saying to each other even though I have little clue of what they mean. The only indicators I have are their gestures which are different, simple things like when they laugh they cover their mouths with their hands. When they do that, they look like school girls that are laughing when they shouldn't be.

For the afternoon I will head west on Nanjing Road again and the first major crossing I approach is Henan Middle Road. On the far side of the road is the pedestrian zone of Nanjing Road. I watched the upcoming big road with timed traffic lights and traffic assistants to help us the public cross the road. I notice a large truck breaking hard in front of me. A truck that was racing as the lights had turned from green to red. The pedestrians had begun their crossing and the reason this truck, it looked like a concrete mixing truck, braked hard was to avoid knocking down pedestrians that had begun to cross but the driver was too late. A man was knocked flat back to the side of the road. The truck that was braking deciding then decided to keep going. Now I come from Europe where I was expecting uproar from the surrounding public. 2 people had picked the older man towards the side, they were looking at him and everyone kept moving. I was getting the feeling that this was a relatively common occurrence and they continued on their paths. The movement of people barely changed when a man was probably killed. As I passed it hard to understand if he was dead or not but it was a very possible consequence of the scene that had just passed before me. I was left in shock, not sure if or how to respond and somehow in this moment since I am a visitor in this new place allowed myself to be shunted to the position of observer. I just think of how such a incident would have been reacted to in Italy. There I have seen 30 minute queues of cars going slowly just to see an already finished accident. This was a live collision with potential the ultimate consequence. Being in a big city of 20+ million, it makes me question, "What is the value of life here?". I don't have answers but the question came forth. Maybe the authorities will capture the driver and justice will prevail. This could happen anywhere, maybe because it is my first days here, I am more impressionable and may extrapolate out of the larger context. I don't know but I am thinking... I move on Nanjing Road with the philosophical mind focused on the shared value of life. just as this begins there is the huge Apple Store that is the pinnacle of Commercial and Design value in the world. A mixed lanscape of thoughts re-evaluate with each other in terms of value. We are now global. I am a European in an Asian land. I am human on our planet!

More stimulus attract my attention from the stores, the languages signs that I do not understand. My visual receptors, eyes, have prioritised their work to indicate to me the types of shops, the types of relationships between people, mothers and sons, boyfriends and girlfriends, groups of guys and girls. Chinese seem closer to Italians than Irish. They are comfortable with closer physical contact and holding on to each other arms and hands. My attention is on alert to notice differences and yet I find so many similarities. The world is probably flattening!

The People's Park is a park along Nanjing Road that gives visual space from the taller buildings in the city. It is a break in one of the busiest streets in the world. It gives me a chance to contemplate China outside the concrete jungles that I have decided to visit. The famous holy mountains around CHina, the beaches in the south on the mainland and on islands in the South China sea. For a future visit, I want to learn a bit more.

A lovely evening meal at the shanghai first foodhall on the 3rd or 4th floors is on the cards. This time as I go in I take a better tour

Floor 1 - Chinese Speciality Foods
Floor 2 - International Imported Foods
Floor 3 - Restaurants (Hong Kong, Curry House, Green Tea Shop)
Floor 4 - Restaurants (Chinese Hotpot, Japanese, Thai, Chinese)

Fish has a particular appeal to me and I enter the Sushi bar. No Chinese on my side and no English on theirs makes the interactions very interesting and sometimes funny. Explaining with pictures becomes a very normal way to work. The fish, the beer and the sake were all excellent but most of all I enjoyed 'talking' with the chef's behind the counter and the waitresses bringing me the requests and trying their best to figure out what I wanted. Having very limited language, good intent on both sides and a sense of humour can even be more enjoyable that our normal detailed life. The lightness is contagious. My enjoyment of interacting with Chinese people is amazing.....I want to interact more...

Tomorrow evening I will fly to Shenzhen :)

China Trip Day Four - Shanghai, The Tall Buildings - 2013-01-16

Good morning to Shanghai for the second morning! Today is a day of leisure to look around and see a few sights! Yes!

My preference when I have time is to get out of the hotel for breakfast just to have a look, hungry to absorb the stimuli of the new place. Nanjing Lu has become my center for the this trip, back I go for a few hundred yards to my Starbucks (http://www.starbucks.com.cn/en/) for an espresso and a nice chocolate muffin. it is funny how in the middle of the new I find myself forming habits as I go. The are flags in the sand until I stretch myself a little further in that department. Upstairs in the comfortable chairs I use Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/) to look a  little at the geography of the area and decide where to go. I think either a bus tour of the city or Pudong where the Tall Buildings are but I am not sure how to get across, probably a ferry I think and I will easily see that when I get there. I'll head back to the Hotel, get a mobile subscription and then begin my tour today.

You will know from previous days that my mobile from Ireland is not working so getting in communication here is a priority as well. Luckily across from the hotel is a China Mobile shop so over I pop. As I enter a lady comes to assist me, I tell her about my phone and that I think it could be the battery is dead. She goes to a machine, gives me a queue number and a local mobile number on two separate slips of paper from the machine. As I as waiting in the seating area, an older man started shouting at the old security guard animately, shouting and waving a finger at him and then as staff from China Mobile came closer he faked lunging at the old guard as if to fight but never looked really serious about engaging! It was quite a show that went on for 5 minutes before one of the girls lead the man into a glass walked office where he continued to be loud and curse the guard about something. :) That issue subsided and I eventually was called to the counter. Explaining a problem is always the most fun part when you do not speak the language. My proposal was that my phone was not connecting to the network and that I would like a local MicroSIM Card that I could put into my existing phone. That was dead easy. 50 Yuan (5 Euros) and a copy of my passport for a new prepaid MicroSIM and local connectivity to Internet, YES! A couple of minutes of paperwork and I am done... Back to the hotel and I will try this all out before heading out on the tour for the day.

Back in the hotel room, I take out the MicroSIM and the phone to connect locally. Everything fits together nicely and I turn on the phone. "Network Error". I know this message unfortunately. It means that my phone is locked into a network, my 3 network. So in order to get this MicroSIM to work with my phone I need to call Ireland and get the phone unlocked, it wil be easier to get another phone. The problem is progressively being solved ... :)

Tour of Shanghai Tall Buildings: Out of the hotel I go with my backpack and turning towards the Huangpu River to look across at the tall famous buildings from the photos! The Traffic Assitant supports us going across the road to the area where there appear to be city tour buses and shops. Reaching the far side of the Road, I see a huge statue of Chairman Mao. From the statue, he was born in 1901 and died 1972 when I was born. The funny thing is when I look up wikipedia and other sources, they claim that he dies on the 9th of September, 1976. The difference intrigues me!

He is has had an impressive impact on the Chinese people. I know the overview story of his life but have not had the chance to talk to Chinese people on their opinions. The Bund is full of people Chinese and foreign tourists just looking across the river taking photos

The are a group of shops beside the tourist information office and I wander along to see what offers might be available for today. Maybe the third place shows an escalator going down into what looks like a shopping area. Curious I follow my nose. At the bottom it appears to be the ticket office to somewhere, the "Bund SightSeeing Tunnel". Maybe I can get over to the Tall buildings through a tunnel. I overhear three Americans, a woman and two men, discussing the attraction. The woman seems knowledgeable as if she has been hear before and is leading the two guys. So I ask from them about the place and she includes me her explanation of the tunnel leading over to the Tall Buildings area of Pudong. The ticket price one way is 50 Yuan (5 Euros) which sounds ok. The three are very inclusive and bring me in on their conversation as we walk through the ticket barrier and on to the mini driverless train.

The train takes off and we enter a futuristic TV Movie with lights, neon, and flashes to enthrall us. I thought at one point that we may be able to look up at the river we are traveling beneath but that didn't happen. Each phase of 20 -30 meters there was a different light show of sorts until we arrived at the far side of Pudong.

The group discussed the buildings they were going to see, the Pearl and the Financial Center and asked me if I would like to join them. They were a delightful group so I tagged along.

Excuse my innocence but I didn't really know the names of the building they talked about but followed along as the lady had been here before and understood that these were the buildings to see. As we made our way back up to ground level, she pointed out the Pearl.

Yes, it is that building with the balls on it. It is actually a Radio Tower or that is how it started out in life. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Pearl_Tower). We buy our tickets at 160 Yuan (16 Euros) to get up as far as we can but today we can only go up to the second highest point as the top part is closed for some reason. Fine by us an on we continue. We walk in and around the base of the building coming into a large queue of tourists, of which I would say 95% were Chinese. Shanghai is very much a Chinese attraction as much as it is a foreigner's pilgrimage. The queue moves fairly rapidly and we board the elevator. A lovely Chinese lady in uniform begins a full explanation about the building and the place I imagine in Chinese and considering that most of the guests are Chinese I think that is fair but also thought that I may wander the building in ignorance. After a some time, she begins an unexpected English version of her talk about the building, the elevator and Shanghai which both relieves and enlightens me.

Out we get of the elevator and we have a wander around the sights of the wider bottom ball. One of the american guys and myself are making funny comments and after a while a lady from California comes up to us and it appears that she is enjoying our comments more than the view. Now the view is not that much because the pollution is high. We were delighted to be of service!

We find the next elevator up to the higher section, get in and go up. As we get out now we can see that there is an external viewing platform around the ball made of glass. People are out walking on a balcony of glass. It looks like fun!

My new friend captures me sitting on glass so so far up. You get the willies when you look down! :)

That was great and we are a little peckish. Subway is sitting at the bottom of the Pearl so it is an easy win for that before we head onto the Financial Center. Again I am not sure which building it is but the group point me to our next destination!

The Financial Center (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_World_Financial_Center) is one of the tallest buildings in the world. It appears to be number 3 according to this list http://www.allaboutskyscrapers.com/database/100_tallest_buildings. This building is often known as the bottle opener. It is amazing the amount of material and work that goes into the building. When you get up to the observatory there are also glass floors so you can look down for those of you who have a strong heart!!!

And the model of Shanghai that you see before ascending to the Observatory.

Now we had the trip back to where we came from and the three Americans were taking the Metro. Great! I hadn't taken the metro yet so it will be easy beside people who have already done it! Down we go and I know that I want to get back to Nanjing Road East and there is a station there. It is dirt cheap, 3 Yuan (30 Cents), for a trip back to where I came from! 50 Yuan to get there and 3 Yuan back! It is simply 1 stop on Line 2 and I get off the Metro. I want to thank the lovely three people that I met from the west coast of America for their hospitality! We made our goodbyes and I headed upstairs to find my orientation. Now, I often think I am clever but the next thing I did, didn't make feel that. I arrive at the exit with the ticket machine. I see a sign on the top of the machine saying insert ticket. I put it in the top but the barrier doesn't move to let me pass. What's wrong? There was a passer by and I asked. He answered in perfect English, "You need to put it in the front of the machine!". I had just put it in the pace where the ticket should come out after being validated :) Doh! Instead of going through all the embarrassment I simply put my long leg over the barrier and headed on... I know, I feel a bit guilty but in the moment, that's what I did!

Shanghai First Foodhall beckoned me again with the variety of different restaurants!

Video on East Nanjing Road at night there are these different groups of people dancing to music. Maybe it is for simple enjoyment, they do seem to have fun! It is simply better to look than me to explain!
With a quick search on the Internet, I wanted to go out since I was not tired and a simple answer for an Irish man abroad is the Irish Pub, and why not? I found whether good or bad Malone's (http://www.malones.com.cn/tongren/) a short taxi ride away back in the direction of Nanjing Road West. I know the routine now. Get the address, go to the concierge and get him to write it in Chinese for the taxi driver. It is easy now!

I arrive at an ex-pat bar with quite an atmosphere both downstairs and upstairs, I thought it might be a restaurant upstairs but I go to investigate anyway. As I get up to the top, there is an American Pool table and games of doubles going on. Well, there is a simple bet. A beer a game! I am up for it! THe beer I drank before I started was the only one I paid for :) Irish pool pockets are much tighter so it makes the American tables easy :) I got called a couple of names like 'Shark' but I can live with that.... We actually were all very friendly and enjoyed the evening...

Shanghai has a few sides to it!

China Trip Day Three - Shanghai by Day - 2013-01-15

Good morning Shanghai. I know I am here. I know there is light outside but I am not too sure what time it is. There is a strange kind of frosted window in the hotel, enough light is getting in to know that it is sunlight but no view. I remember reading on CTrip (http://www.ctrip.com) about windows, you can have one or not. I remember saying yes to a window. I got the window alright no view just light coming in. Unusual! Check the time and I have time to spare to get ready, have breakfast somewhere and head off for my first meeting of the day.

Mobile Phone: My key items for contact during my day are internet and phone access. Last night I have tried to register my phone on the network but it wouldn't do it. I have a 3 Ireland (http://www.three.ie/) subscription and the phone is quite modern with a Samsung S3. I run the normal process of searching for networks and yes it does see three different networks and I attempt to register on each one of them but without success. Sugar! :( The same as last night. Am I without a phone here in China? Wi-Fi access works fine on the phone. I will have to deal with this one today or over the weekend.

Ironing Board: These guys are super efficient. The ironing board is a half sized ironing board without legs and a hook so you can hang it on a wall. The job is to put it on one of the cupboards and make my shirt straight. China must be the place to come to check for furniture if you have an apartment!

Job done, time for a breakfast before heading off!

I'll head out of the hotel as in general I mostly like to have a look around. It is easy to head out onto Nanjing Road and look for something. It doesn't take 200 meters and I cross a Starbucks. The idea of a nice espresso and a muffin do appeal. I give in and walk in. Everyone was speaking Chinese so I wondered where the girl behind the counter would understand or would I go through the silly foreigner routine of pointing everything out with my finger... My turn. I'll try English, "Could I have an espresso?" and she replies with a strong American accent, "Single or a double?". I am relieved to be understood and at the same time disappointed not to have to interact with the Chinese language, outside of "Ni hao", I would be lost. Starbucks is maybe more famous one thing more than its coffee, its free Internet. I'll give it a go when I find a seat upstairs. Sure, there is a Starbucks Wi-Fi connection. I connect and now it is looking for a sign-in and the page is in English and Chinese. This is all too easy. As I fill in the form one value is the Chinese mobile number but, hey, I don't have one! Off I trot down to the girls behind the counter asking for some help. One of them leaves the counter somes up and looks at my problem. She doesn't have great English but definitely looking to help. I let her look at my computer and she understands the problem. I ask her could I have the password sent to her mobile and she willing complies. We try the registration and no SMS appears with a password. Let's try again and so we do and Voilà, an SMS appears, pop the verification code in and I have access. I thank her profusely. Thinking about it I probably need a local mobile just for general contact-ability (as you read earlier my phone could not register on the network) and internet access. I am very cautious of the roaming costs of internet abroad. Life is good for now, internet access and I can continue writing my book the Question Framework which I will have out for 2013.

A five minute stroll and I am back in the hotel. 'Mike' the Concierge is more that willing to help me as I enter and he hails a taxi and then explains to the driver where I want to go. This is great. I do notice that the taxi meter starts at 14 yuan! Just under 2 euros. The taxi from the airport really did one over on me. I am happy that now I am finding normal and sit back to watch the sights from the taxi's backseat. I marvel at the amount of designer names, in particular Italian, like Gucci, Versaci, we are in a rich shopper's paradise.

Where I am going seems simple enough 1515 Nanjing West Road. I believe Nanjing Road is about 5 or 6 kilometers long but I know it is on the west side and I have a number. The Taxi pulls me up to the side of the street after about 10 minutes of a drive and I am happy now that I will be in plenty of time for my meeting. I see straight in front of Plaza 66, form of department store. But the building number on the wall is 1266. Ok, I have time, a little searching should be fun! :) I begin a walk more westerly hoping that it could be the right direction to find 1515. As I pass buildings with security cards I try to dialogue with them for 1515 Nanjing Road with words and even taking out my laptop, a still cool looking Apple MacBook. No luck... I continue to walk westerly and finally come to 1500. Yes I must be close. But the very next building is 1600. SXXt! How can I figure out to get there when the numbers don't go in order. I keep going and in the middle of city here opens up this beautiful temple. Covered in traditional roof tiling and layered with Gold. Ji'an Temple is a beautiful sight as you walk along a city street.

Now I come to a major junction going west where there are queues of people waiting to cross. And there is a casual military looking uniform on the Traffic Assistant who keeps people on the path until they are given the Green man to walk. Traffic light countdown timers are in place. So you know when you are going to be crossing next.

When I get to other side of the Junction still no luck with the number and yes of course I have no phone to call the guy I am meeting to help me out. I better go east again and find 1515. I pass by the lovely temple again and think I might need to pray to Confucius or the Dao for directions. On the way back I find 1500 again, the building of the Standard Chartered Bank. Am I in the land of Harry Potter looking for Platform 9 3/4? Time is getting closer to me meeting of 10.00 (GMT+8). I go back to the next junction in an easterly direction. I get to the junction and I find the road sign. Now below is an example of a street sign. It was not the one of Nanjing Road West but let me explain something that confused me alot.

On the left of the sign you see 2263 and on the right you see 2311. These are the very logical maximum and minimum numbers of the building that you will find on this block. Wonderful! Now I found the name Nanjing Road West (Nanjing Xi Lu) and the numbers 1515 on the left and on the right something like 1496. Since there are road works I am guessing that since this is the first building on the road, the the building I am looking for could be hidden behind the barriers behind the sign. I walk on the corner of Tongen Road (Road = Lu) and the first building is call the Kerry Center. It sounds like an official Office Building and proceed inwards with hope in my heart since there are fifteen minutes and counting that this is where my meeting is. Brilliant there is a directory of offices in the building several I recognise but not the one I am looking for. Maybe they don't have their name up? Out with the laptop and I try to explain to the security / concierge of the building who I am looking for but he doesn't know them either. I ask him for a phone to call the office because mine doesn't work here and he says I can use his mobile. He dials the number and hey presto I get in contact with the person I am supposed to meet. I need to go back up passed the temple where I already was, cross over the big road with the assistant and he will come and meet me outside the building. Yes, great! I took some coins out of my pocket to pay the man for the phone call but he reclined. He was very polite and seemed very happy to have done me this favour.

But I am still at a loss as to how the street signs work. The numbers do not necessarily correspond to the direction of the building numbers. The maximum and minimum are correct. In this case, the numbers are in the opposite direction to the way the buildings are arranged.

- Do they always put the maximum on the left and minimum on the right?

- Does it depend on the directions of the road, West or East, or North or South?

For the moment I do not have time to figure this out but street signs need study later. Let me get to the meeting. I walk back to the building indicated and wait by the fountain. The person I am to meet walks out of the building 5 minutes later to bring me in! Believe it or not I actually made it in time!

After the meeting, I have time to get back to the hotel so I think if I follow this road, Nanjing Lu, I will arrive back at my hotel. I am not sure of the distance but it would be an interesting couple of hours since i have the time today and I am full of curiosity. The route I found out later is like this, 5 km:

Great, my first wander in the day time in China. For the third time I pass the beautiful Ji'an temple, down pass building number 1500, the Standard Chartered Bank, passed the Kerry Center on my right and onwards along Nanjing Lu by foot instead of by taxi. I feel like a kid and this is part of traveling that excites me, the new, the undiscovered (at least by me) and the expansion. The roads are big, the paths are easy with people since it is working time. The number of foreigners is low. After a short while on my left I notice the Shanghai Central Shopping Center which is surround the Portman Ritz Carlon Hotel (http://bit.ly/14L6JPS and it location is http://goo.gl/maps/peb7c). It appears to be a plenty of shops all surrounding the hotel, like a shopping center but distinct form the hotel. I wonder am I seeing Feng Shui in action here. The pleasant feeling while walking around the center of seeing the sunlight, being outdoors but in an 'outdoor shopping mall'. I wander briefly through the lobby and the bar of the hotel of pure luxury! It is my first time to see a layout like this and I like it!

Back on to Nanjing Lu for the treck eastwards. This must be 5 kilometers of prime real estate because it seems to be high end shops all the way only broken by roads and shopping malls. Chinese New Year is coming up and there are Happy New Year posters and colourful red and gold displays. The year of the snake is coming. I remember looking up which of the 12 Chinese calendar animals I am and with reluctance hearing that I was a rat. Since getting back from my trip, i looked into it with more detail and since I was born early in January it turns out that I was really born in the Chinese year of the Pig, luck me! (Here is a little about the Pig http://www.onlinechineseastrology.com/Chinese-Zodiac/astrology-sign-pig.aspx). 

Maybe the pig in me but I am actually a little peckish so I am keeping an eye out for something to eat. Low and behold a small Subway appears soon afterwards. That will be perfect, a quick sandwich will keep going til lunch. I walk in looking at the photos and find a tuna sub that will do perfectly but everything is in Chinese again. Even the foreigner, European looking, in front of me is speaking Chinese. The pointy finger will be coming out :) My turn and I ask in English for the 6-inch tune sub, again she answers in perfect English with an American accent asking my toppings etc. As I am waiting in line, a Chinese man with a briefcase starts talking with me saying that he is an English Teacher and asking would like to have a cup of tea with him. He seems harmless but there is this cautious side of me from the various stories that I have heard just to keep to myself. just outside the subway looks like the grand opening of a shop where speeches are being held. The backdrop is Dunkin' Doughnuts but it feels like this could be a political meeting so I continue on my way not fully understanding and that's ok.

Crossing to the north side of the road, I appear to be walking beside three Swedish tourists, two men and a woman. The language comforts me! After a couple of minutes at a traffic light, the same gentleman who approached me in Subway has begun a similar dialogue with the Swedish lady in her 50s. She is polite with him and talks. The guys watch on but not bothered really. What does this guy really want? Is he looking for money? Is he really a teacher? How does the world work here? I continue on satisfied at having given my dialogue with him a reasonably short ending.

I walk along time just enjoying watching people and next on  my path is a Chinese Shopping Mall called 818.

Everything is in Chinese, even the directory on the entrance has very few roman characters. Time for a wander. I begin the ascent up the escalators finding all Chinese shops, a world onto themselves. It is lovely place. It becomes a visual experience. I am just in watching mode and go up and down the mall just taking it in. Everyone is very relaxed, laughing, socialising and living life but just in a different language. The difference is when I travel in Europe recognising characters even if I do not understand the words connects me. Here that connection will require some work. I can feel the desire to learn the language expand.

Back on to the Nanjing Lu walking now having been satisfied with more interaction. The streets continue with more and more shops, it makes Grafton Street feel like one block out of the hundred that might be on Nanjing Lu. This place must be enormous as I begin to comprehend the gargantuan size of Shanghai and China. The walk is pleasant and slowly I am re-approaching recognisable sights of Nanjing Road East. 

I have built up a hunger on my track and begin a search with my eyes and my nose for lunch. Shanghai First Foodhall which appears to sell Chinese food, International food and has a number of restaurants. This is perfect, a look at Chinese foods which completely baffle me as there is no English explanation at all but I am curious and I look like a man from another planet. The next floor up is full of International food and then onto the restaurants. A Hong Kong restaurant, a curry restaurant, a thai restaurant, a hot pot restaurant, a Japanese restaurant and several places for Green Tea and Coffee. I know it is silly but after last nights experience, I yearn for the Japanese food that I know so well and in I go. The meals are very well priced at 50 Yuan for a full Sushi platter including a drink, SOLD! The waitresses didn't speak English at all but they were very patient going through the pictures with me until we agreed by head nodding that they knew what I wanted. I am sure all the staff were Chinese but the language flew over my head. "Xie Xie" which means "Thank you" and is my only vocabulary gets over used :)

Shortly back to the hotel and jetlag overtakes me!

Later that evening I wake up in time for my next meeting with a guy from the US who was open to sharing his knowledge of Shanghai with me on first days over a few beers, no better way!

The plan is 20.00 (GMT+8) at the Beernest (http://www.beernest.com/) and very importantly I have the address in Chinese 肇周路76号, 76 Zhaozhou Lu for the Taxi. this time I go the Concierge 'Mike' and make sure that he writes the name of my destination on the hotel card.

And for getting back to the Hotel the front of that card has the address.

Taxi to the Beernest seems simple. The drives lasts about 10 minutes again.

When the driver drops me off. Again I find myself not at the right number on the road. I appear to be on the right road, great start! Here we go again I taught but this time I have not left as much time to get to the meeting. I was at building number 200 and something now which way do I go? I know the signs are unreliable so I may ask someone. Luckily the guy I was meeting also told me it was near Dong Tai Lu. Eventually, I asked someone about Dong Tai Lu and got pointed in the opposite direction to the way I was walking for the last ten minutes. At least now I am going the right way. I'll be late but hopefully that wont be an issue. I really feel like I am in back roads, open shops, mopeds in the road, a bit of the poorer area of Shanghai at least that is how it feels dark way of the beaten track of Nanjing Road. I make the perpendicular move finding myself on the same street and getting closer in number to 76. The Beernest is a very small pub, well really it is a long table with three or four fridges at the back with exported beer and some food, cheese and ham from Europe.

Delighted to meet with my new friend and apologise for my delay explaining my taxi and street sign issues :) he wasn't aware of the street sign issue so I start to doubt my issue but I will figure it out. We settle to the important job of choosing a few beers and begin eating monkey nuts in the middle of the table. We catch up ave a good chat then get joined by a Belgian guy and his French wife. We all talk about China, adapting to it, they love it and then begin to philosophise on life! A perfect evening!

As the evening ends we hear that the Beernest is going to close down in the next couple of months so this will only ever happen once. They may get a new location or they may not. The French gentleman and their wife who live more or less across the road show me to a major junction where he hails acab down for me and I show my trusty hotel card to take an easy trip to me temporary 'home'.

A great full first day in China!

China Trip Day Two - Traveling to China - 2013-01-14

00.40 (GMT+2) Turkish Airlines Flight ready to take off for Shanghai! 10 hours and 8,000 kilometers to go to arrive in Shanghai! Very soon after we sit, we get a little packet form the air hostesses with blindfolds, socks, a toothbrush and a couple of other items in our long flight survival kit. The seats are comfortable and we are all equipped with a touch screen of entertainment and a USB Charger socket. I now remember that I will be getting another "Raw Meal" (plenty of fruit) on this flight too! I start thinking about my approach to this flight, will I read a book, watch movies, etc and figure out how to cope with jetlag on the other side or take the safe approach and attempt to sleep and be 'more' ready for life in China. But being the big kid I am, I was not able to simply slip off in to the world of fairytales and watched, read and played for a good 5 hours during the trip. Then tiredness sweep over me. I had not choice, just put on the blindfold and succumbed to the demon of sleep.

The food and the service were impeccable making the flight slide by. About an hour prior to landing I woke up and began a conversation with a Turkish man who had been coming to Shanghai for business for the last 10 years. He shared some observations and gave me a few tips which were very handy in those last minutes before disembarking.

10 years ago, most people on the plane were foreigners coming to sell something or work in China and more recently most of the passengers were Chinese as they have begun to go out into the world and sell their goods. There seems to be a reversal in trends of approach to travel by the Chinese. It gave me the feeling like they are preparing to play a real power in the world gradually, economically, socially and in many forms.

Tips:
- There is an ATM in the airport, use it to withdraw cash in local currency 'Yuan'.
- A taxi from the airport to the city center should cost around 200 Yuan.
- Normally there is a 2000 Yuan limit to cash withdrawals.

16.50 (GMT+8) We landed easily and I just take my time about getting my gear ready. Armed with my new awareness and armoury of tips, this could all work out well. We descend form the plane into an Ultra-Modern airport, wow! As good as it gets! My first moments were spent looking at the shops with Chinese Writing on them. I am now in Mandarin speaking land! And here as I enter into the immigration section is the ATM my turkish friend told me about, so out with the cash. I continue to immigration which is a reasonable queue but at least it is all on the Chinese side. The was no pre-immigration in either Ireland or Turkey. I come up to the desk and the is a tablet type device in front of me with my picture and after a while the details of my passport and visa displayed on the tablet. All very modern. All is in order, no questions and after a couple of minutes of checking, through I pass.
Well this should be fun, finding my baggage! No problemo, everything is in both English and Mandarin. I move along to number 7 to wait while the bag will make its way there. Fin, I pick up the bag and I begin to head towards the Customs area but there is a queue. A queue, why? It appears that they perform a matching between the bag you pick up and the baggage ticket that you have in your possession. Oh Sugar! Where did I leave my ticket. I am rarely careful about those tickets because I rarely have a problem and I have never been party to a checking process between tickets and bags. That tickets only use until now has been if my bag has been delayed! Luckily, in my back hip pocket, I find my baggage ticket and I get the clearance to proceed to Customs. Whew! I will pay attention to that ticket more from now on...

Here I come out into the "Middle Kingdom" (China) aremd with the name of my hotel in Chinese on my hotel booking from from CTrip (http://www.ctrip.com/). So I am aware of three ways to get to the city, taxi, metro and the Maglev. Uncertain as I come out which for of transport I will take a lady official from the airport says she can get me a taxi and escorts me over to the counter. I ask how much after a minute and she says 450 Yuan. Thanks to the tip from my new Turkish friend I just walk away. Now I head in the direction of the trains. Quite a walk towards the train and I debate, the Metro or the Maglev. The Maglev is a bullet train that goes over 300 km per hour on the way into the city. The only issue is that it does not appear to go to exactly where I want to go but I can find my way from there I imagine. What ticket will I buy, the standard or the VIP? For the one time that I will take it let me that the VIP. 100 Yuan please. (About 12 Euros). Bags through the scanner and on the Maglev (http://www.smtdc.com/en/) I get.

Yes, that blurry picture does say 301 km per hour as we rocket into the city of Shanghai and just under it is the divider curtain between the golden VIP section and the blue standard section. Outside flies by! Amazing beginning to the new world. I get off the train and meet a girl and her father taking pictures of each other outside the train and offer to take one of both of them. Very friendly! I imagine that they are Chinese from outside Shanghai and they are tourists just as much as I am. 

Next step is to get to my hotel from Longyang Road Station. Outside is the metro and there are taxis and I have it in my head to get a taxi as I am not sure about navigating the metro. As I descend the steps I get solicited by two taxi drivers but I do not trust them after what I have heard. I begin walking around and into the metro station trying to figure out where the authentic taxis are. I figure out that they were right on the way out of the station and begin to head that way. I walk a hundred yards or so and a taxi guy approaches me saying he has a meter taxi and I follow him to a queue of what appear to be normal taxis with meters and he is at the top of the queue. I do try saying how much will it be to the Hotel, I show him the paper with the address and he says we will do it by the meter. Eventually when we are in the car he says it will cost around 300 Yuan. I feel that I have been stung but ok. Let it ride and on we go. I watch the meter and when I get to see it after the receipt gets put up, it had started at 160 Yuan, as I got into the car. I know I have been done but I just run with it. We get to the Hotel at the meter is at 390 Yuan. I bite the bullet and think ok, I got caught, lesson learnt!

Now I was about to discover how is the Business Manhattan Hotel on Dianchi Road, just off Nanjing Road and by the Bund, as I booked it through CTrip (http://www.ctrip.com/).

The Hotel seemed lovely considering the very reasonable price. Now I go to check-in and besides the passport request which I expect there are two payments to be made.

1 - A payment for the stay at the hotel itself

2 - A payment deposit for any food, drinks or services that I may use while I stay there.

These guys are taking no chances. Into the lift and up to the room on the 5th floor. It is a very well laid out hotel and the room is a double bed room with a bathroom through a sliding door. Space isn't huge but the use of mirrors and well designed furniture give you the sensation of space. Just check the bathroom and nothing weird. Now I remember that I do need to iron a few clothes for tomorrow and better ring down for an iron. I pick up the phone, dial '0', and ask for an "iron". The answer comes, "The password for the Wi-Fi is XXXXX". "No, I am looking for an iron to smoothen my clothes". "Yes sir Sir, the password is XXXXX. What do I do? Do I have to go down and explain? "Wait", I hear. Another lady is put on the phone. "Hello". "Yes, I am looking for an iron for my clothes". "Ok, we will send it up." Whew! At least I didn't have to go all the way down again to get it.

20.00 (GMT+8) I'll go and have a stroll on the Bund and then along Nanjing Road, a famous shopping street, which are both around the corner. Out I go around the corner to have a look. One hundreds yards from the hotel is the a large road to cross and there is a boardwalk to view across the river Huangpu and look at the large lighted buildings across the river. The Pearl (A Radio Tower), the Financial Center (Tallest Building in Shanghai) and several other banks with huge buildings.

That's the Bund now let me stroll along Nanjing Road. It is bright lights, big shops, like being in Times Square in New York, the only different being that many of the signs are in Chinese writing. It seems to be full of big departments stores, the Apple store and plenty of Chinese souvenir shops for tourists. There are a few Starbucks and it is littered with western food shops like KFC and Chinese equivalents. I am actually a bit peckish, where will I go for food? I don't want western food after having come all the way here.

A couple of hundred yards west of my hotel I take a south on Nanjing Road to what appears to be a restaurant on the 2nd floor of a building. I go in and up in the elevator. It looks like an ok place. Quite large. At least more than 100 people in there and they are all Chinese :) I am in for a treat. The manager comes over and sits me down and requests that I get brought the menu with the pictures...I look through the menu and the prices look very good. I look at what I thought were starters at 39 Yuan each so I thought let me get three of them and a drink. I pick three plates, a broccoli, clams, and a tofu plate along with some white wine or that is at least how it was described in the menu. Two minutes later, another manager arrives with a half liter of brownish type liquid in a bottle and I thought, "What have I actually requested?". I open it and I might as well try a glass since it is here. It did not look like white wine, brown wine maybe. But it was drinkable. The food was taking a while so I managed a couple of glasses of brownish wine. Here comes the food, the starters turned out to be a feast. There was no way I was going to eat all of these three big plates but let's dig in. I am hungry.

Broccoli Dish. The broccoli looked lovely and as I got closer to it, it was covered in slices of bacon. I am a veggie so I thought let me eat the broccoli and just leave the bacon. It was yummy tasty! I really tucked into it.

Tofu Dish. It was lovely strips of with some lightly cooked veg. Also delicious.

Clam Dish. The clams were in a custard looking paste make of eggs. So I began taking one clam out at a time and they were very nice. The eggs make them a big heavy. 

There is no way I am going to eat all three of these plates. So I do my best finishing the broccoli and part of both of the other dishes. During the meal I notice that people are smoking everywhere and some are a little too drunk for a restaurant but all seems to be calm and good. I feel like an odd-ball with more than a hundred other people and I am the only non-Chinese person. Finally, I ask for the bill and there is not a single recognisable character on the bill except the number. Thanks for arabic numbers! Pay the bill and head back towards the hotel. Alot to take in for one day!

Shanghai is streets ahead of us in many ways!

China Trip Day One - Traveling to China - 2013-01-13

IRELAND

Awake and fly! 24 hours from now I will be in Shanghai, China in a country for the next 13 days where the language is unfamiliar to me, the culture is to be discovered and I feel excited like a kid on Christmas morning!

08.16 (GMT+0) Ramada Hotel Bus Stop for the AirCoach (http://www.aircoach.ie/). The bus driver has hit a bad day and do not know the terminal for my flight :) I checked on the internet and Turkish Airlines (http://www.turkishairlines.com/) fly out of Terminal 1, Dublin (http://www.dublinairport.com/). The bus driver has cheered up and made some classic Irish complaining comments about the planners of the airport. We will enter the airport by arriving at Terminal 2 first. I offered to move my bag at the next stop and he counter offered :) I do really like that the aircoach now has Free WiFi.

09.40 (GMT+0) Arrive at Dublin airport with plenty preconceptions about what will happen, who will be with me. I imagine that there could be Chinese Immigration like we get when we go to the US and maybe I should have come much earlier to handle all of that and that I am about to be surrounded by a mix of Turkish and Chinese people on the plane! So off to the Check-In section and it was all too simple. I even had to point out that I had a Chinese Visa. All of the staff for Turkish airlines appeared to be from Eastern Europe, no Turkish personnel. It appears that any immigration will happen in Istanbul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul) :) Ok, so Dublin will be a walk through. The long walk to the Gate in Terminal 1. Expecting now to meet with Turkish and Chinese at the gate but I don't see even one Chinese person and it is hard to identify Turkish people. So I feel a little disorientated! Now before I get on the plane I think about my expectations for Turkish Airlines. I have no idea...

11.15 (GMT+0) On board we get and Turkish Airlines has been voted the best European Airline for the last three years. What does that mean? Maybe the next 4 hours will unveil that to me. At least I get to sit in row of three seats with one other Irish guy on the way to Vietnam, a bit of space to maneuver during the next few hours. It was great to hear that are other people prepared to live around the world. Now we receive a menu in both English and Turkish of the upcoming refreshment during the flight.

I remember that we had several choices when asked about food while booking on the website and I was in a particularly healthy mood when I chose. "Raw Menu" was what I had selected and I got notified that I was on a special meal. As the air hostesses are passing through the aisles with food, I received an all-fresh-fruit plate. Fabulous.

And then the drinks include Turkish red wine which I had never contemplated before. Italian normally being top of my list in that department. Have to give it a go and to be honest, not bad!

There is a USB Electric socket in the panel in front of me so phones and tablets can keep charged during the journey. Four hours flew and I look at the screen to see that Dublin and Istanbul are exactly 3,000 Kilometers apart! I know that I will have a 7 hours wait in Ataturk Airport Istanbul (20 kilometers west of the city http://goo.gl/maps/as8ww) but I have already decided that I will not risk the airport exit for a visit of one of the cities that is on the top of my list to see. I prepared for a 7 hour tour of the airport and good read of my current book Flourishing by Maureen Gaffney.

17.25 (GMT+2) Istanbul begins the separation by not just distance but also timezone, now 2 hours ahead of Dublin. To keep in contact with home we use an innovative tool called Voxer which has the amazing facility of recording voice messages, pictures and text messages offline and sends on the next connection to the Net, love it.
As we enter the Transit part of the airport, the Food court is the first site. Had a little walk around spotting the Kebab Shop and then thinking to myself, an original kebab in Turkey, that will have to be my choice even thought there were choices of pizza, asia fusion, KFC etc

A simple slip of mind made me realise that I had not a Turkish Lira (approx. conversion 2,5 lira to 1 euro http://bit.ly/WwIClO) to my name and will they accept the famous credit cards, not a problem. Up I went to get a turkish kebab and a local beer "Efes". The beer was good but the kebab was ver disappointing. I have had my best kebabs in Germany and Switzerland from Turkish Kebab Houses and they were far superior to my first on ground soil. Watching people in the food court area, this is really a crossroads for the world, asian, south american, european, african peoples all together enjoying some grub!
Next for a wander around the waiting area Duty Free and bookshops of the Airport. The D&R Bookshop (http://www.dr.com.tr/) was a well stocked bookshop for English and Turkish books. My resistance is low when I get into places like this and I begin to scan the books both their covers and full boks when one catches my interest. I know I am mid-reading Flourishing but... "ReWork" by the founders of 37Signals after a scan intrigues me. I put it down trying to resist temptation and another man picks it up directly afterwards. I know now that I want to and will walk around the airport for a while pretending to myself that I have discarded it and come back and buy it.
Wandering down in the direction of my gate there is a massage machine but a water massage machine (http://www.aquamassage.com/) claiming to give you a water massage in 7 minutes that would be the equivalent of a 40 minute massage. Nah, I'm ok but interested to keep that in mind for another time. Never saw one of those machines before.
There is a lot of time to still pass and wandering around there was a bar where everyone appeared to be plugged in with their laptops and tablets. I thought that will be perfect for me BUT what type of electric socket do they have in Turkey? Hell, if I know. I'll have to wander in a get down to have a good look. I do not have a super duper Universal adaptor on me. Down I get and it is the same as an Italian socket, yes sir, I have that covered. Always have a socket of that nature in my bag so I can sit down, enjoy another Efes, and get online. The strange thing was the price of the beers at the bar
250 ml 18 lira
330 ml 19 lira
500 ml 20 lira
The quantity difference was not reflected in the price! I commented to my neighbour that really we are just renting the seat not paying for the quantity of beer we are drinking. I asked for a beer without mentioning the quantity and of course the waiter came back with a 500 ml as I hoped after examining the prices.

After these hours in Istanbul airport, I am ready for a 10 hour flight across the Asian continent and sleep. This time as we wait for boarding, there are more Chinese and Turkish people in the queue which makes me feel that I am on the right track after dublin having being so disorientating.

00.40 (GMT+2) Flight ready to take off for Shanghai!