Alex Goes To China

Last Saturday night Jo and I caught a sleeper from Beijing to Shanghai. We shared a cabin with two Chinese men; an old, retired businessman and a salesman in his early 20s. The old man spoke very good English and told us about his work auditing factories in China for American companies.

When we arrived in Shanghai we were really tired. It was 7.30am and we couldn’t check-in to our hotel until 10am, so we hanged around a Chinese fast food joint and ate some MSG while we waited.

After we checked-in and got some rest, we had a look around. We are staying near Huaihai Rd, the French Concession and The Bund in the heart of Shanghai. These areas are very westernised but in quite different ways. The Bund is like the city from a Hollywood remake of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Jetsons. The French Concession is a bizarre version of Paris circa 1930 complete with Art Deco and Baroque architecture. And Huaihai is another one of those International shopping malls with every designer label you can think of plus a few local brands that have made enough money to afford the rent.

Some of the highlights of this area have been away from the tourist traps. We went to a pet shop down the road that had frogs, squirrels, chinchillas, crickets, turtles and much, much more. Also Jo and I went for a late night massage (fearful we would be offered a happy ending). Instead we got a traditional Chinese massage. My masseuse was small and young and yet her hands were so strong I am sure she could crush a skull with a casual clench of her fingers. My back still hurts, but in a good way. I can feel the tension from dragging luggage around and sleeping on strange beds melting as my back heals.

On Friday Jo and I are going to Fudan University to meet some artists, teachers and students at the Shangahai Institute of VIsial Art (SIVA). There is a 5 hour itinerary for the visit including lunch. I am looking forward to the opportunity to see how arts education functions at this university. Perhaps I will do part of my PhD there…

Overall I have to say I think I prefer Beijing to Shanghai. My Beijing experience was more grassroots and communal compared to my impressions of Shanghai. Shanghai has a more corporate, commercial feeling. The common comparison of Shanghai being like Sydney and Beijing more like Melbourne is probably accurate. These are only first impressions though, and judging them this early is a little premature.

Hot, wet and noisy; Shanghai from on high.