The Engrishmen are coming

It's easy to be humble in a city that has nearly twice as many inhabitants as one's native country.

Arriving in Shanghai by bus one hot afternoon I was greeted by almost exactly the same view as Korben Dallas when he opens his window in The Fifth Element. OK, so the cars weren't actually flying but the multi-tiered highways created a very impressive backdrop. A first impression of the city would be that it has a strong vibe of "the future, today" but taking a taxi out to where I was staying I passed by several buildings that would feel more at home in Berlin around 50 years ago, including some pretty massive arches. Weird. Going over the Lupu Bridge at night and overlooking a sea of skyscrapers and construction cranes made me feel like some slack-jawed yokel on his first visit to the big city.

Shanghai comes off as a city with an outspoken willingness to embrace (and in some ways emulate) the West. As an example, all the restaurants I visited provided English menus. In Nantong not even KFC has it. “English”, as I’ve found out, is not the best term to describe what is written and spoken by certain Shanghai residents. The first night, as I was drinking my T-up, I contemplated if I did the right choice in ordering the fried sword with pork as opposed to the stir-fried forg with ginkv nut, bemboo, black furgus and green chilli. Speaking of food, two restaurants that I went to in Shanghai had dog meat on the menu but I was too conformist Swedish and boring in my eating ways to try.

The second day saw me focus on some heavy sightseeing in an attempt to cover the major tourist attractions. First off was the Jin Mao Tower, one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers at 420.5 m. The elevator going to the observation deck at the 88^th floor went up at 9 m/sec. The view, of course, was magnificent.

Next off on the list of things every white devil must experience in Shanghai was Nanjing Road, a massive shopping street where most things are overpriced. That didn’t stop me from falling in love with a pair of red Ray-Bans that could have been mine for around 1300 yuan. Alas, my love, maybe the fates will be kinder to us in a different life.

The Road leads up to People’s Square, home to the Shanghai Museum among other things. With an admission fee of 5 yuan for students (making them accept Swedish student Ids didn’t require that much persuasion) I hardly felt ripped off. This is a museum I would recommend to anyone with the slightest interest in ancient sculptures, jade figurines or calligraphy. They even had an exhibition about ancient coins that unfortunately was closed at the moment, making me want to come back for more like the crack(ed shards) addict I am.

Dinner was had at one of those vegetarian restaurants where everything’s supposed to taste like meat. The fake meatball and fake beef curry were quite authentic, but the fake eel and fake crab didn’t come close to what they were trying to imitate. It’s always nice with a restaurant with a no smoking policy however, something all too rare in China.

Outside the restaurant I was approached by a shady figure sticking a flyer in my hand while uttering the words “China Rock”, making this my first run-in with the Chinese music underground. It turns out the guy is called Sun and runs a live bar with the clever name Live Bar, giving young Chinese Rock, Metal and Folk bands a chance to perform. I wish them all the best of luck; they certainly have a few factors working against them.

From this point on, most of my time was spent in the commercial districts. Buying books in a seven floor mall dedicated to that purpose was fun, as was arguing over computer accessories through an interpreter. After a while I was so overtook with shopping frenzy that other vital functions, such as photo-taking ability, ceased to function. When the best picture from a trip features a life size Ultraman in a shopping centre chances are that photography wasn’t very high on the list of priorities. My apologies.

All in all Shanghai left me hungry for more. Covering one of the world’s largest cities in less than five days is impossible but it was time to get some rest before continuing to Beijing. I’ll be taking the express train from Yangzhou straight to the capital, a ride expected to last for at least nine hours. I wonder if I need to bring my own bean candy…

Shanghai skyline, as seen from The Bund:

Yuyuan market, Daoist temple turned tourist market: