Bodhi Bum

Now a lot has been said about China and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I was actually nervous landing at Pudong airport and going through immigration. I had this strange idea that they would realize that I wasn’t really here on just a leisure trip as I had checked off on my landing form, and as they would place agents to track my whereabouts in the city they would realize that I was doing business work and would sentence me for espionage, execute me and send the bill for the bullet to my poor, grieving parents.

Now that I’m sitting in the airport here at Pudong airport on my way out of China (and trying painfully to kill six hours of waiting before my flight departs) I now realize the folly of my misconceptions on this country. It really is a great country and not anything like it is portrayed in the West. I think Westerners have this warped idea of China as being some kind of militaristic police state where the people aren’t free to speak or do a thing, except maybe spend their time making cheap trinkets and stealing white people’s jobs. But truth is Shanghai is an amazing city and the Chinese are great. Even the police here are great. Friday night we stumbled out of the club on MaoMing road and ran directly into a group of about ten police in full gear, and they started laughing and helped us up and helped hail a cab for the drunk westerners and directed the cabby where we were going. The city itself is incredible just for the amount of construction and highrises springing up. You can see why they say China is taking over the world. Being here you can really believe it. It’s a beautiful city with some of the most amazing high-rises, with a couple far better than anything New York has to offer. The restaurant scene is pretty good, and the bar scene is a lot of fun, much better than any Western city I’ve been to.

But the downsides are there as well, most of them being just personal dislikes. Number one being the pollution. My god, even on a clear day there is a perpetual smog hanging over the city and it is so noticeable that it’s almost like a weight bearing down on you and blocking out the sun, which affects the whole mood of the city itself. Even a hot, sunny day doesn’t really feel the bright and cheery. Number two would be the language issue. I’ve found this in Tokyo as well, as both these countries are extremely inward looking. Normally this isn’t an issue as most people in most countries speak at least a little English. But not here. I had to carry a map with me at all times as even the common sense things like saying “Hilton Hotel” to a taxi driver is useless. For some inexplicable reason, “Hilton” is translated into Chinese as She Ra Do. I though they were saying “Sheradon” hotel for a while, and after taking two hours at four in the morning to find my hotel I carried a map at all times after that and just pointed. But more importantly, the girls don’t speak English. Nothing. I found this amazing place on MaoMing Road called BabyFace which you would think having an English name would have people who spoke English. But no such luck. Not even the bartenders speak English. Good thing JD & Coke is universal in all languages. But you have absolutely no idea how frustrating it is to have a room full of gorgeous Chinese dolls all stealing glances at you but without the ability to have a conversation it ain't going nowhere. Girls who are on the hunt for a boyfriend don't put much stock in a purely physical relationship. However, there are always exceptions to the rule and we'll just leave it at that for now on such a public forum.

So work got extended out until Friday since I had to wait on some documents from a missing manager and I decided to take the weekend on my own to explore the city further. So I switched out of the Hilton and spent Saturday night on my own dollar at a cheaper hotel. Hit a few new places and met up with a couple of Canadian contractors from Chatham on Saturday who were working in Shanghai. Funny thing is, all these guys would drink is Canadian Club. If the bar didn't have CC, then they weren't sticking around. I had to translate a few times from Rye and Coke, to Whiskey and Coke.

So Sunday I went to the airport by 3pm and killed about 8.5 hours in the Business Lounge waiting for my 11:30pm flight. 5 hours late I was back in Singapore, straight to the ferry terminal and on the first 6:30am ferry bound for Bintan, Indonesia. I figured why waste miy own money on expensive Singapore hotel when I could get four nights there for the same price as one here. But my Indonesia tale is to be continued at another time.

Bodhi