Shanghai Day 1

Today was my first day really seeing Shanghai. It started out late because we went to a Halloween party the night before and I didn’t get back until just before 5am. So I didn’t really wake up completely until 11. After I found out where Elena, my friend whose apartment I’m staying at, ended up after the party (she stayed with other friends after I left), I went out to take pictures.

I started out just walking down this street that is, like, the main street of Shanghai called Nanjing Road (lu or 路 means road). I have never been stopped so much in my entire time in China as I was in the hour walked down this street. I must have been approached fourteen times by people trying to sell me fake merchandise. I’m slightly surprised they’re there though; the place is lined by stores, legitimate stores, so why would a foreigner be interested in purchasing from a person on the street something fake they can buy in a legitimate store? Anyway, I mainly walked down the street for the architecture.

You really feel like you’re in another China here- like, it’s still China but it’s not at the same time because there’s this very cosmopolitan and international feel. A lot of the architecture is European inspired, in fact, there’s an entire street of just European architecture I plan to take pictures of tomorrow. I saw it tonight when Elena was showing me where the hostel was but I didn’t bring my camera. I had actually been looking for it today but I didn’t bring the map she had so I didn’t know exactly where it was and didn’t want to get lost.

Also, I found that here the people pronounce “shi” words like “si.” I got so confused! I actually thought my lunch would be four kuai but it turned out to be ten. And then, as I was eating, a lady who didn’t speak English sat next to me and started trying to talk to me and kept using “si” instead of “shi.” Luckily, I eventually figured it out and was able to understand her a little. I will say I’m practicing my Chinese here a lot more than I thought I would, which I’m happy about because I don’t think I’m going to go to Nanjing. It’d just be too much of a hassle to get there and then figure out how to get back to Beijing, and cost more money. The hostel here in Beijing is pretty expensive and I already decided I want to stay to Wednesday at least. Elena said for Halloween there’s going to be a screening of black and white horror movies in a former bomb shelter which I think will definitely be interesting.
So my next blog entry might be coming from a hostel. Definitely sounds like it'll be an interesting experience- keep you posted!