We landed in Shanghai late on Saturday night to start our nearly month-long journey through China, and took the Maglev train from the airport to the center of the city. The Maglev is the world’s fastest commercial train– it uses strong magnets to levitate the train above the tracks, allowing it to avoid friction and travel up to 310 miles per hour (but it’s top operating speed is a mere 268 mph). The 19-mile trip from the airport takes 7 minutes. Our Airbnb in the French Concession is in an old, uniform row of houses two blocks from a major shopping street. There is a stark contrast between the run down, communist housing broken up only by clothing hung up on lines to dry and the massive, gold façade of the Prada store one block away. On Sunday, we went to Yang’s Dumplings for a delicious breakfast of sheng jian bao. The doughy dumplings are pan-fried and topped with sesame seeds. Robert had the pork dumplings, which he said were delicious. The vegetable dumplings were very good, too. We took a walking tour that explored the French Concession, the former French-controlled area with tree-lined streets and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. The walk was enjoyable, if a little light on information. The tour actually stopped in our apartment complex, and the guide explained that the housing was built in the 1920s for factory workers and students. China's Toilet RevolutionOf the 8 countries in Asia we’ve been to so far this year, we were surprised to find the largest city in China the most culturally different and difficult to navigate. Shanghai has some very modern, wealthy neighborhoods with fancy hotels, so it is easily possible to experience only this side of the city if your budget is much larger than ours, but the cultural differences we experienced were striking. China has its own banking system, and nearly everything from taking the subway, to paying for a meal, to communicating with friends and family is done through WeChat, a mobile app. It is difficult as a foreigner outside this ecosystem to pay with anything but cash. The toilets, even where they are clean, are almost entirely squats. Some are even just a communal trough that people squat over. Without getting into too much graphic detail, both Robert and I have seen some shocking things inside and outside of bathrooms, including people who prefer to leave the stall door open and mothers who hold their children up while they urinate on the street. Recognizing that the toilet issue serves as a deterrent to many potential tourists, China’s president, chairman, and leader of the Communist Party Xi Jinping has launched what he calls the Toilet Revolution, a massive initiative to build better toilets, especially at tourist sites. Each facility has an attendant who directs you to a stall. Yuyuan GardenWe started our second morning at Starbucks Reserve, the recently opened world’s-largest branch of the ubiquitous coffee chain. Although the architecture and display of coffee-making equipment was impressive, the very expensive coffee flight was underwhelming. We recommend sticking to local tea shops for a dose of caffeine. We then visited Yuyuan Garden, which dates from the Ming Dynasty (1559). The labyrinth of gardens and gazebos is enclosed by a wall and features traditional Chinese buildings, rockeries, koi ponds, and bridges set among beautiful trees and flowers. The light pink cherry blossoms and red leafed Japanese maple trees were particularly eye-catching. We had a tasty lunch of tofu mushroom noodle soup at a vegetarian restaurant nearby. Hongkou Jewish QuarterShanghai was home to tens of thousands of Jewish refugees during the Second World War. Under Japanese occupation, they were confined to a ghetto, but were allowed to live and work mostly undisturbed. Most of them left before or around the beginning of the communist revolution in 1946, including Michael Blumenthal, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President Carter. Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe also lived in the Jewish ghetto in Shanghai as a young child, as did several other notable people. We walked around the neighborhood, and met some elderly Chinese couples doing an organized dance in a park. Despite not speaking any English, one man managed to ask us if we were Jewish by tracing a Star of David with his finger on his palm. When we nodded and said we were Jewish, he smiled warmly and said “Jewish, China” while interlocking his hands to show friendship. At the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, we learned some moving stories about how the people of Shanghai welcomed Jewish refugees at a time when most of the rest of the world turned their backs. F-R-I-E-N-D-S CaféAfter a leisurely walk around Shanghai’s art district, Robert surprised me with a visit to the Friends Café, a convincing replica of the Central Perk coffee shop from my favorite sitcom. We watched a few episodes from the cozy orange couch with a cup of tea for me, a beer for Robert, and a slice of cheesecake to share. The menu also featured more creative (and in some cases, less appetizing) fare from the show, such as Rachel’s English trifle to which she mistakenly adds beef, Joey’s favorite meatball sub, and Ross’s Thanksgiving leftover sandwich. We’ve noticed licensing and intellectual property do not seem to be treated the same in China as they are in much of the world. Skyline and Noodle SoupIn the evening, we went for a long walk through the city’s former colonial downtown, the Bund, to see the impressive skyline crowded with skyscraping, LED lit buildings, including the Shanghai Tower, the newly open second tallest building in the world. We had a delicious dinner for about $5 USD at a Xian-style noodle soup shop near our Airbnb.
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Sydney was a perfect break from the adventure and chaos of the past three months, and it was wonderful to finally get to meet Robert’s dad’s South African family, who all moved to Sydney around the time he moved to New York. We spent the perfect sunny week going for walks, relaxing at the beach, having delicious meals, and exploring the city. We enjoyed spectacular views of the harbor during the Sydney Bridge Climb, which took us to the top of the famous Harbor Bridge. Our last night conveniently fell on the first night of Passover, and a seder with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins was the perfect sendoff. We are now in Shanghai to begin the next phase of our travels: nearly a month in China. |
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