January 11, 2009
Watch Your Bag
Upon arriving in Shanghai and venturing out to a shopping district, a kind young gentleman said, ‘Sir, watch your bag!’ I, surprised, thanked him as we walked away. Odd but polite and always a good reminder in a city, right? But, I had heard stories of people saying, ‘Watch your wallet!’ and foolish tourists reach for their wallet – immediately letting the pickpocket know where the prize was located. But, you can see my bag, what is the point of telling me to watch my bag?
A full day and more people told me to watch my bag than I have had in my entire life. Coupled with the ever present sign posts to protect your belongings, I thought, ‘Wow, this is the most thoughtful city I think I’ve been in.’ Finally, this all came crashing down. Along with these ‘watch your bags’ there are ever present people with cards who want you to buy what they are pushing – purses, jewelry, and other fine goods. On the second day, I finally understood one of them as they carefully pronounced, ‘Watch or bag?’ and shoved the card toward me.
Hm… ‘or’….. ‘your’….
My brain clicked. All of these warnings and advice! Not one of them had probably said, ‘Watch your bag!’ Each of them had probably said, ‘Watch or bag,’ trying to get me to buy items. The thickly accented English had led me to believe that they were offering friendly advice. Shu Lan laughed as I told her and it made sense. “No wonder they looked so confused as you said thanks and walked away!”
The Road to Shanghai
After leaving Sichuan [actually after leaving Luzhou], my official work duties were over. So, I flew to Shanghai and met up with Shu Lan for our China holiday extravaganza. First up on our list was to hit up the town of Shanghai. We only had a night and two full days, so we had to pack it in. Thankfully, Shanghai seems to be Hong Kong lite. Since I can shop till I drop at home – and Shu Lan was planning to be in Shanghai for several days after I left for HK – we were able to skip out on the shopping.
Well… almost skip out. Turns out China gets cold and yours truly needed a coat. Let me tell you, finding a decent jacket in Shanghai is no problem. Finding one that won’t 1) cost you an arm and leg and 2) fits when you are built like a tank, now that takes work. We must have been to 20 shops all up and down Shanghai. Turns out, in China, my shoulders make me a XXL. That’s right kiddos – all you people who say ‘OMG Bryan you are so skinny!’ ‘You’ve lost SO much weight!’ ‘What’s your secret?’ Well, the secret is to move where people are super tiny apparently.
So, here are my Shanghai highlights:
The Bund – A big tourist destination that at first looks like a miniature of the Hong Kong skyline. A closer look, though, reveals a beautiful array of historic buildings. You can take a boat here [we didn’t]. Close by is also a corridor-like street [leads to Renmin Ave.], which has more cool buildings, good eats, and plenty of shopping.
Yu Yuan Gardens – located in the ‘old center’ of Shanghai, this Chinese garden. While there are some plants, the focus seems to be on elaborate rockery pieces, water, and cool looking buildings. Very picaresque. Strategically, if you head here you can also hit the ‘Old Shanghai’ areas. The buildings look cool, you can get some soup dumplings, and buy stuff till you are satiated.
Duolun Street – In the 1930s if you were an artist or a revolutionary – you were at Duolun street. There are some cool statues, the oldest [or maybe only] Chinese style Christian church, and a cool scene. Again, shopping on this street – primarily from vendors and artisans. It can be tricky to get to and you might find yourself on some alleys of Shanghai. This was interesting too, though, as we saw a part of Shanghai that a lot of tourists don’t make it to.
We saw other things in Shanghai, but like I said our time was limited. So, if you have only a day, I suggest those three. I didn’t take a ton of pictures, but the city has a 1920s feel with art deco buildings. It feels like a city removed from time.
