One of the many tempting dishes on offer at the restaurant where we had dinner.
Met Paul on the ferry this morning and had lunch with him. He is a writer from America and frequently travels around Asia for guide books and other travel publications. His knowledge of China was extensive and he recommended good places to visit as well as providing us with some useful advice and contacts.
It was a strange feeling coming back to Shanghai for the third time. I have only been away from China 10 days yet I seem to have a different attitude towards the country. The small break was enough to make me view the people and the land a little differently. I guess it's because we don't usually re-enter a country so soon after departing it. We visit one country then move onto the next. It would be like watching a movie for a second time. You've seen it all before except now you start to appreciate different aspects of the film.
We found the "hostel" that I had booked online in Japan a few days ago. It was a hotel not a hostel. A nice hotel (by Chinese standards anyway) which seemed to be located in the middle of a war zone. There were more demolished buildings than there were fully intact ones. Luckily our hotel was still in one piece. I was a little confused about their pricing policy however. I had paid cheap HOSTEL prices online yet this is a 3 star hotel costing considerably more. These Chinese just take money however they can get it. They lack the simplest of business skills and a level of professionalism which I have obviously been taking for granted in the west. The price of practically everything in China is negotiable. You have to bargain for a banana. A hotel room. Even a flippin' roll of toilet paper for crying out loud! It gets a little tiring after a while.
Humidity levels today must be around 100%. I don't even know why I bothered to take a shower. We had arranged to meet up with a friend that we had met on the ferry at 7:30pm. We looked for a suitable place in the guide book that sounded like a great place to meet. We chose Lu Gardens where there would be markets, bars, restaurants and a temple. It was at the temple's main gate where we were supposed to meet. It wasn't until we got there when Ali realised that we hadn't clarified the time zone (Japanese time, Chinese time or Chinese time with daylight savings which had just taken effect - would our friend have known this?). In addition to this slight problem, the temple was under major reconstruction and repair. There were no gates. Unfortunately we never met her. So instead, we roamed around the neighborhood. Lu Gardens by night was very attractive as they illuminated the edges of every single tiled 'pagoda-like' roof (and there were many of them). Even though it was kind of 'Disneyland-ish', we enjoyed the atmosphere. It was very different to the rest of Shanghai. We saw people ballroom dancing in the park on the way back to the bus stop. Further along the street there was a group of locals dancing country and western style. This was very amusing to watch. I wondered if this was a nightly activity or a special occasion.
Getting back from Lu gardens was a nightmare. There are moments during traveling when you just want to scream with anger and cry with frustration. Our simple return trip this evening was one of those occasions. Two buses, a taxi and a few bank notes less we finally arrived back to our hotel. I was surprised it was still standing. Everything else around it looked like it had just been bombed.
