The Royal Treatment

Traveling on someone else’s expense account is a very nice way to get around. I have to thank Victoria for inviting me and of course Harvard for providing the American Express card that got us the free second plane ticket and the beautiful room at this five star hotel in Shanghai. Upon arrival we were swept out of the car and up to the room by a glamorous Chinese hostess- no stop at the desk- and immediately hot tea arrived along with an offer to do our laundry. There are two lovely lap pools, a very fancy spa and a roof top bar that all beckon to me, but we will save those for another day. I forgot to mention that Victoria did eventually get her suitcase in Tokyo, which was delivered battered and with a bent frame. It looked as if it had been left out on the tarmac in the rain for 24 hours. When we checked in at Japan Air on our way to China she was given about $150 in Yen, which they called "The Apology Money", compensation for not having any clothes for two days. We didn't realize the suitcase was actually damaged until we arrived in Shanghai and had to drag our luggage ourselves for the first time. Who will pay for the damage is yet to be determined...

First impressions of China are the inevitable comparisons to Japan, which was so reserved and quaint. Their culture of manners and tradition seems to permeate every part of life. There was a scene in Tokyo outside our hotel that came back to me as I had my first taste of how traffic is handled in Shanghai. In Tokyo there was a gentleman directing traffic with two large batons, and he made huge sweeping motions with them as he pointed the cars in the various directions from the intersection. Then as the last car went by him he tucked the batons under his arms, made a deep, elegant bow to the drivers and walked to the side of the road. Every part of the exercise was smooth and precise. Now imagine if Storrow Drive was eight lanes wide going in two directions, with no painted lines, and there were cars, buses, trucks, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians all going at full speed without regard to signaling or right of way. Everyone is weaving in and out of traffic, dodging each other, honking, and on top of all this the road is surrounded by heavy construction so there are no sidewalks. No one signals that they are changing lanes- instead they sort of push their way into a lane and then narrowly speed up at the last moment. This is city driving in Shanghai. Yesterday while in the tour guide’s mini van I thought I was going to be killed at least seven times as we narrowly missed buses and cars approaching from all directions. It truly is the most harrowing traffic I have ever experienced. I had to cross a road in front of the hotel- truly terrifying.

We are situated on the east bank of the Huangpu River, which cuts through Shanghai and eventually links to the great Yangtze River. All day and night there are boats going by the hotel, many of them filled with tourists, and others cargo boats bound for the sea. This side of the river has only been developed in the past 30 years, and it is amazing how many high-rises have sprung up in such a short time. The photo here was taken from the opposite bank, in the old city, where 19th century buildings that were built by the British and the French line the river. Fortunately they are protected; otherwise I’m sure they would have been torn down to make room for office skyscrapers and hotels. In 2010 they are hosting the World Expo in Shanghai, and this partially accounts for all the construction, including new subway lines that will go out to the Fair grounds.

My young and modern tour guide, Young, seemed unsure of how she should feel about all this development. She seemed to accept it as inevitable, but I could tell that she values the old; the history of and the respect for the centuries of Chinese life that she studied in college. She frequently referred to her own childhood growing up in Shanghai, and to her parents, with whom she still lives at age 25. She was truly gracious and accommodating of all my questions, which I'm sure she found strange. She told us that she majored in tourism in the university, and that her goal is to travel around the world. I gave her my phone number and told her to call me if she ever makes it to Boston. I would bet that she will.

Our tour group included two blokes from Australia, owners of a printing and media company who were doing business in China,and me. Our guide, Young, took us out of the city to the "Water Village", Zhu Jia Jiao, a 400 year old maze of canals, narrow streets and bridges where we took a boat ride and walked around in what felt like the first clear day since we got to Shanghai. I realized that it was the absence of smog that made it different. This city smog burns your eyes and gets into your hair and clothes like smoke, and I have been wearing sunglasses even though the sun is pretty much obscured by the smog, thinking that they might help protect my eyes. I see very few of the Chinese wearing sunglasses.

It was lovely to get out of the city for a few hours, however the experience was somewhat dampened by the horrendous traffic going in and out of Shanghai. Young told us that it was only in the past ten years that people have been buying so many cars( lots of them are Buicks!) and that generally women do not drive because it's considered to be too dangerous. She said her parents will not let her drive. And here's a shocking fact- nobody wears seat belts.

On Wednesday Victoria is staying in Shanghai to continue her work, and I am flying out on China Air for a whirlwind 36 hours in Beijing. It is time to see the Great Wall!