Small pork dumplings and small notes

I  have a notebook I write wee snippets of what I see when we are away, even if it is just in Nelson or Akaroa. To include all of these in detail makes for too heavy a read so this segment is the snippets but does include success in the dumpling hunt.  At the end of Saturday I sent Barney- our Asian food guru, a WhatsApp to ask where the best food was. Easy and obvious answer for him “go to China town”.  I knew what he meant but to me the whole city was actually China town!!

Our second 24 hours in Shanghai started with a decision to walk only in burst and too make the most of the last few hours of our bus card. I had blisters which were looking pretty impressive  and Geoff’s feet were tending that way so feet up on the bus learning a bit and taking in the sights seemed a good idea. I am sure Confucius said something very wise about making the most of all available tools to make the most of life.

 So the snippets are

·         Early morning in a large metropolis. We were out stepping at 7am with a cuppa and a Danish butter biscuit for sustenance until we found something better. Many people are more alert than we are and indulging in the peace of a Sunday morning. 

     The Hua Hai Park near Times Square was full in the most calm and uplifting way of groups of people being healthy. It was a Shanghai gym in the best surroundings. So much better than being in one of the huge buildings surrounding the park.  We marvelled at the calm and confidence of the first group of middle aged and older women performing with ribbons. So much better than any cheer leading group I have ever seen. The music with this group was also good which probably helped. But even peaceful and character building exercise can be competitive and a new group started up in the same part of the park. Their music was louder!! So when group one began their next piece they increased their volume!!!

We, the non-participant voyeurs smiled and walked further into the park. We met the bird men. The bird song was as close to a cacophony as a bird song can get, but Geoff, a birds egg collector and watcher from way back, complained he could not see any birds.   Geoff, remember what you have learned from your Chinaman friend Barney ---you are in China – things are done in mysterious ways. The birds were in cages – some open to the world and singing gloriously, and others with their velvet covers over them having a Sunday sleep-in.   Their very proud owners/minders were busy managing them and I assume discussing the merits of their particular avian. We left the park and headed for a coffee house Geoff had sniffed out the previous day. “Just like the “Addington Coffee Company” he said. He mis- spoke. It was nothing like that and when he stepped inside in need of a good coffee he realised how tired he must have been to even think such a thing. So although we had coffee and bread there while we watched and tried to understand the soccer we did not brunch there!!

·         We did not brunch there but we did love the statues close to this and elsewhere in Shanghai.   A city which can support artists to create and craft big and beautiful things just for the populace to enjoy is a positive city. The sculpture near the café is of a person on a bicycle. As we walked past a young Dad was out walking with his young son and enjoying the art of the city. 

      There are a lot of these bronze sculptures in the city and they feel good. I wondered when the regime in power decided it was OK to have this kind of art. Something to look into at a later date. Maybe looking at City art could be an alternative and worthwhile focus for this wander?

·         The trees in Shanghai are a saving grace for a city which seems to be focussed on extreme architecture. These trees are beautiful. We have them around out bottom garden partly because a neighbour, Jane Wardell told me they were very wind resistant. She was correct, thank goodness but they are also strong survivors in city environments. Some have been planted for a long time and have been well tended, others are new, and others are suffering from the toxic environment they live in both above and below ground. It is special though that they have not been trimmed to their limits just to let traffic through!!

  the many trees are beautiful –dogwoods, magnolias azaleas….

·         I am a very mediocre orienteer and navigator. I love living in a city which has now, even more than a few years ago, high points I can connect too. Markers! Shanghai and some other cities label their street sign with the compass points. Good idea but it is still necessary to know what they mean

·         The Big bus commentary mentioned many things. I haven’t checked the veracity but they were interesting.

o   Many more religions are now accepted in China, 5 officially accepted ones. Confucism is the most popular way of thinking but it is more a philosophy of life than a religion --- but then what is a religion?

o   The big Buddhist temple we rode past has a lot of gold on it and contains a 6.2 meter tall and 5 ton weight camphorwood statue.

o   Religious buildings are often yellow in colour reflecting the colour of the Yellow river and linking this to good Fengshui building. It seemed to us that this rationale meant that Fengshui was only of relevance if you also followed the religion connected to it so no point at all for an atheist kiwi trying to design a house.  I loved the smell of incense in the air as we rode past the temple.

o   Shanghainese is the largest dialect of NW China. The National language is Mandarin but Shanghainese and other dialects remain strong.

·         The Aesthetic hospital had pictures of beautiful people on its outside walls.  This is what we can do for you!! Just come and say Hi and we will check your bank balance.

·         Sitting happily on the top of the bus as it did the tour we became aware of the young couple slightly behind and across from us. Looking normal but he kept trying to kiss her and she was not happy. To the extent of putting up with it and keeping her eyes open and watching the world in a panicking way. Yes, I was staring but I was not comfortable with her unease and her obvious desire not to be involved. I gave him the look and willed her to say NO. Eventually he gave up and looked very grumpy and annoyed --- lucky for him though as I was preparing my speech while also being aware of the fact he may have become very angry with me. They climbed off the bus and she walked stiffly along beside him with him gripping her. In New Zealand I would have asked if she was OK but it was harder here but maybe no less necessary. I still feel uncomfortable about this.

·         So much fruit for sale by street vendors with bamboo baskets and in shops. Rambutans, watermelon, cherries, loquats, lychees, plums and the odd durian.

·         The Dumpling experience. The dumplings I was after are called xiaolongbao Shanghai is famous for them and the introductory movie on the plane had given instructions on how to eat them. I had only tasted tough, tasteless ones. We walked the back streets on a mission and found the place. Not flash and colourful but colourful with older characters and extremely busy. I had a picture in my bag of what I wanted and showed it to the cashier at the door.  Her afce said yes and she indicated what we needed to do. Pay her 7 and take a seat and they would arrive. Geoff also ordered a beer and we sat. The dumplings arrived and were glorious. Nip off the top, suck the juice and then devour the rest. Do wait a wee bit though as these treasures are extremely hot and potentially tongue burning. Dumplings are now to me what satay sticks were when we went to Malaysia in 1981.  We ordered another basket and shared Geoff’s beer.  

 People looked at us and at one stage I wondered if we were in someone’s favourite seat but then just relaxed into being part of the entertainment.

·         Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition centre --- a sort of Museum is in the centre of People’s Square and was fascinating. Big diorama of Shanghai and large and easy to understand photographic displays of Shanghai old and the dreamed of new.  The differences between old and new are extreme and maybe reflects the power of authority to just make things happen and not take a lot of notice of what the populace say. Couple that with a lot of incentive for very rich companies to come and set up – both old and modern and we have a very different result to that in Christchurch.

·         We rose early on the last day to have a quick breakfast and watch the early morning city. A 7am coffee and pastry at a European style place – it was open. The whole area was not as busy as we expected but lots of school children heading off in their white shirts, some with their heads in books of characters even at the traffic lights. There were traffic wardens at all the corners and even at that time the metro was not busy but we would still take the cheap taxi.

·         Taxi had a seatbelt warning sign but we could not do them up. It was a lot cheaper than the first trip, no taxi chat.  The only real interest was the woman on the motorway trying to hail our taxi as hers had stopped. We did not stop.

·         The flight was good KLM and an interesting fellow passenger. A mid 30 year old Chinese woman who works in Stockholm and had just been home to see her widowed father. He lived 9 hours on a fast train from Shanghai. She feels her responsibilities strongly but finds it difficult to go home and stay with him and his 3 birds and 2 frogs in his small apartment. We talked about impressions of Shanghai and China. Her father puts his birds out in their cages on a pole each morning --- so they feel as if they are in open.  What I had seen as a positive in the gym sessions in the park has caused real aggro in some developments as it is too noisy for some and not noisy enough for others.  My companion enjoys the openness of government and life  in Sweden but is very proud of her 1000 year + history in China although she is sad her parents could not be educated as her Granddad was in prison for 22 years. Sad for the losses of her parent’s generation.

An excellent end to a mini Chinese experience.