on a train to beijing...

8:15 pm- 10/14/06 - get ready for a LONG update :)

I am writing this entry by hand, sitting on my surprisingly comfortable bed on the overnight train from Shanghai to Beijing, (and now typing it from my hostel, so excuse the messed up tenses). The train departed at 7:28 pm and will arrive in Beijing around 7:30 am. I thought I had lucked out with my own cabin (4 bunk beds), but as the train was pulling away from the station a sweaty chinese man came into the cabin! He must have been running late. (i think he just took a picture of me on his camera phone!)

Anyways, listening to Ray LaMontagne is drowning out the sound of the chinese radio station that is on the speakers in the cabin, and we are on our way our of shanghai!

Shanghai was an interesting experience to say the least, and hearing many people say that "it's not real china" scares me for the what lies ahead in Beijing and Xian! For being such an industrial, international city with every store from KFC to Coffee Bean to Louis Vuitton, there is really a lack of english! Even the menus at McDonalds is only in Chinese, and they don't exactly serve the same normal american food as at home. I walked past KFC today and saw Shrimp Tempura on the menu!

On my first full day in Shanghai I was completely overwhelmed with everything- although they say that the city is a grid, it didn't seem that way, and the maps that I had sucked! I just wandered around and then went to check into the hostel where I'd be staying for the rest of my time in Shanghai. When i was waiting to check in I met a Danish couple, Jannie and Mads who were also staying there. After checking in I took a taxi to the Jade Buddha temple, and realized that it was so close I could have walked but the map didn't make it seem that way! It was really beautiful, the highlight was the huge white jade Buddha statue, which is guarded by 1000 small buddha statues. It is extremely rare to have a pure piece of jade that is all white, and they don't even let you take pictures of it. After I left there I walked around a bit to get a feel for the area I was staying in, and found myself in a beautiful park with groomed mazes of shrubs and some very cool sculptures. I walked further into the park because I heard Britney Spears playing over a loud speaker and saw a big crowd of people gathered in what looked to be an amphitheater. I think it was some sort of talent showcase, complete with amazing young acrobats, dancers, singers, and a guy dancing with a lasso. It definitely made me laugh! After going to get my luggage from the other hotel to bring it to the hostel, I was absolutely exhausted and planned to take a nap and go out for dinner, but ended up crashing for the night! The rock hard bed took some getting used to (my bed on the train is softer!).

I woke up refreshed the next day and ran into the Danish couple in the lobby. We decided to go check out a market on the other side of the river. It was full of a lot of junk, and copies of everything imaginable- even golf clubs! MY big purchase was a mini tripod for my camera. After this, I had made plans with my friend Simone to meet at the Shanghai Museum. We went for coffee with her boyfriend and then he left to go study, and we went to the museum, then to the Old Town area of the city to see the Yu Yuan gardens. After walking through the touristy but pretty area around the gardens, we got to the gate as it was closing! We continued walking around and went in search of dinner, ending up at the same japanese ramen restaurant on the buzzing Nanjing Lu Road(which is partly a closed off pedestrian mall with tons of stores), which I had already been to- but at least knew that they had english on the menu and i could order something decent. It was really nice seeing Simone and catching up on the past 5 years. After I left her I walked back up Nanjing lu Road towards my hostel where I knew I could catch a bus to drop me outside- it was almost 2 miles I think!

Exhausted from the last few days, I took it easy the next day. Woke up late, organized my train ticket to Beijing through my hostel- luckily i didn't have to go buy it myself, i heard it was a nightmare! I went to check out the Shanghai Urban Planning museum where they have huge architechtural models of the city and what they plan it to look like in 2010 when they host the world expo. There was also a very different modern art exhibit from Italy there. Afterwards, I walked through People's Square and saw some of the outdoor portion of the MoCA museum and the Shanghai Art museum, both which had some nice sculptures, then headed back to the hostel to get ready for Shabbat in Shanghai! It was a 20 minute cab ride to a totally different part of the city to get to the Shanghai Jewish Center. I sat down in services next to a lady from Redondo Beach, and noticed tons of young people there from all over the world. In the middle of services we went upstairs to the Sukkah for a little kiddush of salads and wine-there were at least 125 ppl there, and then back to the shul for the rest of the service and dancing for Simchat Torah, which was the highlight! Dinner was delicious, definitely the best and the most food i'd eaten all week and it was greatly appreciated!(It has been really difficult to find restaurants with English menus where I know that I'm not going to be served pork something) I sat next to an NYU student who is studying there for the semester and got to reminisce about ny a bit and hear what life in shanghai is like for an american. After dinner I moved to another table to talk to some canadian and french guys, and ended up going out with them to a friend's party afterwards. It was amazing to see this totally different part of life in Shanghai- a very large group of young foreigners livning and working there and really loving it!

This morning I slept in, packed up, and checked out of my room and stored my bags for the day. In the lobby I met a young Israeli couple and an interesting guy from LA who had been there for a month doing geneology research about an old Jewish woman in San Francisco to trace her roots back to the Jewish community of Shanghai. I decided to go back to the Yu Yuan gardens since i didn't get to see them the last time, and on his advice took the bus all the way there. It took a while but it went through some interesting neighboorhoods that i hadn't seen before.

Public transportation is SO cheap there- the bus is either 1rmb or 2rmb, depending on whether it has air conditioning, and the subway is around 4rmb. ($1=7.9rmb!) Cabs start at 11rmb and their meters move really slowly.

I had plans to meet Jannie back at the hostel before I left to get some good advice for Vietnam, as she has been a few times. On my way back I found a tiny family run restaurant a few doors down from the hostel that the American guy said was good and had an english menu. It was delicious and a great meal to eat right before I boarded the overnight train!

And then it was time to say farewell to Shanghai! The train station was a little less overwhelming than I expected and had a really nice waiting area, and the train was bright, clean, and looked brand new. I spoke to some Aussies in the station and they are staying at my hostel too- in my room, which is quite a funny coincidence considering how big this city is!

thats it for now-i'm ready to figure out Beijing now!

pictures to come soon!