Hello, as I'm already back at Madrid and I'm glancing at the pictures taken at Shanghai, I'm becoming nostalgic already, for it was a great trip and I had a great host, Mr Pedro!
The picture above was of the Shanghai Acrobats show, which we had the chance to see on the spur of the moment, as we wanted to go and check the Shanghai Museum, but as everything in this city, was closing at 5 pm and we were already a bit on the late side.
So, we asked what was on the theater and the Acrobats sounded a great idea, especially as we really wanted to see them that evening, but I got the info that they weren't performing then. At the end, we had such a great time! The performers were aged between 6 and 17 and were doing all sorts of things with their bodies, contorcionists at the higher level, and we are talking about 7-year old kids! They were playing with plates on poles, while bending themselves into impossible positions, they were climbing 7 chairs and doing the acrobatics at the same time. They were all really great, indeed. We were astonished and speechless, it was incredible. The last performance involved that globe cage. The first biker went inside and raced up and down, around and crisscross. Then the second came, then the third and then the fourth biker inside that tiny place, all doing the same things...then the fifth came and everybody screamed, as it seemed impossible to have another bike inside that crammed globe. And the a sixth biker went in and we all stopped breathing, as they had absolutely no space. And still they were riding high speed, up and down, almost flying inside that ball. Incredible. We filmed the whole thing, we couldn't believe it!
After that we went to a typical Chinese, where we had great food again.
These were dumplings filled with spinach, pork, cabbage, etc. They were great food, but of course we had to rush, as the waiters kept waving the bill.
Overall, we had a great night, we finished it off with a dessert on an Italian ice cream place, as we weren't allowed to order more food at the restaurant (we were on the last order basis already at arrival!).
The next day, my final, we went to the fake market and I asked Pedro to come with me, as he's the king of bargaining and I needed a good negotiator to get a good deal on my watches' purchases. He did great, although being in a rush to go to class. He left me there to get easier stuff. But I still had a pending issue to deal with and I soon got out of that palace of fake temptations!
I still hadn't found what I was basically looking for all week and one of my first items on my To Buy list, my moxa sticks. After successfully asking for the correct words for that sort of thing from Pedro's Chinese tutor, I ventured into the city looking for a shop that would sell that. And I did find it, obviously only after a while asking non replied questions :)
I went inside a department store of several floors where the items being sold were pharmaceutical, both Chinese and Western (fake Aspirin and so on!). I knew a place as such would have a Tradicional Medicine counter, wasn't I in China where alternative medicine is the most commonly used. So there I found my counter and started the questions using Chinese words for massage and moxa. It took a while and 7 shop assistants staring blankly at me to get somewhere close. After many body movements and gestures, one finally got that idea lamp on top of her blessed head and came back with my beloved sticks. I was so grateful I only wanted to kiss them all. They were so happy too and kept repeating OK, OK smiling back at me, what an achievement we've managed together. Then I said I wanted 10 and they did all the counting for me in English, One, Two, Three...They were as happy as me and I helped them with number Five, as one got stuck on that tricky one. They gave me the bill to pay and as I was queuing I had a look at them and they were piling 10 boxes!! I rushed and said no, no, I couldn't take 100 sticks with me, which they didn't understand, so I said Two and the whole counting started all over again. I said Ok and they echoed me and smiled. Two boxes would be enough, thank you. (I had no more space on my luggage, and I was slightly worried the smell of these things would attract dogs at the airport and I would go to a Chinese prison and never be allowed to leave!).
That ended my final day at beautiful Shanghai.
I had a great flight back, with 2 seats for my only self which I duly used to sleep. I had no problem with that, except a bit of backache, but I was thankful I could sleep. Of course, I woke up 10 hours later for breakfast at the Continental hour of 4.30 am which meant 10.30 am for me, so I was quite glad! Arrived at Munich for a 6 hour wait for my connection back home, but somehow it went quickly as I finally had time to rummage all through those duty free shops!
In conclusion, I LOVED my trip, it is a contrast city, old and extra modern. Lots of people, bicycles and taxis all over, smell of food on the old quarters, full of character. Shanghai knows its all that, an attractive city, with plenty to offer in many ways. People are friendly, they love to do business with you, smile and treat you like you are the most important person they've ever seen. The skyline is impressive and the neon lights are at their best. Shanghai is cool!
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