Finally! My favorite part of the trip.

On the second day in Shanghai, I woke up feeling a bit ill. I tried to fight it, because the last thing I wanted to do in China was spend the damn trip in my hotel room, but the time came when the bus was leaving and I was forced to tell Paul that they would have to go on without me. However, since we had a second tour guide now to direct the tour of Shanghai, Ping volunteered to stay behind in the hotel with me. Mike Kenny was also nice enough to stop by to drop off some medication before the bus left.

After some time, I finally decided that I was feeling well enough - and hungry enough - to force myself out of the hotel. I looked at the itinerary and thought that perhaps Ping and I could meet the group at a destination called the "Yu Gardens," but Ping informed me that the itinerary had changed quite a bit, and the band had already been there earlier that day. However, she proposed that the two of us go there anyway. This turned out to be a much better idea.

We started by taking a taxi to a large market area near the Yu Gardens. Ping found a large restaurant for us to have lunch in (and breakfast, in my case). It actually looked more like an American food court or cafeteria, but she said that it was all one restaurant, and that it was in fact a sort of chain restaurant in China. It was nice to finally have a meal in a casual environment surrounded by Chinese people, rather than in a more formal restuarant environment surrounded only by band members. It was also fun to try to figure out what the food offerings were as we made our selections. We wound up getting enough food for probably at least two other people. This turned out to be the one chance I had to get the barbecued pork buns I like so much at dim sum restaurants in the U.S., but Ping claimed that we had some other dumplings already that were very similar. Only later, as I attempted to pronounce the Chinese name for the pork buns, did she realize that I actually recognized those. I suppose its probably better to have tried something new instead, though, even if I wasn't quite as fond of it. One new thing that we had, that I didn't even know existed, was imitation shrimp. I'm quite familiar with imitation crab, but this was a new one... it definitely did not live up to real shrimp. I don't remember how much our meal cost, but I remember it was ridiculously cheap for the quality and amount of food... $6 comes to mind, but I'm really not sure.

Ping had actually never been to Shanghai before, which just added to the fun and adventure of this "tour." And although people in Shanghai speak a different dialect than people in Beijing, I guess the dialects are similar enough that she was able to communicate with people and ask for directions, albeit with some difficulty (well, that's what she said... the conversation sounded quite fluid to me). And, of course, she could read maps and signs. All this, combined with the freedom we had away from the group, helped make this such a special experience... it didn't feel like I was following a tour guide around. It felt more like I was hanging out with a friend who happened to speak the language. I can't think of words to properly describe just how special and intimate this experience felt, and how much it meant to me...

Anyway... after lunch, we made our way to the Yu Gardens, which were quite beautiful. Ping did her best to educate me with what she knew about the Gardens and related history, and it was nice to have her telling these things directly to me, rather than to a large group of people with me in the back trying to pick up what words I could. We tried to listen in on an English tour, but we quickly lost them. It was just as well. I bet they were too rushed to notice the kitty.

Ping bought a set of postcards, then insisted that I choose half of them for myself, even though I only wanted to send one, since it would be easier for her to come back. I tried not to take all the best ones.

From the Yu Gardens, Ping led the way to a big shopping street - closed off to cars and surrounded by department stores. It was a bit of a walk, but this was perhaps the time that I felt the least like a tourist... we were walking through the crowded, everyday streets (well, sidewalks, mostly) of the city of Shanghai... no tourist attractions, no people trying to sell me crap... just real life.... there were no band members to remind me who I was and break the spell... it reminded me of visiting my ex in New York (uhm, we're still good friends, so that's not a bad thing to be reminded of)... we weren't riding a tour bus or walking the aimless path of dumb, lost American tourists... we weren't taking pictures or buying souvenirs (which now feels like most of what we all did in China)... I wouldn't dare to claim that I know anything about what it's like to live in China, but I felt like I came closer on this day, and especially on this walk, than any other time during the trip.

The "shopping street" was actually pretty disappointing... mostly American-ish stores, and it wasn't as big of an area as we had expected. Ping was under the impression that these stores went on for miles, so she suggested that we board the waiting thingy (y'know those little train-type-things like they have for taking people around zoos and whatnot? yeah. thingies.) and rest while it took us closer to the center of the street. Shortly thereafter, the thingy stopped and we realized that we were already at the end. We walked back a bit and looked for musical instrument shops, but I didn't buy anything (the string instruments were too damn big to transport.. I almost bought a souna, but after learning later that it's a double-reed instrument, I'm quite glad I didn't). We passed through a CD store, but it seemed to carry mostly pop music, and I doubt I would like Chinese pop music that much more than American pop music. Their prices weren't quite the insane bargains that one got from street vendors, either. I probably should have taken the opportunity, as Chris later did, to ask Ping what she was into... but I didn't. Oh well. She did help me pick out a couple CDs with traditional Chinese string instruments in Hangzhou.

I probably could have made some interesting purchases between the Yu Market and this street, but as most who know me are already aware, I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to shopping. Anyway, the experience was worth more than any item I may have acquired.

As we walked to the subway station (well.. it was above ground, but I think that's really what it was... the New York subway isn't entirely below ground either), we encountered a fellow selling an interesting local fruit. I had never seen anything like this fruit before, and it was apparently so local that even Ping had never had it before, so she bought a few and gave me two. Unfortunately, not only did I never learn its name (and I don't really know how to describe it... it had kind of a green "shell," and the inside vaguely reminded me of a white orange...), but I never got to try it. Some of the band members (and Paul) expressed interest in it, so I thought I would wait until a time when I was hungry and there were people around to share it with... but by the time I decided to cut into it, it had already gone bad. That's what I get for trying to be such a nice guy. Dammit.

I first saw Chinese coins when they were given as change for our subway tickets. Ping explained that these were more common in Shanghai than Beijing (the coins were typically for one yuan, and you can also get paper money of that amount.. although there were also coins with smaller denominations). I picked up a few more coins later on.

After the subway, came the bus. This was quite crowded... I had doubts that we would be able to fit on the bus, or that we would be able to make our way to the exit when it reached our stop. But we survived. Ping struck up a conversation with a friendly woman at the bus stop, while I stood around trying to look comfortable about not having a clue what anybody around me was saying. I think this same woman might have directed us in which bus to take, where to get off, and how to get to our hotel from there, but I'm not entirely sure. I had my mind on other things, like trying to understand what Ping meant when she spoke of girls whose uniform indicated that they were going to school to be members of the Communist party... or something. I didn't really understand what that was about, but I decided to give Ping a rest from my constant questions. There was a specific organization mentioned, but I can't remember its name.

So, after taking about every means of public transportation in Shanghai (taxi, thingy, subway, bus), we managed to return to the hotel in time to meet up with the band and rest for a bit (and I made a quick trip with Mike Kenny and Kevin to a grocery store where I stocked up on water for $.12 per bottle!) before our evening performance.

This may have seemed a pretty long writeup to you, but it doesn't seem long enough to me, considering how much this day meant to me..... yet I know that no amount of writing could capture the feelings evoked by even the smallest of interactions. I am not such a poet.