Shanghai China Snippets Observations about living in Shanghai and China in general

In Shanghai there are several landmarks and one of them is the ultra luxurious Plaza 66. It’s a high end shopping mall with an office tower attached. It’s great place, you can walk there in Summer to enjoy the airco and in Winter to get some warmth. Nobody seems to buy anything as all the Gucci, Cartier and several brand shops I never heard of before I came to [tag]Shanghai[/tag], consist of some bored shop assistants looking through their windows. It’s upscale at it’s best and part of the Shanghai show for the outside world.

I recently walked in and then out to do some shopping in a more affordable place when from the corner of my eye I saw a pretty woman waiting near the exit. There are always touts around that try to convince me that I need fake rolexes or try to hand me a card with the promise of some relaxation. I brush them off with the first words a newcomer should learn, Bu Yao (I don’t want).

She was not there to sell rolexes though, she tried to get eye contact and I knew what was coming. “You want massage”.

I declined but it struck me that if the massage ladies are now posting these days at plaza 66 either their numbers are increasing and business is scarce or maybe it’s a just a good spot to pick up clients.

[tag]Plaza 66[/tag] or soon Plaza 69 (I know it’s lame but couldn’t stop writing)

More than 2.500.000 commuters take the Shanghai subway daily.

I take it occasionally and when I do, only when I’m a first arrival at the escalator I put my feet on it. If the sqeezing and pushing has started I take the stairs. The Shanghai subway operators feel they should improve the etiquette on escalators.

They said people in many foreign countries commonly stand on the right side of an escalator so people who are in a hurry can pass on the left, a rule that is all but ignored in the city.

Metro authorities are promoting the idea at 31 busy stations in the city, including the People’s Square and Zhongshan Park stations.

“We painted a yellow line on escalators in some of these Metro stations, expecting that riders would be reminded of this courtesy rule,” said a female official surnamed Tu from [tag]Shanghai [/tag]Metro Operation Co Ltd.

If only they would enforce this etiquette on getting on and off the [tag]subway[/tag], you may wonder.

Well, they say that part is getting better.

“..the company says a growing number of passengers are acting politely and patiently when getting on and off Metro trains,[but] their efforts in promoting the escalator-riding courtesy have proven fruitless so far.

I don’t know how they measure this. Probably when I’m not around as it still takes some rough pushing to get out of a subway. Let’s check it again in another year.

Source: Shanghai Daily

Changing Behavior in Shanghai

It is raining day today and it was also raining a couple of nights before, when I went out to get some cigarettes at the Kedi supermarket on the corner.

Armed with my [tag]umbrella[/tag] I saw another foreigner approaching me, and we friendly nodded to each other. Passing each other our umbrellas lightly touched and almost at the same time we said, “I’m sorry”, “I’m sorry”. Each of us went his own way and I felt like being back in Europe.

The question is, would I have said ‘sorry’ if I had this encounter with a [tag]Chinese[/tag]? Probably not, as I would have justified my banging into his/her umbrella (slightly tilting my umbrella to the side he/she is passing me) being part of my self defense in order to keep my eyesight.

Strange how perceptions and automatism’s change.

Do you say sorry?

There we were, waiting to do some banking business. Due to the Bank of China policy of too few available employees on their busiest day of the week, being Saturday (the guard told us this fact, the busy part to be specific), we spent many minutes staring at other people getting money from the teller, people pushing themselves in front of others, etc., etc.

What better entertainment than this.

There was more fun to come though. Some consternation suddenly as everybody in the bank was told.

We’re out of cash. Anyone who wants to deposit money, please step forward.

Our business had nothing to do with cash and we were finally helped. We left the building, leaving behind us many hoping the money would arrive.

Lesson learned, never go to the bank in [tag]Shanghai[/tag] on Saturday, especially not the oneon Nanjing Xi Lu, and in case you need cash, always have a backup plan.

Shanghai Consists of two Parts if you generalize it a bit.

There is Puxi and there is Pudong. West (Xi) from the river and East (Dong) from the river Huangpu. Puxi has been there for ages and has all the old buildings. Pudong is relatively new, built on swamp land and home to futuristic architecture.

Pudong is also more over sized which is expressed by their street signs.

A Puxi street sign

A Pudong street sign

If you don’t see the difference it’s due to my picture taking capabilities, the Pudong one. Believe me, the Pudong street signs are huge.

Photos:Puxi & Pudong Street Signs – Le Niners on Flickr (104 + photos of street signs in Shanghai

Last Saturday we went to Shanghai Circus World. As it is quite a nice thing to do on an afternoon I have made a special circus page. Enjoy.