China: pt.4 - Shanghai

Ok, so I thought Beijing was a big city. I was convinced that Beijing was crowded, filled with smog and packed with cars. Man, was I wrong. It was like a rural village compared to Shanghai. (Or well, maybe not that bad, but the difference was none the less striking.)

Originally, we had planned to take the train both back and forth to Shanghai. Sadly, we were a tad late on ordering the train tickets, and all that remained when we came to the station were "standing tickets". 11 hours of standing in a crowded train suddenly seemed like a long night. And as my Mr.Man was convinced we'd be locked up in a wagon with goats and other funky animals, we decided to book a flight down, and then take the train back to Beijing. In retrospective I think this was smart. Smarter than smart, actually. Genius.

So, how was Shanghai? If I have to compare the two cities, I left my heart in Beijing rather than in the pulsating chaos of Shanghai. But it was a striking city! Born and raised in Norway, I'm still a bit awestruck when I'm standing in front of a skyscraper. Staring up at all the tall buildings in that city can make your neck sore. At left and right I could spot Chanel, Cartier, Gucci and Armani. In the streets I was looked at by beautiful Chinese women, in killer heels and perfect make-up. My 170 centimeters suddenly felt so incredibly tall and clumsy, haha.

I read a few places that Shanghai can be said to be Asia's New York. And even though I've never been to the US, I can understand why someone would describe it in such a way. It's the world's biggest shipping harbor, and one of the major financial centres on the planet. It's shiny, it's bright, it's pulsating, and it's a strange kind of mix between capitalism and communism, covered in dazzling neon lights.

So, how did we spend our time in such a metropolis? Well. We did pretend to be filthy rich, sipping at a drink in the sky bar of China's 2nd largest building. A drink does taste a lot better when enjoyed at the 57th floor. (It better, as the price easily could have bought us a good dinner for two at a simple restaurant. Maybe even for four.) A lot of the time in the city was spent walking, looking at the mixture of old art deco buildings and shiny skyscrapers disappearing into the clouds. The neon lights and the historic architecture blended together into something.. interresting. And very Shanghai.

To sum it up, Shanghai was huge. Overwhelming, to someone like me. The people were remarkably different from those in Beijing, and so was the city. And that's one of the reasons I'm really happy we went there. I've only seen a fraction of China, but at least I've seen a few different aspects. Would I recommend anyone else to go there? Gods, yes! Just to stare at the lights, the buildings, the fashionable people and the expensive cars. Just to pretend you're filthy rich, just to stare at the ridiculous consumerism and expensive things. Just to see, and be there.

This, by the way, is one of the waiting rooms at the train station we departed to Beijing from. Just one of them. Taking a train in Norway will never be the same - it's as if we're one step behind in the evolution of travelling humans. The train was superb, the beds had TVs in them and the Chinese businessmen we traveled with were more than polite. (I think. We didn't understand a single word they said, and vice versa.)