Living on a Pedestal: An American in China

I am really in a new place this time. My China Eastern Airlines flight arrived at the Pudong International airport Thursday afternoon to a very warm Shanghai, China.  First glimpses of China from the air look nothing out of the ordinary: the grid like patches of light brown and green sprinkled with houses and farms. The crowd on my flight, though, has left no question in my mind where I'm going. All 10 flight attendants are Chinese. Really really white Chinese at that. It's like they went to an anti-tan tanning bed: they are really pale, but all very pretty and fairly tall. The three pilots are Chinese men. And almost every other passenger  is Asian. I enjoy my seatmate's company.  Rikako is Japanese and is very willing to play the language barrier charades with me. With her English being limited and my Japanese being limited to 'hello' and the first 5 numbers, we stick with drawings, simple topics and common enemies like the airplane meals they serve us.  It is pretty easy and hugely funny to make faces at our food to eachother. Dinner of pasta was all right. The breakfast of Creme cheese crepes, however, is only good for the bowl of pineapple and the stale roll.  And, the packs of water it comes with. I know this'll be valuable once I land, so I stash the prepacked water  and have the attendant fill my plastic waterbottle when she comes by with drinks.  I pass up the choice of free wine or beer... For breakfast. I guess, in the air, it really is 5 o'clock... somewhere.

Anyways, the 11 hour flight is as smooth as you could ask for and we land a bit early.  The airport really is stunning.  We have flown in to the international terminal 3. When I turn out of the skybridge and into the terminal and I get my bearings, my mouth kinda drops open a bit. I see a terminal hallway that goes on forever. What I can see of the terminal, it's probably a mile long.  I'm walking down a very fine structure. One wall is pure window and the tile and walls are very clean feeling. Almost sterile feeling. Everything's square and proper. The ceilings are high and directional signs make it easy for an English speaker to find their way to Customs.  For once, the native country line is longer than the foreigner line and I get my first red passport stamp  in no time :).

One benefit to such a long walk is that when I get down to baggage claim, I immediately see my bright green pack on the conveyor belt.  Because of my small jar of homemade preserves made in Angouleme, I've gambled with checking my fragile backpack (I grimace thinking of it being at the bottom of a pile of huge hard-sided suitcases). I'm happy to still see it intact and not totally mutilated after swimming with the big fish.  I've had to put it in a big plastic baggie, and once that's shed and I slip it on my back, I set off for the next challenge in China: finding the KFC.  According to Luke, they are ever so popular in China.  Hopefully there is only one in this whole huge airport. Once I get through baggage claim I finally see a map, which turns out to be worthless for finding the KFC. Why is the map for such an impressive building so disappointing?  I keep walking and after another 15 minutes of walking down an aisle I have a hunch on, what do you know! I'm relieved to see the familiar  red face logo. But, even though it's fairly large, I'm hesitant and intimidated to go through the glass doors and feel victorious. I have about an hour before Luke is due to arrive so I leave KFC #1 and venture on to verify this is the only one. Within 1 minute, I find a food court that has a KFC.  Ugh. I find an info desk and try asking the lady if there are only two. She points in the direction of the first one and says 'only one'. I take this as a relief and head back. I opt to stop in Wasson's, a small convenience like store. I'm hungry and figure this way I can just put what I want on the counter and not have to order anything. I'm trying to avoid the whole talking part.  I have fun picking out a bread muffin and an extra crunchy snickers.  I understand why the KFC is so popular when I walk in: it's very well AC'd. I pick a spot near the wall with a view of the sliding glass doors. This way, I'll be able to see Luke when he comes in. Which he does an hour later. It's so good to see a familiar face. We grab a bite to eat in the food court ( no KFC for me) and take the metro from the airport to our hotel. Lawrence is getting in later and has planned to meet us at the room.

It's easy to fall in love with the Shanghai metro system. Compared to the European systems I've been using, this metro is: clean, modern, painlessly easy to navigate (even to a foreigner), and has wide hallways. It's spider web design means you can get almost anywhere by train. The ride from one extreme (the airport) to our hotel on Pudong Avenue takes an hour. Part of the ride is above ground and I see China from the ground. The airport from the outside impresses me even more at it's massiveness and slick design. The landscape around me is very well kept up.

We've decided to splurge accommodation wise and get a fancy hotel while in Shanghai. And fancy it is, especially to a gal coming from three weeks on the road and living in a wide range of homes and hostels. I say hello again to large foyers, elegant furnishings, shiny tile floors, high ceilings, and elevators.  The best part about our room on the 37th floor is the view of the river. The landscape of  lights on high rise buildings seems endless. The boats on the river are both river cruisers(lots of blinking lights) and cargo barges(just a few steady lights).  The next best thing is the bathroom. Ohh the bathroom :) Featuring a bathtub and a shower and large open spaces and tile floors and lots of counter space and a blow dryer and cold and hot water and a western toilet and a high pressure, very large shower. Ok, I'll stop sounding like a deprived person. (Mom, I really am exaggerating, don't worry:). But, it's awesome, the bathroom, the bed, the pool!, the elevator, just everything.   This luxurious lifestyle is costing us about  30 USD per person per night and worth every penny.

Life in Shanghai.
Bikes on the street, the typical honking of a large city, cars and busses that don't stop for pedestrians and have  no hesitation about coming within an inch of someone or running them over ( I didn't see the running over part. I did see cars and  buses weaving through gaps in crowds of crossing pedestrians).
Insert story RE meeting with Tom Miller from the FAA.
It dawns on me that for the first time while traveling, I am really grateful to be American. In Europe, I felt like people sometimes thought of Americans in a derogatory way. But in China, I feel like Americans are very much on a pedestal. By being white and usually tall, we stand out.  Walking down the street or through crowds, I  try not to notice the turning heads. I say 'hello' back when someone says it, but always keep walking. In tight spaces, I sandwich between Lawrence and Luke. I keep my purse firmly tucked underneath my arm.

After two days exploring the city, I pinpoint a nudging feeling I've had everywhere I've gone. Everywhere you go and everything you do, there are workers there to assist you. Where one man or woman is needed, there are three. At every amenity in the hotel, there is a uniformed lady  standing at duty; at a fast food restaurant, I see 4 people stand idle; at the World Expo site, two workers stand every 20 feet along the line to guide you; at the ticket station where all you have to do is insert your ticket and go through the turnstile, someone is there to do it for you.  At the ticket entrance,  I had laughed several minutes earlier at the large sign above outlining the three instructions to insert your ticket. Then there was someone to do it for you.  On the streets, there are people trying to sell you stuff. Trying to sell tickets, souvenirs, food, taxi rides.  There is so much people excess, it's really eye-opening. Back in the US, you're brought feeling you're special and unique. Here, I really wonder if people feel that. It may be mean, but people at these positions just feel so dispensable. Is this heartless?  I hope not, but, now do I truly appreciate a college education. The side streets we walk through and the living conditions I see make me appreciate my living conditions. I see 7 year old boys manning a cold drink store. My heart  smiles when I see they have a small tv on the wall watching cartoons in their downtime. This makes it a little more easy to relate to them. At my 7, I was watching the same thing ( in my AC'd game room surrounded by sanitary food and restrooms). People just feel so disposable and the fact that I feel like I'm on a pedestal being a white female American kinda bothers me. .... Till I get to Hangzhou.

Via bullet train, we arrive in Hangzhou Saturday night. We have the name of our hostel written in Chinese in case there is any directions problems between Luke and the taxi driver. That's our plan as we walk out of the station and onto the street. Very unfamiliar to me, we are flooded. At the corner, men come up to us from every direction speaking in Chinese. They are selling private car services. They see our backpacks and try to vie for our business.  I feel like I'm wearing a huge sign saying 'hey! I'm a traveling American and need a taxi!'.  At first I am confused and overwhelmed, and when they follow us across and down the street, I'm annoyed.   Please, just leave us alone. We try hailing a cab but the men still are there.  I don't know what they are saying but know their quoted price is going down. The numbers they say in English.   I take this chaos for several very long minutes and then notice an upscale hotel across the street and we take refuge in their service drive. One guy follows us up there. When I go in through the hotel's rotating door first, a group of what look like businessmen that I don't notice walking toward me say hello.  The concierge desk is so nice. They know a bit of English, enough to know we're slightly overwhelmed in trying to get a cab.  They give us a map and rewrite the name of our hostel on a piece of paper. We head out to brave the streets again and are finally successful.  Our taxi is the uniform teal color. I keep my backpack with me in the backseat, and of course my purse. The ride is exhilarating. Lawrence and I are on a big high from the whole taxi hailing experience. Luke is calm. He's seen and delt with this in Fuzhou already. 14 Yuan  and about 10 minutes later, we're standing in front of a gate, down a tree lined driveway about 300 feet from the main road, with a guard standing rigidly at attention. This is the hostel?  The guys turn  to ask the  guard, who quickly puts at white gloved hand up to stop their approach.  Apparently we're at a military base. Hmm.  Ok.    They say a guy is coming to 'assist us'.  We kind of stand there in this jungle like environment amazed.  It's around 9 o'clock,  like 90 degrees, we're dead tired, 100 percent humidity, and sweat is just dripping off us.  Very soon, a guy comes on a limo golf cart. Turns out, our hostel is down this road. There was a little confusion on our printout that the concierge at the other hotel copied. We head down the road, in the dark, heat, with our packs, not entirely sure where to go. Lawrence and I are still facing a jet lag(me, a bit, him, a lot). There's a red-lit building soon and it turns out to be our hostel. I am so relieved to see in the window as we walk by that it is nicely furnished and decorated in Chinese style. The AC is also welcoming. (China really is the first time on my vacation so far that I feel beads of sweat rolling down my back when I walk outside).

After a while, we are shown to our room. It's a serious downgrade from our previous nights, but it's a room. It's quite, has a small bathroom with a western style toilet, and starts to cool off when we turn the AC unit on. We shower, eat dinner, and go to sleep.

I wake up with the sun the next morning around 5 (right now). I snack on coconut bread and enjoy eating it on my top bunk. I sit there, happily eating the sweet bread, thinking about the day ahead, and the heat I know will hit us as soon as we walk into the hallway and then outside. For a brief second, I feel guilty wishing to stay here for a while longer. But then I get excited about all the fun crazy new experiences waiting out there for us. Hangzhou for just a day then a bullet train back to the Shanghai airport then a flight to Fuzhou and Luke's family house.

Other notables: World Expo site visit Saturday, industrial river thoughts, going out Friday night and mall and food.