4.28.7 – Saturday Part I

Shanghai – Day 13 - Pt I
Shopping, one last Temple and a River Cruise at Night.


“Sit Still”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes… quit whining… its time you got yourself something”
“But I got the Chop yesterday…”
‘That doesn’t count… this is something for your office wall”
“Wall Shmalll… this is ridiculous”
Shut up and SIT!”

Again…I'm ahead of the story… lets start with a little know factoid that can’t go unrevealed about Shanghai

Have you ever used the phrase, “I Was Shanghaied”? Probably not if you're under 50 and those under 50 may have no idea what it means…in fact even many over 50 may not realized that it originated in the1850’s and continued until 1915. Here’s the deal. Once a sailor signed onboard a vessel for a voyage, it was illegal for him to leave the ship before the voyage's end. The penalty was imprisonment, and this was the result federal legislation enacted in 1790. With crews abandoning ships en masse due to the California Gold Rush, a healthy body on board the ship was a boon, and an actual able seaman was worth his weight in gold. Because of this, Un-free labor was widely used aboard American merchant ships that sailed the trade routes from San Francisco, to Portland Oregon to Shanghai and all points east. A person conscripted to such work was said to have been shanghaied when coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence were used. The most straightforward method to shanghai a sailor was to render him unconscious, forge his signature on the ship's articles, and pick up his "blood money". By the time he awoke, he was out to sea and was forced to work out the illegal “contract”. The practice was never more prevalent than in Shanghai, a wide open, anything goes city that was and still is a very busy Asian port. Thus the practice of abduction against ones will became known as being “shanghaied”. Oh… and Shanghai remains the 4th busiest port in the world.

Now didn't you just long for all that hot info…No… well there it is anyway. In fact… here are a few more tidbits the ever factually anal Dragon Lady requires that we impart.

Shanghai was founded 2000 years ago during the period known as “The Warring States [local feudal wars between the Qin and Tang Dynasties]. Originally named “Shen Hu” it was a fishing village belonging to two states where one of the kings was named Shen. The Hu refers to the name for bamboo fishing pole. It officially became Shanghai in Song dynasty in 551AD .

Currently it is divided West and East by the Huang Pu river which flows into the Yangtze river.
West Shanghai is the older portion with the East being only 17 yrs old and the most rapidly growing part. It is the sight of most of the elaborate sky scrapers, of which there are over 15000 in the city. The land in the west side, particularly near the center of town is said to go for $3500-$4500 per Sq meter with the average home being 150 sq meters. Very high by Chinese standards considering the average wage is around $7-10k per year.

After a hurried breakfast [the tiny Bathroom Tango was most interesting today] we learned most of these facts as Chen Xue had time to discuss her home town with us on the way to UPS just a short way across town but in rush hour traffic. We found the China Insurance Building that also housed the ShanghaiMart and UPS but were in the wrong lane and had to circle the building. Li blew past the north entrance to the shipping dock I had spotted but I convinced him to back up enough to cause a 4 way traffic jam in and out of the entrance so we could slide past a big bus and pull around to the front… to the honking approval or those we cut off.

UPS was on the 2nd floor [Illy still can’t figure out how I figured that one out] and we spotted a “Guy in Brown” who pointed out the desk in the corner. The clerk, trying to be helpful was amused as I unloaded the duffel bag of tchotchkies and pointed to the box I wanted to use. In excited Mandarin she told our guide “No Way that’s gonna fit”… she did not realize she was dealing with Chucky, who used to pack duffle bags in the Air Force for his disorganized mates for $5.00 a pop. [big money in the “60’s]. Under the watchful, if not critical eye of the Dragon Lady… he carefully arranged very item in the box

”Don’t Squish it,”…“I got it dear.”…“Look out that’s gonna wrinkle”…“Don’t worry dear… I got your suitcase packed didn't I?”…“But you squished everything.”…“Did not”…“Did Too”
“There… all done”, as I deftly closed the box and handed it to the amazed clerk.

After a stutter in filling out the Way Bill, Chucky whips out the plastic to pay only to hear “cash only”. Of course he doesn’t have enough cash but they point out an ATM located conveniently across the lobby. The ATM card works here as opposed to the balk in Tongli and cash in hand we head back to the UPS desk to find a crowd now examining the package as the clerk describes how much stuff I had crammed…errrr… carefully packed into it. A couple of thumbs up from the boy in brown and we were on our way to our first stop, YuYuan Garden.

Expecting to see another lush and tranquil garden, YuYuan Gardens is anything but. Built in 1559 by a Rice Businessman for his parents… it is now the site of an enormous flea market and mall where again you can purchase anything that begins with an “A “. Constructed in the traditional Chinese style it is a maze of interconnecting buildings and In the center of the “garden” was a tranquil pond surrounded by the chaos of the market. A bridge called the 9 Turns Bridge actually zig-zag’s in 9 different directions across the pond to the Tea House of the Honored Parents. We stroll through the stalls marveling at some of the talent and crafts we see including a magician eating fire and blowing it out ear, and a puppet master with a peep show puppet house that had the kids and adults alike enthralled. Illy spots a caricaturist whose work looks pretty neat and after pleading cajoling and downright insisting… she has Chucky sitting in front of the guy where….

“Sit Still”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes… quit whining… its time you got yourself something”
“But I got the Chop yesterday…”
‘That doesn’t count… this is something for the wall”
“Wall Shmalll… this is ridiculous”
Shut up and SIT!”

15 minutes later… we have a strikingly handsome resemblance of the Wacky American Tourist, framed and boxed for the paltry sum of 60 yuan.

Time to head to lunch across the street in another giant shopping mall and we dodge several very long queues of folks waiting on line for what must have been some incredible dumplings as the line snaked back across the garden for at least several hundred yards.

We'll finish up Shanghai and the trip to the airport in the next volume… I have been informed that two pages are as much as some of you TV addicted, attention span challenged souls can handle in one sitting.


再见朋友
Zài Jiàn Péng-You
Chuck and the not quite tchotchkied out… and still ready to spend more money
Dragon Lady