Pi Jiu on the Subways

Yesterday we had orientation followed by a tour of the surrounding area. As part of the tour, we grabbed lunch at a 2nd floor restaurant in a shopping area outside the West gates of campus, near Gong He Xin Road. It was a delicious Sichuan meal, served family style. The food was placed on a round spinning glass plate, nearly the size of the table. More than once, someone started spinning before everyone had grabbed their serving, resulting in a messy meal.

The experience that followed lunch was surprisingly simple, yet completely exhausting. we went shopping at RT Mart for some generic stuff and cell phones. RT Mart is kind of like Walmart. At first, I didn't like the cell phones. They were surprisingly expensive (for here) and since I'm only going to be here for a few months, I'm happy with just a generic, cheap phone. They told me that the cheapest cell phone they had was 299 yuan or kuai. I told them that it was too much. They immediately cut their price to 250 yuan. Mr. Hayes was right. The first one to name the price, loses. I told them 225 kuai and they accepted. Yay!! My first barter of China.

My shopping mate and I were led to another part of the store, where we paid, then we went back to the cell phone counter, where they set up our phones and changed the devices to English. The whole time they were pushing way over priced SIM cards at us. The most exciting part was that all the negotiations were in horrible, broken Chinese. I thought that was tough! Then Alex disclosed that he needed hangers. This is a massive 2-story store. Asking where the hangers were... was impossible. I swear, nothing is more difficult than explaining a hanger in Chinese. Not a jacket... Not pants... The thing, this thing...

It's interesting shopping for things at stores in China. I can't read any of the labels, so I really just depend on good packaging to figure out what things are. Funny though -- they don't give you shopping bags here. They expect you to bring your own. Needless to say that was a lesson learned the hard way.

One of the guys who has already been here for a semester took us to get dinner. I had hao ju niu riu (I think!). It's some beef dish. The meat looked hardly cooked, but I didn't get sick. As an appetizer we ate xiao lun bao, which translates to little ball of pork (i think). It's like pork in oil juice sacks. The sack is made of the same flour product as jiaozi or dumplings. They were so good, but really messy. The oil/juice gets everywhere. Chinese are pretty easy going on manners... i.e. table manners do not exist, which is great, because I end up with some grease or food all over my face after nearly every meal.

We grabbed a 4 kuai beer on the way out. Again, beer here is ginormous. There are no open container laws in China, so you can carry your beer anywhere... and we did. We're feeling like real B.A.M.F.s at this point. We were walking down the street and riding on the subway with what best resembles a forty. We to the subway from Yanchang Lu to People's Square.

From there we walked a short distance to a bar called Barbarossa. The bathrooms were super clean! The lounge was really fly. No place that I have ever been to is really comparable. To get to Barbarossa, you walk through a Chinese garden, past several historical buildings and art museums. The bar is designed in a Mediterranean style, complete with tents and wrought iron lanterns.

Ali, the manager, met us all and sat us right away. He gave us a nice table and waived the table fee, apparently a common charge at Chinese bars. ((Chinese bars meaning bars in China. The majority of the bars we will go to cater towards foreigners.)) Ali also brought us a shisha (hookah) for our table. Amanda, the other Gator on the program, and I migrated to the bar. Apparently while we were away, Ali brought a round of shots for everyone. As we were away and the other girls had left, the boys got to enjoy all of the complimentary shots.

I met a kid studying at another university or "uni" as the Aussies call it. Back home, he goes to Auburn. He's been here all year and has missed SEC football. He is going to meet up with us to watch the UF game. It turns out there are several sports bars in Shanghai, so our plan is to arrange to watch the game there on Friday morning.

We went to another bar, a Western style sports bar, called Windows Scoreboard. This place was off the beaten path. So far as I could tell, there weren't a lot of well marked signs to indicate that there was nightlife in the building. The boys later stumbled upon a techno club, which has a similar underground vibe. To get to the bar, one must go into the building, take an elevator up to the 3rd floor, exiting the elevator through the back. Perhaps the only indicators are that there are Chinese men outside selling cigarettes in front of the buildings and there are a few cabs idling. It reminds me of the discoteca that we went to in Rome, except more inconspicuous and way nicer inside.

After an exhausting night exploring Shanghai's nightlife, I overslept. Luckily, the whole group was running late. We broke into groups and were assigned a location for a pseudo scavenger hunt. I didn't want to wait for an assignment. Instead, I dibbsed Nanjing Rd. and The Bund, was approved by the teacher and we were off. We took line 1 to People's Square then changed to line 2 and rode it to Nanjing Rd. East.

People were all over us. There were lots of beggars down by the Bund. While taking some pictures, we met a family from rural China, west of Shanghai. The son, Tang, taught himself English. He speaks amazingly well for never having studied. He and I spoke about different customs in China and the U.S. He was telling me all the traditions of Chinese New Year and I told him all about Christmas. He really was having trouble grasping the idea of Santa. I don't know that imaginary gift givers are popular/common in China.

Tang told me that Chinese New Year is really just a celebration for families and friends. It really is very similar to Christmas, without the gift giving. They spend lots of time with family, then make lots of food, often taking it to older relatives so that the elderly don't have to do any work on the week long holiday. Additionally, lots of businesses are closed.

Not so much in the city, but in Tang's hometown, there are dragon re-enactments and drum processionals, as one traditionally thinks of China. It is a great honor to be selected as a dragon, one that Tang auditioned for and won in his hometown.

Many of the USAC students are thinking of leaving the country for Chinese New Year. Prices increase in China for travel that week. Also, with all the businesses closed, there will be very little to do here. Thailand appears to be the front runner. I'm looking to experience the Chinese New Year. Everything I've read says that Hong Kong has the greatest festivities.

Tang asked me if we could meet up to practice his English and my Chinese. While this would be a good opportunity, I was in some way weirded out by him. But I gave him my number, because after talking for at least 45 minutes, I thought it would be rude not to.

You Sha, our program advisor, warned us during orientation of a scam where a Chinese person invites you out for tea and then tries to make you pay an outrageous bill. She told us to be weary of any tea festivals. Comically enough, after I gave Tang my cell phone number, Tang's family then invited us to a tea festival at the famous Peace Hotel, which appears to be under renovation!

I'm becoming very untrustworthy of Chinese people. Probably with good cause.

One of the girls in my team had to get back to class, so we all headed back to the subway station to make our way home. One Chinese lady followed us for at least 1/2 mile, trying to get us to buy things from her market. Since we traveled in a relatively small group, 3 people, I feel like we had much more interaction with Chinese people today. In addition, I was presented with ample opportunities to practice my Chinese. Frankly, I'm a little fried for the day. China is really cool.