Shanghai, China > September 2007

First - the photos

Pic 1 : Bridges, Highways, Tunnels.. Tunnels, Highways, Bridges - they are all over in China. Indians still dont know how to spell "INFRASTRUCTURE" (um, is that spelt right !? ;) )

Pic 2: The view from my 15th floor room near Xujia hui Park. There are more skyscrapers (15 floors Plus) in this ONE district in Shanghai than the WHOLE of India. I can bet a 100 bucks against anyone. (Yeah, in US dollars)

Pic 3: One building in Yu Garden (the old town in Shanghai) - this street was like Ranganathan Street back home in Chennai - Each Jewellery store is like - 3 or 4 floors each - a 100,000 square feet PER floor.

A quickie recap of this month's week long trip to China.

1. First Impression: China (at least where i was in - Shanghai - and some nearby places) does not project the air of oppression, governmental intervention etc. as what i had expected - People i met with are all young, eager, progressive & dont complain of anything. I was walking around the hotel at night too - downtown shanghai is as glitz, dirty as Bangkok & Pattaya - right down to street pubs, hippie western junkies, girls etc. - No sign of too much of a governmental crackdown on such things.

But hey, there ARE cons. It has become a real big pain to take out business visas for China & hey - Blogger was banned in all the hotels i stayed in & even in the free wifi offered at Shanghai Pudong Airport. (cant vouch for the banned part - but i sure tried a few times - everytime - It came up as 'IP address blocked')

2. China is VASTLY different from India in one context - especially in the context of a westerner working in India Vs him working in China. In China - EVERYTHING - from roadsigns, bus signs, SMSs, Email, Keyboards, maps, forms etc. are fully in mandarin. They think, speak & work in Chinese 100%. Unlike India, where i guess a westerner can work with 100% comfort.

That said, these days the younger chinese take pride in what level of English they studied in University & inherently, they are a friendly, interactive bunch. Learning chinese isnt that hard as i figured :).

Chinese HATE the Japanese. Chinese think Westerners treat them poorly - they treat Indians like their own - for eg. when i visited customers - they treat us as if they are receiving local guests - informal, warm & traditional in reception. They treat Indian products as local products (In my context that is). But they receive Europeans more differently, Coolly - often serving them stuff in fancy, western cups & Saucers - and dont invite them to share their lunch etc. with Indians - as one old guy i met explained to me (thru a translator) they share a brotherly affection.

3. The Food - it HAS to be mentioned. Chinese cuisine is a gatronomical nightmare for anyone from India. All the stuff is like boiled in greasy, mildly oily,um, stew - all meat is eaten after being boiled, pan fried in funny gravy. They arent familiar the concept of vegetarians - I was invited to a elaborate dinner meeting at a really swanky, resort type 4 star Hotel - the big boss who was hosting told me through his interpreter - " Because you are vegetarian, I ordered this special fish & lobster for you " :) The dish in question was about a foot long fish, freshly gutted & steamed and served with funny long greens in a sort of Lemony stew.

Pork in china is reported cheaper and forms the bulk of the chinese meat consumption. It is advisable NOT to eat out in smaller places which are cheap, no doubt. But one can go in and request in chinese that you are sick and would like plain rice before made into a dish. Even with such a precaution, the kind waitress brought me rice with shreds of egg (iam ok with eggs) and some chewy pieces of meat, nodding kindly :))

Shanghai had a few Indian places - One place was "Tandoor" in the Jin Jiang Hotel area (part of a chain - www.tandoor.com.cn ) good food [ there was even dancing for 'Kajra re' & "maar daala" ] and the bill is that much. A good veggie meal (without frills like wine / Starters) costs about 400 RMB for two ( 400 / 7.5 = 53 USD ).

*** Rule of Thumb ** INR / USD = 41 & RMB / USD = 7.5. so any RMB you spend is equivalent to spending about 5.5 times more Rupees.

So my meal for 2 costed,what, 2000 indian bucks.

There is also the Indian Kitchen chain - (google for it, i think they have a site) run by a guy from Madras - The shanghai branch had managers called 'Siva' & 'Mani' - good fare - i think a really great meal (Masala dosa, vadai, sambhar sadam, Naan/Roti, subji anything pretty much) for 2 costs maybe 200 RMB - about 500 Indian Bucks per head.

My strategy was to hog at breakfast (the bread, butter, corn flakes) at the Hotel, skip lunch and eat out at Indian kitchen in the evening.

3. To continue in the same thread - Travelling & staying in China - minimum taxi fare 11 RMB - i think a 20 kilometer costs about 80 RMB (about 400 bucks) in Shanghai.

The trains are cheap - about 6 RMB for the same distance. Although are swanky & fast - travelling in them with a suit, carrying a laptop case - is like re-living one scene i remember i saw in Discovery channel - It was some documentary where they were showing how Tokyo metro was hiring guys to act like bouncers/hustlers - who use a sheet of metal to cram as many people into the trains as possible - by kicking the sheet/simultaneously pushing more and more people in. :)

My Hotel was'nt too posh or anything - i think after discounts we paid about 3000 RMB (about 15,ooo Indian bucks) for a week long stay. It had free unlimited broadband - free breakfast and is located in a very very central place. (Tianping Road, Xuijia Park area)

[ www.tianpinghotel.com i think, Google for it if doesnt work ] AND there are a couple of english speaking guys to help if you need anything.

I couldnt travel too much or make too many friends - but i anticipate more trips & more prolonged stays in China from now on :)

1 line summary:

China isnt as Sexy as other places, but is fun, exciting & a BIG opportunity.