My trips around the world ...

Sunday night I took a train to Shanghai. I enjoyed Xi'an so much, I could stay longer. There was still more to see and the hostel was very friendly. Nice coffee, free Internet, fantastic western-style breakfast, dinner at the Muslim quarter with Mr. Kim, quiet rooms, good location, etc. It must be packed in the summer but now it's low season in China. It's too cold.

Sunday night I took a train from Xi'an to Shanghai. Apparently, it's very difficult to get a train ticket to anywhere from Xi'an since Xi'an is a major university city, and the university holiday season had just begun. All the students were trying to get a train ticket home. They go to the ticket sale outlets from 4:00 in the morning and line up. I was lucky, the staff at the hostel got the ticket for me through a travel agent. The ride was 15 hours. I was sleeping most of it, but towards the end, felt extremely dizzy. The food on the train was not so great and the loud Chinese TV in each room didn't help either.

When I got to Shanghai, I hopped into a cab and checked into a hostel close to the Bund. The Bund is one of the main tourist attractions in Shanghai. Shanghai just doesn't look like China. Skyscrapers, cars, noise and lights everywhere. I have never seen New York, but this is how I picture New York in my head. If you hate noise, do not come to Shanghai. Scooters and cars are everywhere and they blow their horn as they go. It's just their way of saying: "Watch out, I'm coming through whether you move your butt or not." The streets are filled with taxis, buses, bikes, scooters and people. When you want to cross the street, you'll find yourself closing your eyes, saying your prayers and hoping for the best.

There are so many things to see and do, but not too many historic sites like Beijing and Xi'an. There are thousands of ethnical restaurants, cultural events, shows, exhibitions, art galleries, pubs, clubs, colleges, …

On my first day in Shanghai I went to the Bund, went up the Pearl Tower and watched the sunset as the neon lights were coming to life one after the other. I saw a sex museum at the underground tunnel, which displayed the paintings and pottery pieces. It was interesting and sad to see how Chinese men used to worship male sex organs (Men haven't changed. Have they?), and control women by feet binders, etc. A female was considered property of a man, and by keeping a woman's feet small and disable, they would have ultimate power over her since she could not walk far away. Therefore she would have to stay home and never consider leaving. The old pottery pieces were astonishing. I learned that two fish in 69 position and also a duck holding a fish inside its beak are symbols of male and female. On a girl's wedding night, they used to give her a book with pictures of different sex positions to teach the bride what was about to happen to her and what she was supposed to do!

In front of the sex museum, there were some aquariums and small boats. Nothing too impressing.

On my second day in Shanghai I took the subway and went to the "working class" market. Everything is ridiculously inexpensive here in China although I found Beijing and Xi'an cheaper than Shanghai. I bought some sweaters, shades and accessories. Although shopping makes me happy no matter what, I was annoyed by how some shopkeepers greeted people with a big smile but then turn away, frown and even sometimes swear if the customer didn’t buy anything. At times, I felt like I am looked upon as a walking wallet rather than a traveler exploring China.

On my way back to the hostel, I bought a train ticket to Hong Kong for Thursday morning. I would rather leave on Wednesday but there are no trains to Hong Kong till Thursday. I was surprised that there are no daily trains between these two major cities.

On my third day in Shanghai, I went to Shanghai's library and caught up with my emails and blog. I spend almost 5 hours at the library and this I guess makes me officially an internetoholic. On my way to the hostel I decided to get off the subway at the People's Square to look around. The name sounded interesting. I saw some huge crowd a block away from the square and walked toward it. In 5 minutes, I found myself in a pool of countless neon lights, hotels, boutiques, restaurants and pubs with thousands of people, mostly tourists. Now THIS is how I had pictured Las Vegas in my head. WOW!