Nov 21- China Day 7- Shanghai Day 4

It was our last day in Shanghai today- we didn’t actually spend it in the city though, we went with G’s friend and his wife out to a what they call “water town” that is over an hour from the city. What’s amazing is that within an hour’s drive of the city there are loads of these little traditional villages right on the water. It’s like a movie there, except for all the Chinese tourists. J Z took us to this one because there aren’t any Western tourists there- there are 2 which are closer to the city that end up attracting them first, but the Chinese come out to Fengjing instead. We saw some very interesting aspects of village life- the sort of thing that used to be pretty much how everyone lived in China. We had all sorts of interesting food- fried frog legs, snails, interesting pork/rice combinations, deep fried little fish, homemade tofu and home grown bok choy, and even bought some local homemade cookies. It was fantastic- the photography was amazing, we took a little gondola ride on the river and it was so cool! And there is also a preserved commune in the village- it was so weird- 1, because many buildings in Cambodia look just like this commune, 2, the commune idea was to make things more egalitarian and there we were walking around with very wealthy Shanghainese, and 3, it was hard to imagine that their idea of communist society would work properly. They had a collection of Mao pins, Mao red books (that was his book about communism), and even coupons that were used during the period when they eliminated money and made everyone work on a barter system. What a crazy time. We bought lots of street food, including tasty homemade cookies- sesame flavor was my favorite. J

Here we are in our hotel in Guilin, and we’ve just had a hilarious time looking at the various English translations on the signs in our room, not to mention the, well, “interesting” items they have for sale (as every hotel room has.) We have Gillettey razors, “Uncomplimentary” Commerce Towels (no idea- it looks like a louffa), and best yet various badly translated personal hygiene items including “Man Joy Sex Oil” and various condom options. You’re probably wondering at this point why on earth I’m telling you this- like you’d really want to know that our hotel offers condoms in their in room bar! Well here’s why I’m telling you- no hotel I’ve ever been offers those type of items in their in room bars, but it suddenly made a LOT of sense why this one does when G noticed on a leaflet labeled Therapeutic Service List that right at the bottom of the list which included Foot Massage, Body Massage, Sauna and Bath, and many others was Lady of the Evening! We don’t know what it says in Chinese so it could be a mistranslation- our room is full of mistranslated English- but then again, maybe it’s not! In any case the hotel is very clean, very modern, in a fantastic location, and overall a nice hotel, so they aren’t renting out by the hour I’m pretty sure, at least on our floor. JGuilin is a tourist town and the fact is that tourists sometimes come here for that sort of thing.

I’ve gotten a bit spoiled these past 4 days in Shanghai because our room was on the 25^th floor- not so good for earthquakes, but great for no road noise. Alas our room here is on the busiest corner (our lovely guide was trying to bless us by asking for a room facing the river) and although it’s 11pm people are out shopping and enjoying themselves as shops don’t shut till midnight. They don’t open till 11am so that’s nice for the owners anyway. But there is a LOT of traffic outside, and traffic in China means honking, shouting, and lots of noise. Anyway we’re tired so I hope it’ll be ok.

Today at the airport there was a fight that broke out right in front of us- we were trying to leave the airport to find our local guide and a random woman ran up to a staff person and shoved her really hard, knocking her down and into a post which also fell over, and started shouting at her and pointing. The woman stood up and called for security, but this other woman kept trying to push her. That’s the second fight I’ve seen in an airport here- Chinese people seem to be hot tempered when it comes to airports.