Reporting Live from Shanghai

Another quickie update... now from Shanghai! Yes, that's right, we made it safely through Nanjing, and it was wonderful. Clean, growing, friendly, international... I had molded myself into a Wenzhou mindset, almost forgetting just how ugly and gross that city truly is. But it had nevertheless taken it's toll on my mind... nay, my very soul, so that I was literally jumping at the chance to leave, regardless of other commitments, workload, etc...

And it was like opening my eyes to a whole other world...the real China. Blue skies, fewer piss stains on the ground, air that didn't choke you nearly as much, a view-distance of over 15 feet, dialect I can understand... Signs with English underneath the Chinese... AMAZING!

Beyond that, though, Nanjing is really an amazing city with deep, deep history. It was the capital of the short-lived Republic, as well as the Ming Dynasty. And, of course, ground-zero for the Nanjing Massacre. We went to the memorial museum and, suffice it to say, it left an impression. Even I, who've been studying the event for ~a year, couldn't help but be moved. They really did a great job. It's built on top of one of the mass-execution/burial grounds, and is very somber, and yet somehow doesn't devolve into Japanese bashing. I took lots and lots of pictures, so I'll post them with descriptions once I get the chance.

The train to Shanghai was a fast one, and took less than 2 hours... a marked difference from the Wenzhou-Nanjing train, which took 13 (protip: it's not that much further). And, at 11pm, walking the streets, searching for a hotel that was something less than the going Holiday Inn rate of 490RMB/night, we were intercepted by a small middle-aged Chinese lady and virtually dragged down the street away from the hotel we were about to scope out next. She was babbling in rapidfire Chinese, but I was impressed with myself at just how much I was able to pull out of it. The hotel we were walking toward was "bad" and only had "3 stars", but cost "over 400", but she knew of a hotel that was "good" with a "good view" and "4 stars" and was only "300" per night. Thinking we were perhaps being beguiled into a Hostel situation, where we'd be bound, gagged, and then dismembered for others' amusement... we proceeded with understandable caution.

But it turns out the lady was right on. We were led to a great hotel with flatscreen TV, hot shower (which is, all by itself, worth the 300), and doesn't make me this the place is about to be condemned. It truly is a nice hotel, and at a reasonable price. The employees are helpful, and have given me directions to places I was to see. It's called the RHEA Hotel. Not too shabby for being literally led there blindly off the street at 11:30 at night... as I've always said, I'd rather be lucky than good.

That's all for now... my computer's battery is beginning to get low :/ More to come! And MANY pictures later!

(CS)WC Out.

Wears silk stockings with golden seams