Trip to Shanghai - Personal bit.
A month before a wedding there are usually quite a few things to do and to arrange. So I thought that it would be a good idea to clear off to China for 10 days in Mid-March. Work were keen to send me out there, and I though that I could sneak in a visit to 
hendybear whilst I was at it. A win all around!
I was expecting a list of a few things that I had to take over forhendybear to arrive, and I did get that list. It was a short list and I figured that I could quite easily throw the bit of electronics in my case. The amp turned out slightly larger than expected. And then it came in some packaging. When the DHL guy gave it to me I had a definite "oh bugger" moment, and immediately had a look at the maximum sizes that you are allowed on Virgin Atlantic flights. I’d just squeezed in there, and keris and ended up on a shopping trip for a suitcase to hold everything. It was quite big!
When I got down to Heathrow there was a bit of jiggery pokery to get everything under the weight limits, but eventually stuff got checked in , and off I went. There was a moment of deep tea-related joy when I realised I could get jasmine tea on the flight. That was extremely civilised!
The big plus side of the suitcase, as well as the size, is the extremely unsubtle shades of PURPLE and PINK it is. This makes it exceptionally easy to spot when it comes out the baggage carousel at the other end. Grabbed the bag, and then trundled very quickly through the official chaps. I’ve never had a driver meet me at an airport before. It had been arranged for me, so I walked out of customs, shook hands with someone who didn’t really speak English, and then drove off. A bit strange when you think of it like that! Anyhow, he deposited me withhendybear, who was also having an metame visiting. Had breakfast (Again) and met Daphne, before we went into town.
What we did in the first day wasn’t really what was interesting, it was more all the differences that there were between the UK and Shanghai. Visiting locals was key really, as we were taken off to exciting places, finding street food and being shown interesting shopping places. Shopping places were rather interesting. We would go into a big building, but rather than it being one large store specialising in a particular thing, it would be a big maze of small stalls or shops, all doing a very similar line of things.metame and I both had some shirts made, and we went to the tailors area. It was a several storey building with loads of different little tailor shops through it. We were guided to the right shop, and measured up. Got exactly what we wanted, and there was obviously lots of personal attention! I picked up the suit later in the trip. Being my shape, it feels rather unusual having something that actually fits!
We found exactly the same feel when we went to the electronics district. Now when I say electronics district you might be thinking something like Tottenham Court Road. Well, no, think more like a mad market in a warehouse, containing everything that might be found in the RS catalog, just all under the one roof. Chaotic, but also brilliant!
There was a day out to Nanjing on the train. It was interesting the differences in getting the train in the UK and in China. We had to buy the ticket the previous day somewhere else. You can’t buy a ticket at the station. Once we got to the main station we had to get into a queue to get in, though the queue was moving at walking pace up to the security. Quite high tech looking security, but there wasn’t actually anyone intervening when everyone through the metal detector went beep. This did slow us down but it also gave us a chance to read the departures board which told us where to go once inside. The whole station seemed built around getting you to the right place to wait for your train as efficiently as possible, without getting in one anothers way. I was very impressed.
The train over was pretty good too. The exit from Shanghai was very abrupt. The city has been growing so quickly that there was not a gradual change to leafy suburb and then countryside. Instead it was a straight change from being in the city to shacks and farming. That seemed rather strange. There was the new fast train line being constructed alongside the one we were travelling on.
The whole way along the journey there were people working on this new line. It was mind boggling just the number of people who were there and actively doing things (Rather than merely peering into a hole.)
http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/beijing/
Once we arrived we just had a bit of a wander around the centre, and over the massive city walls. There was a strange mix of both scale and also detail, as quite a few of the bricks had inscriptions on them.
Eventually it was time to look for something to eat. We grabbed some food from a little cafe at the side of the road, and had managed to get far enough from Shanghai thathendybears language skills were being defeated by local dialect. I don't know what sort of soup we had, but it smelt nice from otuside, and it tasted nice once we had some. Which worked for us.
Nanjing had the Ming Xiaoling Tombs on its edge, which were a pretty amazing monument. A massive set of pathways, some lined with stone spirit animals, lead around the many different sections of tomb. We spent several hours making out way through here and you could quite easily spend an entire day (Or more) in here.
I talked tohendybear quite a lot about the cultural differences between the UK and China. This turned out to be really useful, and it gave good perspective on what was happening when I had some of the meetings with the local work people. When out dining with them they were definitely on to impress, which meant private dining in extremely showy restaurants. This was a huge contrast to what I had when I went out with Andy and the guys from the Cotton Club, where we were eating in amazingly good restaurants, though much less showy ones. There was one just above the Cotton Club that brought a broth along to your table, and had gas burners underneath it. You then ordered whatever food you were after, from a quite large range, and cooked it as you wanted it.
The Cotton Club became our normal go-to place in the evening, which everyone who knowshendybear will not be at all surprised at. I had thought that his talk of it being the best Jazz club in Shanghai was mostly superlative, but when we walked in and there were the awards on the wall from Time Out it was obvious he was being quite factual about it all. It was a great place to go out, and the music was excellent. I did take along a camera and took a few snaps (Though I was in lightweight holiday mode, and so foolishly didn't bring along a specific lens for getting better shots in the evening.) and they will doubtless show up in another post :)
I had an amazing time, in a great city, with a brilliant guide. Go visithendybear, it'll be brilliant! Work had an internal vacancy around the time that I went over for a programme manager for international projects, specifically based in Shanghai. Were I footloose and fancy free (And able to speak the appropriate local language) I'd have been applying for it as soon as I got back. All in all I thought that it was a fantastic place.
hendybear whilst I was at it. A win all around!I was expecting a list of a few things that I had to take over for
hendybear to arrive, and I did get that list. It was a short list and I figured that I could quite easily throw the bit of electronics in my case. The amp turned out slightly larger than expected. And then it came in some packaging. When the DHL guy gave it to me I had a definite "oh bugger" moment, and immediately had a look at the maximum sizes that you are allowed on Virgin Atlantic flights. I’d just squeezed in there, and keris and ended up on a shopping trip for a suitcase to hold everything. It was quite big!When I got down to Heathrow there was a bit of jiggery pokery to get everything under the weight limits, but eventually stuff got checked in , and off I went. There was a moment of deep tea-related joy when I realised I could get jasmine tea on the flight. That was extremely civilised!
The big plus side of the suitcase, as well as the size, is the extremely unsubtle shades of PURPLE and PINK it is. This makes it exceptionally easy to spot when it comes out the baggage carousel at the other end. Grabbed the bag, and then trundled very quickly through the official chaps. I’ve never had a driver meet me at an airport before. It had been arranged for me, so I walked out of customs, shook hands with someone who didn’t really speak English, and then drove off. A bit strange when you think of it like that! Anyhow, he deposited me with
hendybear, who was also having an metame visiting. Had breakfast (Again) and met Daphne, before we went into town.What we did in the first day wasn’t really what was interesting, it was more all the differences that there were between the UK and Shanghai. Visiting locals was key really, as we were taken off to exciting places, finding street food and being shown interesting shopping places. Shopping places were rather interesting. We would go into a big building, but rather than it being one large store specialising in a particular thing, it would be a big maze of small stalls or shops, all doing a very similar line of things.
metame and I both had some shirts made, and we went to the tailors area. It was a several storey building with loads of different little tailor shops through it. We were guided to the right shop, and measured up. Got exactly what we wanted, and there was obviously lots of personal attention! I picked up the suit later in the trip. Being my shape, it feels rather unusual having something that actually fits!We found exactly the same feel when we went to the electronics district. Now when I say electronics district you might be thinking something like Tottenham Court Road. Well, no, think more like a mad market in a warehouse, containing everything that might be found in the RS catalog, just all under the one roof. Chaotic, but also brilliant!
There was a day out to Nanjing on the train. It was interesting the differences in getting the train in the UK and in China. We had to buy the ticket the previous day somewhere else. You can’t buy a ticket at the station. Once we got to the main station we had to get into a queue to get in, though the queue was moving at walking pace up to the security. Quite high tech looking security, but there wasn’t actually anyone intervening when everyone through the metal detector went beep. This did slow us down but it also gave us a chance to read the departures board which told us where to go once inside. The whole station seemed built around getting you to the right place to wait for your train as efficiently as possible, without getting in one anothers way. I was very impressed.
The train over was pretty good too. The exit from Shanghai was very abrupt. The city has been growing so quickly that there was not a gradual change to leafy suburb and then countryside. Instead it was a straight change from being in the city to shacks and farming. That seemed rather strange. There was the new fast train line being constructed alongside the one we were travelling on.
The whole way along the journey there were people working on this new line. It was mind boggling just the number of people who were there and actively doing things (Rather than merely peering into a hole.)
http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/beijing/
Once we arrived we just had a bit of a wander around the centre, and over the massive city walls. There was a strange mix of both scale and also detail, as quite a few of the bricks had inscriptions on them.
Eventually it was time to look for something to eat. We grabbed some food from a little cafe at the side of the road, and had managed to get far enough from Shanghai that
hendybears language skills were being defeated by local dialect. I don't know what sort of soup we had, but it smelt nice from otuside, and it tasted nice once we had some. Which worked for us.Nanjing had the Ming Xiaoling Tombs on its edge, which were a pretty amazing monument. A massive set of pathways, some lined with stone spirit animals, lead around the many different sections of tomb. We spent several hours making out way through here and you could quite easily spend an entire day (Or more) in here.
I talked to
hendybear quite a lot about the cultural differences between the UK and China. This turned out to be really useful, and it gave good perspective on what was happening when I had some of the meetings with the local work people. When out dining with them they were definitely on to impress, which meant private dining in extremely showy restaurants. This was a huge contrast to what I had when I went out with Andy and the guys from the Cotton Club, where we were eating in amazingly good restaurants, though much less showy ones. There was one just above the Cotton Club that brought a broth along to your table, and had gas burners underneath it. You then ordered whatever food you were after, from a quite large range, and cooked it as you wanted it.The Cotton Club became our normal go-to place in the evening, which everyone who knows
hendybear will not be at all surprised at. I had thought that his talk of it being the best Jazz club in Shanghai was mostly superlative, but when we walked in and there were the awards on the wall from Time Out it was obvious he was being quite factual about it all. It was a great place to go out, and the music was excellent. I did take along a camera and took a few snaps (Though I was in lightweight holiday mode, and so foolishly didn't bring along a specific lens for getting better shots in the evening.) and they will doubtless show up in another post :)I had an amazing time, in a great city, with a brilliant guide. Go visit
hendybear, it'll be brilliant! Work had an internal vacancy around the time that I went over for a programme manager for international projects, specifically based in Shanghai. Were I footloose and fancy free (And able to speak the appropriate local language) I'd have been applying for it as soon as I got back. All in all I thought that it was a fantastic place.