28. Duolen Culture street

Chinese Literature

This year, China was awarded with their first Nobel Peace Prize for Literature. The winner, Mo Yan who resides in quite a small village in the province of Shendong upon getting the award went on to say how this was an individual prize and should not be a reason for a nationwide celebration. 

The Party I think are ready to celebrate their literacy writers. However, the feeling isn't mutual. 

The Duolen Culture street was once home to many of the great Chinese writers in the early twentieth century. There are statues everywhere honoring them. 

It was such a unique street for Shanghai because of the low-rise Shikumen buildings. The Shikumen house was influenced by Western terrace housing and once housed 80% of the population. However it now seems the only way to cope with the amount of people in Shanghai is to build skywards. So it was relaxing to walk through a street where you are not straining your neck.

Xintiandi is also the place to go for these type of buildings. There has been quite a restoration there over  the last few years.

Weather

I would have loved to enjoyed the street a lot more but the weather was truly terrible. My umbrella had been absolutely destroyed by the strong sideways wind and then lashing rain, which later turned to snow. In the end it was quite funny how little effect my umbrella was having as it got turned inside out on a number of occasions.

First bit of snow in Shanghai since arriving.

There is the paradox that kids in school can get driven to school in a nice sports car. But then the schools cannot afford or deem not to heat the schools. 'Thankfully' I'm on my feet for most the day, so warmth is something I don't have to worry about.  No insulation, no heating and the windows often being found open, schools are a cold place. 

The weather in Shanghai is quite variable. October when we arrived was the pinnacle of the year. Clear, blue skies, temperatures in the mid-twenties. We now two months later deal with cold, wet days, where because of the heavily polluted skies that cold air seems to stick in the air. 

I do though have the hairs on my chest from living at Elms House to really not care too much about a little coldness.

And finally.... a graphic showcasing the average Chinese woman

I would say this is fairly true.

40. Food 4: Provincial Food

Rice

Every mealtime, from where I’m from the meal is deemed incomplete without rice.

I’ve heard that China was surprised when they discovered India had a lot of rice as well. They had thought that rice was their staple food and only theirs.

Their celebration of rice isn’t just obvious by its presence in every school meal, but it is also recognized in Chinese writing.

The word for entrance signifies a door slightly a jar and a man there holding rice. The man thus welcomes him into his home. While the script for ‘buy’ shows a woman at the market with rice on top of her head, and thus the script for ‘sell’ is exactly the same without the rice.

It is thus mystifying why they still insist on chopsticks to eat it.

Chinese Food around the country

I have as of today bought my tickets to and from Hong Kong for the Hong Kong 7’s. Whilst I’m there I’ll be in experiencing the Cantonese food that is known all around the world.

It is said that 95% of Chinese folk who leave the country and travel the world come from this pocket in South East China where Cantonese and Fujian food reign such as Dim Sum and Sweet and Sour food.

Therefore that leaves a lot of China’s cuisine that has not been tasted.

China is split into different flavours. For instance, in the North East where it is cold and things are hard to grow. The food is very salty because a lot of salt is put into the ground.

If you go to Sichaun and Yunnan in the South West, the food is very hot and spicy. I’ve eaten at one Sichaun restaurant and the dish consisted of meat hidden in tons of peppers. This is probably also down to the climate, but also a different style of cuisine.

While the province in the North West along the Silk road, the food is very Muslim. There are many skewers and other food eaten out of hand.

Rice isn’t as popular the further north you go you would find more people eating noodles.

There are also signature dishes to each city or province, such as the Mongolian Hot Pot which I’ve tried and didn’t think much of, Beijing’s Peking Duck and Shanghai’s Hairy Crabs which admittedly I have not found.

Take a look around a supermarket or any kind of market and it is evident that this country is willing to try any kind of food. If you enter a restaurant, I can predict that you will never have the same dish made the same twice, cooks have different ways of making their dish.

 Zhi rou shi shenme- What meat is this?

Learning the language helps you understand the culture a lot better and it gives you the confidence to talk to anyone.

I'd just come back from another session, where i'd been fueling myself on chocolate and Fanta after a pretty tiresome day, and I really fancied something to eat. Something meaty. 

The smell from outside the station enticed me in from the minute I got off the train at my home stop of Zhongtan Lu. I'd seen this stall before. It obviously did meat and before I could decide the nice lady had put one kebab stick on her coals to heat up.

3 yuan it set me back. It didn't take long to heat up and she handed me the stick. I had a bite. Chewy, quite fatty, very weird texture so before I left, I asked the titled question one I'd learnt at the evenings class. The answer:

Dog. 

She said it as she pointed to the now very obvious smiling canine on her poster.

I was that hungry I still finished it. I'm becoming an animal.

27. Keeping in touch.

VPN

I had a view of China's internet restrictions as being akin to a 1986 Big Brother-esqe world before coming over. There are restrictions on such popular sites as Facebook and Youtube. China supplements this craving for serial internet procrastination by providing you with baidu for all your downloading needs, taibo for all your shopping needs, weibo the equivalent of Twitter and I thought I'd chuck in nciku if ever dictionary.com got blacklisted, unlikely.

Or you can get a VPN, a virtual private network, allows you an access all areas pass for the net. VPN's are readily available. They come at a price. Usually amounting to about £5 a month, not bad really. I would wander who in China would get a VPN, the more better off, the more Liberal?

My VPN is Astrill. Despite the odd hiccup, I'd thoroughly recommend it.

Keeping in Touch

Have I told you before that the 3:00pm Barclay's Premier League games are broadcast on our regular TV here. Its great. You can watch three BPL games on a Saturday night.

Being away from home has been made a lot easier to bear with modern technology.

Here are some examples of things which would not have happened 10-15 years ago and now we are able:

Last night, I was on Skype, my head being placed at the Christmas table. A bit odd but it felt great to have a slice of family Christmas in my day, although a slice of Turkey would also have been greatly appreciated.

I'm writing a piece for the University of York Careers service to use in one of their Job fairs. They apparently have seen my blog and got in touch via Facebook.

However nothing beats the more old-fashioned ways like writing cards or getting the class to spell out a message and then send that picture over.

  

Can anyone guess the message!

And finally.....

I have been given a Chinese name by my colleagues. Its very easy to spell and pronounce /wung/. Plus it has a pretty cool meaning.

It means 'King', naturally.

26. A catch up

Christmas is back on

For me, Christmas has come early. There is power back in our apartment! I've had an ultra busy week, but everything ground to halt yesterday when our electric board short circuited. It took two days to get an electrician in and its finally been fixed.

I've been resorting to the daylight and in the evening candle light to find my way around the apartment. It was ok though I got to catch up on my book 'Freakconomics' which has now been subsequently finished, wrote some letters home and went for a bike ride wearing my new motorbike style helmut.

Tales from the last week

Here is a bit of a summary then of what's been happening.

Today has been busy enough. I taught three 90 minute inside classes. Following that I did some promo work for the intensive courses coming up in January, we were targeting children which made me feel like the child snatcher as I offered them the free ruler and pencil which came with our brochure, Meanwhile our Chinese staff hounded the parents. Freezing cold, Alex and I headed to my apartment and we got the electrician round. Talked travel plans with Alex. Fixed the problem. And finally 10 minutes after that had happened, taught my first tutorial lesson, which was scheduled for six o'colock and it went really well. I felt a lot more comfortable when knowing someone was openly paying for my time.

So other things from my week.

Last Saturday. A little worse for wear from a night at a club dancing to a DJ set from Caspa. I entertained kids at our Christmas party dressed as none other than Santa Claus. Jamie as Mrs Santa/Santa's helper and I danced, sang, played games for about 75 minutes. Tough work with a white beard on. I'm not sure what the childen got out from our celebration of Christmas. A few parents wanted photos with me (Santa Claus) at the end of the night suggesting they have an appreciation for it but on the most part the children were more excited by what was in my sack than my 'Ho Ho Ho's but then again who isn't?

Following this Sean, Darren and I went to a apartment floor party. It was decently attended with lots of different nationalities and a keg of beer. I love meeting people from around the world and Shanghai is a great place for this to happen.

Monday. First lesson of my Mandurin course. I arrived part way through the course and it was the last lesson of the phonics bit of the course, which the other class mates had been doing for 3 weeks. In Mandurin there are four tones, a high flat, rise, fall-rise and a fall. They hold a lot of significance and its quite frustrating when you are saying the word but the tone is all mixed up. There are four meanings for the word 'ma' for instance 'mother', 'hemp', 'horse', 'scold' or its most common usage as a question marker if it has a fifth neutral tone. I did not thus mind missing these lessons as my linguistics background helps me to understand these tones a bit better.

After the lesson I met up with a Swedish girl I'd met at the floor party, Starbucks and the movie Life of Pi were on the cards. It was quite relaxing to experience a normal date again. 

Wednesday. I thought I was in for a lucky day after getting out of Yili Road in 3rd place. However, I was tricked by Lady Luck, that cruel mistress. 

It was in the first lesson of a six lesson, two school day. I was off to a cracker, entertaining the children etc, when suddenly reaching down to pick up a dropped piece of chalk I heard a pantomime style, onomatopoeic rip. Surely no. No you cannot be serious. Oh dear Lord I thought as I reached to the back of my now ripped Matalan trousers. There I felt a tear which quite literally went straight down the middle of my trousers. Looking around I checked to see if the children had noticed. I paused for thought, then hesitantly continued the lesson.

This all happened in the space of probably a few seconds. I had to hold out for a while more. But through a number of stealth manoeuvres around the board, and tactical wear-age of my coat, I got through the rest of the morning's classes and then bought a new pair of trousers on my way to the next school with just enough dignity intact. Sorted.

P.S I'm fairly sure the kids didn't notice. 

Friday- After a big night celebrating my bosses birthday on Thursday I managed to summon up the energy to go on a second Chinese date the night after. Keeping it short it was as equally as stressful, we took a bus again to a very remote place in Shanghai. This time the docks. There we went to this End of the World party, which was way overpriced and under attended. Night was salvaged by finding a cool cafe in our complex after trekking home where we played board games with the cafe owner and this ancient Japanese dude called Konishiwa. 

Shanghai continues to amaze and surprise me. So I endeavor keep up the blog posts. My aim is to write about my teaching methods and lesson styles soon, keeping in touch with home, transport and pets to name a few topics.

Now I am going to enjoy having power back in my apartment. 

25. M50

The trade-off

I got in on Wednesday night from work and remembered about Monday nights proposition with one of the party guests. The deal being: Art lessons in calligraphy and Chinese art as long as we spoke in English. Not bad. So after a mug of tea, set it up and luckily, she was just finishing her working day and thought it was a good idea also.

An hour later, former Art student and a new teacher, Darren was on board, and Sheila, another Monday party goer from the other night.

We turned up at the meeting place, an art gallery, Loftooo. It was one of twenty or so small galleries in Shanghai's main art gallery complex, M50. Literally down the road from where we live. Her gallery was showcasing this artist called Dan Fu. He had all these ink works on the walls. Some of them were valued at like 800,000 yuan (£80,000).

It was quite an extraordinary experience, one I'd never think I would fall into. There was all the material  provided an artist would need let alone a novice and we had our own personal teacher giving us advice.

Painting (hua hua in Chinese) runs through the family, my brother and sisters are quite excellent at it. It really has never done it for me. However, the setting was just too atmospheric and the opportunity too great, so I was a practical teacher's pet.

First we had to look through books of Chinese art. The Chinese methods of painting are very distinguishable to them. Scenery with mountains and lots of trees, seemed to be a main focus for most of the artists.

Anyway below is my effort, it took me about an hour and a half and it is now hanging up proudly in my bedroom.

Ink as you can imagine likes to run quite a lot along the page, so if you brush over a bit where it is too damp, the ink will run horrendously. There is a phrase which seems to be very true in successful lessons as well and thats, to roll with it.

Plans are there to follow, but more often than not, they're not. Things happen which make you go off the planned route, and you have just got to roll with it. Note the many shadows and random ivy like branches on the painting.

If anyone is mentally impressed with my skills btw, the painting was valued at 100 yuan. Hitting the big time here.

Routines

Its been about two and a half months now since arriving here. That's longer than my Fresher term at York, twice as long as the post school Eurotrip and nearly three times as long as the trip to Bolivia in 2007.

Its mental to think how time flies a lot quicker when you are old. Those trips or experiences I had which all occurred last decade were incredibly memorable and hence seemed to last longer than they actually did. 

With this in mind, the plan is to go to Japan over New Year. We have three days off on the 1st to the 3rd, which thankfully doesn't overlap with my Friday and Saturday day off so plans are in the pipeline to go on a little excursion a bit further east.

I apologize to anyone reading this who due to restrictions is not able to go off to Japan just like that. 

I blame routines for time going so quickly. Weeks fly by because of them.

Very recently, I have signed up for a 2900 yuan Mandarin part-time course lasting 12 weeks, so this is now what my weekly schedule looks like in the evening.

Monday: Mandurin lesson (7.00-8:30) at Mandurin House

Tuesday: Poker at Alan's and Adam's (8:00-12:00)*

Wednesday: Mandurin lesson (7.00-8:30) at Mandurin House.*

Thursday: Mandurin at Shane Head Office (5-6), Football/ Rugby 7-9

Friday: Night In/Out. 

Saturday: Tuition lesson with Bobby. Lesson plans/watching BPL on TV.

Sunday: Rest.

* Despite giving it the title of this piece, the proposed Mandurin means that more M50 art lessons may have to be put on hold. I could potentially swap it in for poker which I haven't gone to the last few weeks anyway, as it was pretty good. Decisons, decisions.

and its my Decembeard

I've found the French have a great passion for the facial hair.  Hence my curled up lip expression  which in France is meant to mean 'we'll see'.

A beard is something that sets Westerners further apart from our Asian counterparts. As you will not find a Chinese man with a consistent beard. I'm growing one not to distinguish myself, nor to make me look older, but it was first muted so I can be an even more effective Father Christmas. The Christmas party is tomorrow and I'm due to dress up as the big man, then ask questions, then perform, first by singing Christmas classics, then with a dance which has been decided by my helper as Justin Bieber-Baby. I will then have to teach the chorus dance to the kids with my helper. Choose the best one. Give out loads of other prizes. Then pose for photo's. This is on my day off. God help me.

However back to the beard, if I can keep it up for the whole month to be a true Decembeard, well we'll see!

24. Private tuition

Living it large in Apartment 3104

We had a party last night. It went down well I thought. We had been umming and erring for a while, mainly due to everyone having a Monday and a Tuesday off but for my housemate Sean and I. So after a while of putting it off and we decided upon Monday, due to Sunday clashing with the Manchester derby. Thus Today, Tuesday, my busiest day of the week, has been a struggle.

Our fellow teaching community came along, most things seem to be done within the teaching community, drinking being the main one of them. But we also had the pleasure of three Chinese girls turning up. I had sent a text to my craigs list bike seller, Sheila, who in turn brought round two other Chinese girls, who no joke had never even met each other before last night.

The funny thing was that in England, you will say the party starts at 8 O'Clock, and typically people trickle in at 10 - 11. However, when I got the text back from Sheila saying she was to come, it was to come on the dot. I had turned party host entertainer earlier than planned.

The punch was therefore christened far before the main bulk of people turned up. And what a punch it was.

Most lethal was the transparent liquid, Baijo, a very strong 53% rice liquor. 2.5 litres for 30 kwai/£3. The apple juice(pinguo ju) mixed with the staple Lambrini made it taste quite nice. I also put some chopped up melon, which was given to us by our estate agents because they use our flat for potential buyers in the building. We've been assured that they're not potential buyers of our flat.

Anyway, the party was a great success. Here are the things I've learnt:

1. Quite a few new words in Mandurin. One of the girls took it upon herself to name pretty much every object in the flat in Mandurin.
2. Gambei. One word and it is within the Chinese honour to down their drink.
3. M50. One of the girls worked at a famous art gallery just down the road. She said she'd swap typograph art lessons for english lessons. Deal.
4. These floors in the flats are great for wiping up spilt drinks and in quite extraordinary circumstances urine as well. Poor fella.
5. The need to get business cards. It really is the done thing here.
6. As well as being a valuable conversational tool, viewing maps is also a manly activity.

Tuition

Referring to the business cards, they are essential if you want to get well known in the tuition world.

I had my first 1 on 1 session on Saturday and it went well. The teacher from Fu Dan school who gave me the contact came to pick me up and we walked for 20 minutes. Luckily the kid lives in the surrounding area so I did not have to take a train.

We got there, thank god as it has started to get extremely nippy in the night. I was all smiley as we entered the flat, which went down well.

The student's flat was very small, he lived with his parents, who were both excellent cooks I was told but unfortunately did not stay long enough to find out, in about a 70sq metre 3 room apartment.  

I got talking to Bobby the student in his room. We got on well. The conversation subjects as I seem to remember were why are Western people so big? What is rugby? What team do you support? Hobbies. Getting a part-time Job. School. Morning exercises. Why its important to be happy? Philosophy and the Utiliatarian approach. Why money isn't important? And of course football and girls (you can't have a male conversation without those two). 

He was 16, incredibly happy go lucky character and seemed to treasure anything I owned. My phone number for instance he told me was special. 

It was a 75 minute chat, I said the first session would be free. After a bit of awkward negotiations, i think we agreed on 100 yuan for a weekly meet up.

In a show of friendship I suppose, Bobby and his Dad decided to walk me home with the teacher. 

and finally....the McDonalds Delivery Man

23. Making contacts

Shanghai is an incredible city. Its at the pinnacle of innovation and many ambitious, burgeoning industries. Things are happening and you can feel it, you can see it. This city waits for no man. Skyscrapers are growing faster than trees.

Contacts are everything. There is a huge contact card culture. You meet someone they give you their contact card, I really should get some.

However, at the moment I'm doing just fine as recently I've got a job tutoring a kid who is after just someone to talk to in English. Its quite phenomenal to think that you have this sensationally precious skill of being a native fluent English speaker and until you come and teach abroad you would have never given it a second thought. I'm meeting the family tomorrow who live quite close. I've been growing a beard so far this December and I'm not sure if I should shave for the first meeting. Ah decisions.

Sport clubs are also a great source of contacts. I'm a member of a rugby team, full of people in lots of different industries, and as of Thursday night a football team, who all seem like they are doing alright for themselves. As of now though, nothing major has come from these two. In time things may develop.

Just now though, I was texting someone whose bike I liked on craigs list. They were selling it, and I have really wanted a bike. I know it is dangerous but there is no better way to see this city and I have felt frustrated that I only really know the city through the tube stops and their surrounding areas.

I met the seller just now by the look of the bike. i thought it'd be a Western guy leaving but 'Mr Bike'(the name I had put in my contact list) turned out to be a mid twenties Chinese girl. Respect. She gave it to me for 300 yuan chucking in a sturdy lock I bought her a coffee.

We started talking and she is part of a business who import international goods, mainly everyday things in the house, healthcare, healthy foods, face care, kind of a P&G style company. There is a company similar in China called Taobo and they were in the news recently for making $ 1 billion in a day or something ridiculous. The money is big that's a certainty.

Suddenly I knew everything there was to know about British manufacturers. As mentioned before, I told her that China was crying out for some decent moisturizer. I'm meeting her boss in the next two weeks.

In return I invited her to our flat party on Monday.

The bike itself, well as you can see its a BMX. Something I would never go for, its fun to ride, you can move about so well on it. They tyres are rock solid aswell. In the background is the music player I bought today, the sound is alright and it was only £8.

Mum, I promise I'll buy a helmut.

This may just be like most things, a road that leads to nowhere. But who knows. There is something going on here and thats what I love about this city.

22. Challenges

Tis the job to be jolly

A good thing about being a teacher is there are hundreds of individuals accomplishments you achieve in a day. A kid says a word correctly, someone understands a meaning, a game goes down well and just finishing your lesson with everything and everyone in tact is a reason to high five the janitor.

There are plenty of times to be jolly.

However, there is no reason why this can't be spread to the whole day and to occasions outside the classroom. By setting myself a host of little challenges to complete, like getting to the traffic crossing before it has counted down to the red man or getting on the last metro home, I genuinely feel better about myself.

The Yili Road Race

I finish my morning commute at Yili road station on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Its a while out of town but it is a busy station due to the high number of financial buildings in the area. 

As mentioned before in a blog, there is a morning scrum for the escalators as around 500 commuters rush off the train.

I gave myself the challenge to be the first person out of the station, and this Wednesday the paths were aligned for me to give it my best shot yet.

The preparation for this challenge starts in Honqiao station, the station where you change. The positioning of yourself in the new train's body is crucial to your hopes.

I arrived just as a train was leaving. The sight that usually leaves a sour taste in your mouth gave me more of a bittersweet symphony. 

I had first dibs and took full advantage planting myself in the cranny by the door. The tide of commuters did stem my advantageous position a little as one Chinese business woman stood closer to the door than me.

It was two stops to Yili Road. Music pumping I was ready to burst out the doors like a greyhound. Thankfully this was made easier by the Chinese lady standing clear, she despite dressing business like was not getting of at the business stop Yili Road.

We rolled into the station. The side door was not the one straight opposite the escalator. Cursing my amateur behavior, I prepared for exit with a lot to do.

The flashing light. And I was gone. Walking to the escalator (as running is gimpish behaviour),  I had to navigate a path between the people coming out of the 3 doors between me and the escalator. The commuters pile out so I had to bring back my side stepping repertoire from the Derwent Rugby title winning season. Left, right, right again, then left to slide into the handrail cordon of the escalator. I had got to it fourth.Not bad, however there was still more to come.

A quick 180 degree turn as you reach the top, saw me come up to third place as a woman went to get a newspaper, amateur. Two men infront, one elderly, one business like.

The exit gates compromise of the turnstile and the disability opening gate. You have to have your 'Oyster' style metro card at the ready, plant it on the booth to initiate the opening or turning process.

I chose the gate which opens up, the sequence was quicker. My card placing was sharp and effective, I was up to second.

It was then a foot race, the elderly man left behind. The final escalator out of this station in sight it was just me and the business man. Lengthening my strides, I had come from a bigger angle as the disability gate was further away, so I cut in. 

The man knew it, he was beat. I had done it. I entered the bright morning sunshine first out of the blocks. This is going to be one ass-kicking day. Challenge completed.

...

Moments later, I got caught at the traffic lights crossing with the 500 other commuters.

Challenges in Shanghai

I've listed a number of challenges for myself to try and achieve before I leave Shanghai. They'll most probably be added to over the course of the year, and hopefully one or two of them will be crossed off as well. If you have any you think I should try and do get in touch via wesselyoliver@gmail.com

1. Eat a bowl of stinky tofu.

As before mentioned this stuff smells and apparently tastes horrendous as well.

2. Climb up the Oriental TV Tower, via the stairs. 

This was going to be my apartment building until recently I heard of this 'race' to climb up Shanghai's most recognizable building. Try-outs are on the 22 December and the real thing is on New Years Day to signal the coming of a new year.

I think I might die

3. Have a street conversation in Mandurin.

I'm beginning to talk it, but trying to listen to what people are saying is hard.

4. Get a seat in rush-hour

Shanghai doesn't seem to busy at times. That is until you come across rush-hour 8-9 or worse 5:30-7 you will find the metro absolutely crammed. So getting a seat let alone enough breathing space is practically impossible.

5. Lesson plan in 5 minutes

This is the dream.

6. Gangnam style on the Bund

Its the done thing.

7. Give an 100 yuan to a street beggar.

Lets balance this divide!

8. Start a sticker campaign

Get stickers all around with a simple message. It could cause quite a stur.

9. Cycle to the Bund and back

I need a bike first though.

10. Get a pimp daddy tailored suit

Pay day is coming up.

If there are any more ideas on challenges, please let me know.

21. Shopping

Shanghai is a place of prevalent shoppers because there are just shops everywhere for them. I'm not a great shopper, an in and outer, no messing abouter, but there are a few things which I've been scouting around for and I just so happened to come across them all today.

Maps

I love maps. They hold information. They're great to look at. They can inspire you to visit loads of different places. They help you when you are lost. They are customizable to you. So many reasons.

Maps can be found in tourist information shops and book shops. No surprise there. However, I find in Shanghai that these types of shops are hard to find. China, I think, has a very limited history of book writing. In fact most the books you will find from Chinese authors will be self help books or a politicians autobiography.

I'd been looking for a decent map of Shanghai, China and the world for a while. Even taking day trips to book shops I'd located on smartshanghai.com but when I arrived at the station. I got lost finding the place. A bit ironic I hear you say.

Thankfully after today my dark days are now over, I completely randomly ran into this shop and I can now see the light.

Face Cream

Before I'd found the book shop, I had left early from my flat to go to my Kindergarten lessons. They were in Zhongtan Park. This area is best known for the great park, which I'm looking to visit soon, and this great shopping mall that looks like a big ship with the hotel as the mast.

There is one industry in China which must be doing so well, and that is face cream. Probably due to the bad skin of many Chinese people. There's just too much fried food. And people will pay a premium for decent face cream. There is rows and rows of cream in the supermarket. Despite this, I've found that the Chinese equivalent of moisturizer is scarce.

But today was my today. Adidas moisturizer. Check.

And a little later on in the same shop, Chinese style Christmas cards to be sent home. Check.

..........

So to the kindergarten. I had two lessons. The second one though was cancelled. This has never happened before. Thus, the kindergarten staff told me I could leave and go shopping. They were impressed to know I'd been already.

Lillian Cake Shop

My lesson at the next school went really well. To be honest, its one of my favourite classes. Its a senior school and the kids are really interesting to talk to. There is also a really nice Chinese English-teacher. She teaches the lesson before me so I sat in her lesson at the back. It was my first lesson I'd sat in given by a local teacher.

It actually really helped, as the last two months I'd kind of forgotten what it was to be a student. So I tailored the lesson drastically to fit the mood.

I love finishing on a Monday and Tuesday at this senior school, firstly because the lesson is a lot more chilled out to the ones that come before it in both days, (on Tuesday I have 6 separate lessons at two different schools to middle school kids).

There is a shop, Lillian Cake Shop, which I've found and have become a regular, mainly because I always order the same combo - a 4yuan egg tart and a 7.5 yuan pizza. Both are ridiculously good. Here is a review I found of their egg tarts.....

......'we probably have the best egg tarts in town.” With a motto like that, who can resist? As you take your first bite, the soft, sweet, flaky pastry crumbles in your mouth and your teeth sink into a thick layer of an incredible filling that bares a slight resemblance to crême brûlée.....


One of the reasons I love Shanghai are the shops.

And I haven't even got onto the fake markets yet. Another time.

20. Chinese Massage.

Brilliant City

I live in a complex referred to as the Brilliant City. London has towns within the city, but it seems here in Shanghai the buildings are so big, that a town would not sound right, so you have cities within the mega city. I went on an exploration of my local surroundings today, mainly as I am still dumbfounded that a city so brilliant does not have a bar or some kind of drinking establishment.

To be honest I wasn't really in need of a drink, I'd had plenty of those last night! It was more for the future. Alas despite going to a different part of the complex,  I found nothing. I did find a good restaurant though.

One indicator of a more expensive restaurant I find is if the menu has pictures, so us Westerners can point away like children. I like looking at the pictures but it makes the decision a whole lot harder, because you wonder 'Does that look like chicken?'.

After this meal where I had these kind of  hash browns which had meat in. I went to explore a bit more, and found myself walking into a Spa.

The receptionist spoke a bit of English, which helps on a hangover, and pointed to the prices which to my pleasant surprise were very reasonable. They ranged from about £6 to £10. The place was really nice inside so I  jumped at this opportunity.

There were advertised most of the options you'd find back home, apart from a belly massage and an ear cleaning service.  I went for the one which advertised the shortest time, as I didn't have much of it, it had the proud title 'Chinese Full Body Massage'.

Don't back down

It was odd I suppose that a foot massage lasted 90 minutes and a full body Chinese one only took 40 minutes. 

But my god I felt every one of those 40 minutes. 

Shown to my room. Kind of a room similar to a hotel.  The masseur was waiting for me in the room.

He was a guy. The first thing you really notice. Tinge of disappointment.

I've had a mixed massage history in the past. My first was in Chang Mai in Thailand, a woman who worked wonders. I've never heard my back click like it did. My second in Indonesia, a truly relaxing experience. My last one was in Budapest, where I was told to strip naked by a big man. I felt like a spring chicken and had to stop the massage half way through. 

So I was I suppose relieved to not have to strip off again. In fact, but for my hoodie, I kept all my clothes on including my socks.

Now for the massage enthusiasts, you may say this isn't a true experience if you are fully clothed. But I tell you this I could have felt this guys hands even if I was wearing a Sumo wrestling suit. 

Excuse the sexual innuendos. But I didn't know if he was using equipment or not but the force at which he exerted himself it was like he had a metal roller or something. 

His technique it seemed was to press the weak spots of the body and just carry on pressing. He had a roll motion which he used a lot. A deep knuckle exertion he used on the spine. A pincer like grip he had on my sides. This was whilst he was also shaking my body. Some of my loudest clicks came from when he pulled my arm and fingers, pushed my neck to one side and then bending my leg right back so the top of my foot clicked big time. 

There were few moments where I felt truly relaxed and wasn't gritting my teeth. It wasn't the experience I had imagined when first walking into the building which had such a tranquil atmosphere. 

What I got from it, was that the massage which is the national massage I suppose portrays a characteristic of the Chinese people. 

They'll push themselves for the greater good (as I do feel a lot more flexible now).

 It was also a case of Not Backing Down. The Chinese are fiercely protective of their FACE and I felt just like I did last night when asked to do a down off against a Chinese stranger that I wasn't going to back down. I might be in the single most physical pain I've been in this year but I am not going to say Stop or anything.

With those prices though, I think I'll definitely be going back.

19. School Life: Lunch with the Head of Department

A quite extraordinary response to my last post about Dating. Since then I've been teaching the lesson 'Festivals/Celebrations in the UK' to my older students, part of the lesson was to write a Valentines Day poem. Being put on the spot a few times to help finish students their 'Roses are Red, Violets are Blue' poems, I'd like to add that 'romance', I've still got it. Maybe I'll just have to wait for the day.

-----------
Shirley

Shirley, Head of the English Department at the Jian Qing Experimental school, is quite an awe-inspiring woman. She takes charge of the English classes in the school which caters for ages all the way from 3 to 18. I think that's why its called an experimental school because most schools teach certain age groups. It is the school I am most frequently at, teaching 10 lessons over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

Jian Qing Middle school entrance

 In the English office, everyone is very friendly and we claim to be the most unproductive office due to the chat. However when she walks in I just get an air of royalty about her. Its quite a trick. One which she uses quite well to get me to do lessons plans 4 weeks in advance, but then also acquire a lunch card for me.


She found me in the office today. I'd just taught 3 lessons on the trot, and was having a rest. It is very common in China for Chinese people to 'take a rest' or for them to tell you to 'take a rest'. It is a cat nap that will take place anywhere. So you see teachers with heads on desks getting shut-eye and a lot of commuters on trains with their eyes shut, snoring. In fact on the date, I was actually told to stop talking and go to sleep for a bit when we were on the bus heading to what I thought was the skating. I feel like I have adopted this 'Anywhere, Any place, Sleep'.

After asking how I am coping in Shanghai, lessons, etc, we walk to the lunch hall.

In the lunch hall, I always sit with other Western teachers. It is a chance to talk about anything. It is common knowledge that there is a English teacher table who have an amnesty on the way you eat your rice.

However today Shirley had sat down on a free table of 4, what was I to do? Follow suit? We were talking in the queue, that technically means that we were to sit together, right? Following suit, I walk over, bowl of soup, chopsticks and tray in hand. Getting to the table, where do I sit, straight across, surely not, or maybe I should. Too many decisions. All I wanted to do was just shovel rice with the sweet sweet and sour sauce that had come with todays meat.

-----------------------------

Pre-Shanghai Boom

Sitting diagonally across (I felt we both could do with the leg space), we talked about Shanghai. Then in a pure Louis Theroux role I asked her the more delving questions about her life.

She told me how as the second of eight children in her family, she was programmed to look after other siblings. The one child policy doesn't allow for children nowadays to develop this natural skill. She complained how children nowadays are 'eating from their parents wallets'. They don't have to work as hard because it is all handed to them. They are the only child so all the riches from their parents, grandparents, and their family above them in the tree is passed to them as well as love. How are you meant to teach a child who receives things on a silver plateur?

She had one child, a daughter who was doing very well for herself having just graduated from Stamford University doing Business. This I congratulated her on. But she said she was scared. Her own mother who is 94 gets a lot of help from her 8 children, who will help her when she grows old. She only has one daughter who she predicts will grow up to be very busy. I liked how she had identified her family as the key carers rather than employing a professional carer to come in. She also told me of the tragedy one colleague had had befallen on them, a teacher the same age as her had lost her only child to a freak illness. I could not imagine how inconsolable she would have been. These are problems facing China she says.

She had lived in Shanghai her whole life (I didn't ask her how old she was). She told me of the times when all types of technology were unheard of and buying a simple electric fan for her sick Father was a simple fantasy. When you went into a shop, you not only had to have the money for accessories like this, but you had to have a ration card as there were not enough to go around in China.

She grew up with 3 generations living in the same house, no idea of material goods we take for granted, never travelled, now she owns 3 houses across the city, TV's in each room and has visited places all over the world. She felt people never wanted to go back to what it was like, so they teach the children what China was.

She tells me that Shanghai provides for the rest of China in technology, management and money. I felt inside that Shanghai in some parts may also want to leave the rest of China behind.

I feel that Shanghai was like a caged beast. Now free, the head zookeeper is allowing it to feast, so that he can show it off to its daily visitors coming to see it.

After our conversation today, I'm looking forward to visiting China to experience the more backward parts of it.

18. Dating

Hello! Its been a while since my last post. My absence from the blogosphere has not been down to illness, but more arbitrary reasons like Charity fund raisers, Seinfeld sessions but most often, laziness. So I am sorry. This post is about what happened today. I am sorry if its a little explicit.

A picture of a Chinese woman. Taken from Google. Thanks Google.

'Get a girlfriend!'

The useful pointer that has been thrust my way by many helpful people recently. Co-workers who have tried to communicate with me in Chinese and found it kind of a one way traffic situation have offered this invaluable advice. Hell, one teacher even promoted her daughter.

I'm not sure if I'm conservative or Liberal when it comes to these things. I see Western/Asian couples all over the place and both are very happy. But it gets a bad press in my book by the marriages for money and a passport situations. 

Anyway I was in a shoe shop last Friday and a nice Chinese shop assistant starts talking to me. We exchange numbers and later on in the week start texting.

Chinglish

 Her English was a little better than my Chinese. However I would reply to her texts in the pinyin form of Mandurin. Most of the times she could not understand me, so you'd get the 'What/Shenme' text but a few interesting looks at Chinese syntax came out of the texting when she did.

' When 10 clock I fished my work'........'Next day I have free time'.....'Morning? Afternoon? (When I said 'I finish work at 5')....... 'I will take you to a place to have fun, needed on the subway'......'Tomorrow we meet on the shose(shoes) supermarket'.

So a date sealed, the plan was to go skating at 9 in the morning. I was ready to embrace the Chinese culture even if it was at 9 IN THE BLOODY MORNING. Would we have a Girlfriend, number errrrr coming up?

 I went to bed Sunday night with an air of optimism. Saints had beaten Newcastle and although the Chelsea and the Liverpool game had both been fairly boring, it'd been a good day with two new teacher arrivals adding to the party atsmosphere. I woke however feeling like an extra from Shaun of the Dead. Chinese winters have a lot more bite in the morning, especially with no heating. The morning shower is a brutal examination of your kahunas!

I made it to the meet point, a 40 minute trip perfectly placed inside the Shanghai rush hour. The song 'Pulp-Common People' pumping in my ears. 'I wanna live like Chinese people' I thought to myself. Got to the shoe store where she worked, the meeting place. 8:55 I was bang on time, god I really am something else. One song and she'd be here. But the dreaded minute hand creeped past the 12 and continued clockwise, moving slowly, it carried on. I grew cold. I grew hungry. I looked around, hoping she'd show. If I'm honest I did make more than one second glance. But it was a no show. I'd been stood up. 

"Fair enough it serves you right" I hear one or possibly two of you say if you are by chance reading. I am guilty just like any other person of bad etiquette on dates. I remember once oversleeping by two hours to turn up very late for an 11am meet two years back. (I'd been on a close the night before (it didn't wash though)).

I waited a respectable length of time, but enough was enough and I went back to the station, bed was calling. Literally as I was about to get on the train. A text arrives.

'Sorry, i'm washing my close places waiting for me, i'm sleeping too late' 

Unbelievable only I can sleep too late. That's my line! I kind of read over the 'close places' really did not want to delve there at this time in the morning.

'Please waiting for me' she added.

Argh man. Going back to bed was so nearly an option but  I thought, what the heck I'll give her a second chance.

Communication Barriers

She soon arrived. You've got to wonder who on earth makes dates at 9 in the morning. I was of course tucking into these delicious pancake burgers I'd just found. Gave a typical tourist wave with a mouth full of tomato ketchup.

She'd dressed up massively from the work clothes I'd first seen her in. She was actually seriously alternative.  Dyed hair, which was thus ginger esqe, with huge frizzy things going on, trousers with zips in, I honestly thought oh dear Wessely oh dear.

If I'm honest, it didn't go well. Here is the list why: 

we didn't go skating. one thing i actually wanted to do.

she took me to see her friends shop and they all talked about something for about 10 minutes. there was too much laughing for my liking.

we technically went shopping. not a great alternative option from before mentioned skating.

she was eighteen years old. oh dear wessely oh dear.

she took me to a place on the very outskirts of shanghai.  i felt vulnerable.

she had a poor taste of music. apart from 'jerk it out'. 

she listened to her music non stop. you never knew if she was listening to you or not. 

every local stared at you. god if looks could kill. guy fawkes' execution would have looked tame to what mine was like.

On the plus side she taught me the phrase Ni dong da meaning I know. I'll probably soon find out that it actually means I am a massive goon or something.

Thankfully I had a valid reason of work to leave my first Chinese date behind. She was a bit surprised though and she felt I should take a taxi home as I didn't know the way. The taxi fare would have cost about a days salary. I feel the cultures are sensationally different. The safe bet is to go Western next time, however as they say, when in Rome. 

Yes, When in Rome indeed.


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I'd like to add that I do not often blog about my dates and then post it to the world on Facebook.
This will go into the realm of experiences in Shanghai and I ensure you I will never ever put you through the tough slog of my love life, ever again!
If you do see the girl I so aptly described please hold your own views. I don't want to feel like i got in the way of anything you know.

17. "Jeez what is that smell"

The food carts are everywhere popping up at any busy street corner. There is a great range from stir-frys, to bakery pasty things and dumplings.

However there is one cart which you can smell from about a mile away. Stinky tofu.

To quote some of a Canadian friend, 'its like someone took a turd in your mouth'.

Furthermore, there is always one by my Sunday school train station West Yan An Road. In I come with some delicious Taiwanese chicken, or a burger, egg, cheese, all within a pancake, and I just get hit with this smell. Truly the worst smell in the world. The world I say.

Somehow its a Chinese snack. I will never know how.

16. Eye-care city

It was about 40 hours before I left the flat for the first time well in forty hours.
I think about 20 of those hours were spent watching Seinfeld, such a good show, while my lesson planning consisted of about 20 minutes, no doubt it'll be a late night tonight! SeinfeldLad.

Not much had changed but I had a new mindset to explore. With my explorer cap on, I felt aggrieved I had never travelled east from our blocks so I headed in this direction to amend this travesty.

East of us is the main Shanghai Railway station, I had to go cross the train tracks standing in the way of me and the station, I did this via an underpass. An underpass they always seem to give you the creeps. This one was very dimly lit with an orange glow lighting up a few stalls. The stalls included fake phones, MP3's and a host of old clothes spilled out on the floor like a jumble sale. It was a very bizarre underpass. There were people on moped bikes who used it, as well as sleepers and possibly poo-ers  from the smell in one corner.

I arose and breathed the still polluted Shanghai air. I headed in the direction of a grand looking Holiday Inn, honestly from Snoop Dogg's hit track I would of thought this company was more downmarket of the hotels but these places stand out very nicely in China. It was situated by the station which I decided to check out in mind of future trips to nearby Suzhou and Hangzhou.

The station despite being the main one wasn't really all that which surprised me a lot. The Honguio one I took to Beijing was much much nicer. So I left soon after entering the ticket office.

Outside there was this elevator sitting adjacent by the ticket office entrance which was taking people to Eye-care city. Eye-Care city. What the hell, for me this might as well be Narnia. For the first time I got ina lift with other people and felt a sense of unity rather than that common feeling of distaste to get away from this person as soon as possible! The doors opened again and we entered into a land of fellow four-eyed people. I felt like I was in a secret club.

Whereever I looked there were 100's of opticians willing to do you a set of glasses in little under 15 minutes. Some of the frames as well were out of this world, I could have really gone totally wild with my selection. An absolute far-cry from Mathesons in Alresford where they stock about one or two brands! Yeah I said it Mathesons!

I'd actually been wanting to buy some glasses, my current Specsaver (I'd disowned Mathesons when up in York) brand were getting a little old. So I got some new ones, they cost me £40 and she even asked me for my age, cheeky.

I'm not totally used to them atm, and i'm sure they looked better in the shop. Maybe they had special mirrors or something but yes here I am all specced up.

Geeks Unite!

15. The flat

I remember a bit from Johnny English where he is asked if he wanted to save the world or stay coupe'd up in his flat. He replied with the flat.

I don't blame him. The flat acts as a humble abode high above the hustle and bustle on the streets.

Here in Shanghai, I can sit pretty in my bed garments knowing that no rogue, street level passer-by will catch a glance through our window. It is truly relaxing.

After a long hard week I stayed in the flat the whole day yesterday. In the same clothes, the same clothes I am still wearing, I think its been 36 hours since last taking them off. This is possibly a personal best, and the funny thing is I was thinking of chucking these passed up (not down as from younger brother) pyjama bottoms.

To some this is natural, but I must inform people that this couch living is not really something I have partaken in ever before. Alas I have experienced it and perhaps dabbled myself, I dearly remember the line up of House and Jeremy Kyle being a morning call in early third year Uni life. But past girlfriends may attest that I find it hard to sit still, so lying horizontal is truelly quite alien.


So before I write a next post about whats happening down on the Shanghai streets. I will give a brief description of the flat I live in.

As fore-mentioned it is my first flat I have lived in. It is on the 31st floor of a building which continually makes me feel like the boss. It is not the top unfortunately though, the guys one floor above us and holding top dog position are two Germans who held one hell of a flat party a few weeks back. They have a balcony, but pay 1000 extra remnimbi a month for that privelege.

Back to our flat, you walk into a big living room, dining table on the right, at the far end opposite you is the view looking out. Picture below:

Flatmate Sean's bedroom looks out to this, there are cupboards in his room which have a real rich glow to them. My bedroom is left of the entrance doorway, again plenty of cupboard space and a balcony/portal to put clothes is very nicely linked to the room.
The kitchen which has two working stoves, again plenty of cupboards, a sink and fridge is opposite my bedroom doorway. Unfortunately no oven though :(. While the bathroom, which has a toilet (Western-best to clarify) and everything else you'd find in a bathroom including a fan which will probably come of use in the summer.

Best buy: either the couch, bought it the day we moved in from a guy we found on greggslist for 500 remnimbi. its very comfortable and has great presence.

We have a cleaner who comes on a Tuesday. I used very broken Chinese to ask for one a few weeks back, so was very surprised when she just turned up one day. They come with no cleaning equipment so kind of just use what you have, like hand towels to clean the floor. She does a good job. Unfortunately she speaks no English at all so I struggle to tell her. Quite funny she turns down coffee but will have beer whilst working.

The apartment is situated in the 'Brilliant City'. A complex of about 100? other high rise apartment blocks that kind of sit around this man made lake which is well lit. I find the Chinese when building these massive blocks try very hard to make it feel like you are out of the city, so you will see tropical trees and nice pathways at the base of these massive buildings. A nice touch I find.

The place I live in its not quite whole address is Apartment 3104, Block 38, No 100, Zhongtan Road, Shanghai. Not sure of the post code. Rent is 2600 a month, which is about £260. Not bad.

We're yet to find a local pub atm so we are trekking a few stops to Ellen's atm a real studenty cheap bar. Other than that I'm very happy in the current location!

14. Tour to Beijing: Yellow Sea Cup

A little belated I write this post about my experiences on tour in Beijing on the week-end!

This being the first post where there is more of a story to proceedings, I will start at the beginning: booking the week-end off.

Yes, I feel I’m in a bit of trouble when I next go into office on Sunday. My company would not give me the Sunday off (I already have Friday and Saturday off) so I pulled a sickie.

Feeling slightly guilty as I had to pop into the office anyway on Friday to pick up my passport, which was badly needed on all train rides in China, I headed to the meeting point. 3:30pm at our sponsors, the Big Bamboo. The sponsors later on I would find, had very kindly subsidized the trip so beer was free basically.

We took the high-speed train. Leg-room was serenely spacious. I was sitting in with two Americans who were the medics on the tour (a handy friendship) and Babe was for some reason showing on loop. The speed at which it got to Beijing was a plus, as it reached speeds of over 300 km/h.

There were 56 people who went on tour, pretty mental ay! Girls, boys, vets, the lot and we all crammed in to the Holiday Inn before hitting up some late night McDonalds.

GAME DAY.

Quite possibly the coldest I’ve ever been on a rugby pitch. We arrived around 12 at Dulwich College Beijing. I’m pretty sure it is a sister school of one back home. The pitch was akin to a classic prep school pitch, it brought back the days,

However this was the only pitch and our team (the Hermits) had to watch as the girls (Jenny Crabs) and the first team (Hairy Crabs) played on the pitch and unfortunately lost.

It was then our turn to play in a 10’s format style against our Beijing hosts. The pitch was muddy, I was kicking off and the ball would not bounce. Anyway, this is what England is famed for so I suppose I was in my element.

We went ahead. Before the other team won a kick chase to the try line. We were playing 4 quarters of 15 minutes each and at the halfway stage it was 5-5. We then surged into a 17-10 lead, making a conversion on this was honestly my greatest contribution as it had to be a drop goal, and held out to win 17-15 bringing home a victory!

Unfortunately no showers. So all 56 of us crammed on to this public bus and started on the bevies. This was essential as I could barely feel half of my body.

Back home and changed we hit the Beijing Rugby teams bar. A dive if ever I saw one. Free beer though, so many down offs were had by captains and dicks of the day alike.

Then came the messy bit a curry house with a free buffet and free beer (almost handed to you by the staff). Yes with grenade, shark and all kind of rules in play this was a very messy few hours. Especially when toilets were a good distance from this restaurant that was situated in a late night shopping mall.

I would have liked to stay in Gangi’s. But alas the party moved on back to the bar for the England-Fiji game, almost a blur for me. Danny Care sinbinning and Charlie Sharples’s fine try were some of the memories I had in the morning, and a few other things.

Back to the hotel room safely I started the next day ‘fresh’ in the clothes I finished yesterday in.

The morning dragged a bit as there was due to be some kind of Kangaroo court, a punishment centre. I had breakfast, exchanged now awkward conversations and played darts.

A group of us (the medics and Derrell- a Singaporean guy who was on serious form) felt this wasn’t really Beijing. So we headed to Tianamnen square. I knew about the student protests of 1989, but little else. I was truly amazed. Derrel gave an expert tour, even though he had never been there before he had studied Chinese history back in Singapore and spoke fluent Mandarin. Many photos were taken in the square, but some what bizarrely the ones outside the square looking in were forcibly deleted by the guards before you went through a police screening to enter. Photo below....

We took the train back. It was a lot more eventful with Kangaroo Court taking place where people were fined. There was a prosecutor and a defence and there was banter, yes lots of banter.

In summary, not quite the heights of previous tours to Doxbridge. The company was good and the deals on the hotel, beers, food, trains in the location of Beijing were quite fantastic. I look forward to Hong Kong 7’s now where having known the whole team a bit better it will be more of a culmination of a season as I am still very new to the club atm.

13. Pre-Tour Prep

This blog is not hugely about Shanghai but about the huge excitement I have for tomorrow. I am just hoping it all goes to plan. I have paid for everything the only thing I need now is my passport. Atm my passport is still with the visa office, I am hoping that they process it tomorrow and my man Alex (Welfare officer) can drop it off to me.

So if all goes to plan I'm catching a high speed train from Hongquio Railway station at 5 and it'll get into Beijing for 11, pretty quick ay. We're competing in the Yellow Sea cup, a bi-annual tournament contested between teams from Shanghai, Seoul and Beijing. Beijing have won it the last two years and according to Wiki are now considered the most successful team in China. Quite a status!

Kit wise, I've picked up some cheap ass boots from the Chinese Decathlon for like 119 remnimbi. Phil Denison of Nottingham, an employer of the global brand I hope can vouch that the boots will stay together.

Arguably the biggest story in the world right now will be happening this week-end in Beijing. The Communist Party is making its once in a decade leadership change. So the security is going to be quite tight I suppose.

Anyways Saturday night promises a lot even if we win or lose there will be 3 teams in Beijing ready for a big time, carnage is guaranteed. Full story next time!

TOUR!

12. Crisps

I can't do this. I just can't write a blog which isn't about food! I'm really not fat I tell you, I'm just inquisitive to all the tastes found in Shanghai.

The crisps here are just a different matter. When I open crisps I think of my friend Dalton, he would upon tearing the packet open plant his nose right into the opening that the rip had make. He'd inhale the scent and get munching. I've taken to doing this and have been dazzled by the different flavors on offer.

The main brand is Lays (in Chinese script) there are all kinds of flavours, my favourite is the blue one which is Italian Red Meat. What makes the tear even better here is that the packets are so pressurized inside, they're not crunchy but airtight balloons ready to be opened.

There was quite a packet I had today, burger munch. The taste of a chicken burger and then the crisps were shaped as a burger!

You may be able to tell but the last two days have been spent in front of the TV, watching many many an episode of Seinfeld. Thus I am now quite the Chinese crisp connoisseur.

11.McDonalds, McDonalds, a Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut.

This post arguably could have been titled 'Food no3'. Thus sending across the impression that I am pigging out over in Shanghai. I can not deny that claim. When you travel you have a tendency to treat yourself a bit more. I liken it to a night out in another city. I believe that you are always more likely to get a takeaway at the end of the night when in another city to the one you usually go out in. Its because you are allowing yourself just this once and its also a subconscious survival that when you are in another place you are always on the lookout for food. Its very primal.


Shanghai is rife with Western goods and services. However it was only recently that China opened its borders up to foreign good and vice versa. Deng Xiaoping, a forgotten leader almost because of Mao's popularity here, made economic reforms which transformed China into more of a global market, thus beginning the mass economic climb of China.The first McDonalds was built in 1978 in Beijing, 40 years after the first restaurant was started up in LA.

Being a Westerner, I am inadvertedly drawn to the Golden Arches or as of yesterday to the Pizza Hut. (I think I've ever been to KFC once anyway when I was in Nice that hasn't changed since i've been her). This is not on a daily basis, but probably about twice a week (this is including McDonalds takeaway which if I haven't mentioned before is quite surreal).
The restaurants are a lot cleaner than back home. Some you might think have just been opened. There is a staff member solely to open the door for you in Pizza Hut. The prices are also a lot cheaper, I paid 33/£3.30 for a decent sized lasagne, however if I had waited a day for it to be on special it would have been half-price. As for McDonalds, you can get a big Mac meal for 26 yuan/£2.60 but between 5-8 this price reduces to 15/£1.50.

So the prices are quite good, the service is also impeccable. However, this might just be me saying this but there really is no rush/queues for Western fast food joints. And Thank God there isn't.
It felt weird yesterday when for the first time here I was given a knife and fork to cut my lasagne with. I feel using chopsticks is as much engrained in Chinese tradition as overcrowding a metro. Therefore I feel it is only the more liberal Chinese family who would go in to a fast food joint but the more conservative Chinese resident would not touch it, even in the Western stance of Shanghai.

I find Westerners are looked up to anywhere you look here. 3/4 models on billboards tend to be Caucasian/Western looking. This I find a bit strange. Surely the model should relate to the market it is modelling or is the model acting as a model human being to Chinese men and women?  However this post is for another day, from my time sitting in a fairly empty McDonalds I pose the question : Is Shanghai just catering for the ever increasing expat community or are they pushing Chinese people to drop their traditions and further embrace the Western world?

Me personally, I'm going to try and drop the hamburgers. As stated previously I love the school meals. I love the chopsticks. There is oodles more taste to find in a Chinese meal anyway.

10. Rugby

Leaving England for Shanghai had its downsides. There are a few events in the year which I knew I had to sacrifice if I was to make the trip to the Far East. One of them was Christmas, a day best spent with the family and Derwent Rugby Old Boy's re-union week-end.

A rugby team is like a family, a brotherhood which you go out with, look out for and protect on the pitch. This is why today was quite a momentous day.

Derwent  Rugby, fine represents of a college with a cracking spirit, are a cracking team. Fantastic lads, bloody talented and party animals. Today though I went along to the training session of the Shanghai Hairy Crabs RFC.

The club which was founded a few years ago, has three teams: a fresh water crabs, the hermits and the hairy crabs first team. It has about 70 odd members and serves the expat community. Most of the members are French, but the language of the club is English. It is certainly a growing club, there is a tour to Beijing next week which I have paid for and I am genuinely very excited about. There are also plans to go to Australia for the lions tour in 2013 and in the past the club have toured Malaysia, Korea and loads of places around China. The trips are also subsidized because of sponsorship.
The membership fee of 1000 yuan may be the best buy I make in China.


Training went well. I am one of the younger players but I was drafted in to play Fly Half for the second team. Most of the moves are familiar already to me so I had no problem with that, and the second team with a new coach and a pretty much new team put a really good show against the first team of which most of them are utter units.

On the way back, I had my initiation. It involved drinking loadsa beer and sculling it. I am not the best sculler in the world so with all the times I didn't do it fast enough more beer was had. There were also songs I had to sing to a newly wed man and a birthday girl. I was sat in the aisle. There was one bit where I was Spiderman hanging from the top of the bus. I was felt up by what seemed like the team bicycle, she then continued to walk over me as a 'massage'. It was my first initiation and it was fun, however my lesson plan I have to do now are clearly going to suffer.

Anyways, a rugby team is a family in my books. So joining a team is a perfect remedy to homesickness when abroad.

I'm now very much looking forward to tour, just hoping i can get the time off and my passport arrives back in time from the visa office!!!!

9. Halloween Special: The road.

It's close to midnight, and something evil is lurking in the dark.

Yes, it's a Halloween special.

Shanghai is to my mind a safe city. Touching wood when I say it, I do not think you will ever be in danger walking home late at night or having your stuff stolen on the train. There is one place though where you will always need to have your wits about you. On the road.

I heard somewhere that the future level of CO2 emissions in the world lies with China. Only a very small proportion of the country has a car but this is growing due to a expanding middle class. So China is very new in terms of having a driving history.

This youthful exuberance I feel is best represented on the road. Their driving etiquette has been borne not from a long established history of motor travel, but almost a rushed induction. Chinese people have very little courtesy to other people on the road, it is all about getting to the destination with as little traffic as possible. So this sees people flying everywhere. You take a taxi anywhere and I guarantee they will try to do some unnecessary overtaking at one point in the drive.
Saying this I always feel relatively safe in the car, the drivers have adapted to these dog eat dog roads and will drive accordingly.

The buses rule the roads, they are the biggest and can command there lane well. I'd give them the status of the T-Rex. The taxi's, they are the ones most in a hurry. They are like those raptors in Jurassic Park. Bullying the smaller road uses. Then there is the multitude of mopeds, they really are the common dinosaur. They will go about their own business but will make themselves known to the pedestrians. Next are the old bicycles the long necked plant eating dinosaur, they are slow and don't care what's going on the road. These are people who pose no threat, but are not bothered by their surroundings either. Then there are the pedestrians, we are made to be respectful of all cars, even when given the green man to walk you can never be sure to be allowed free passage unless you are in a sea of fellow pedestrians you may get the odd taxi who will try and slip past you, we are the humans.



Yes that is a Darwinian look at the state of Shanghai roads.

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One further point is that all drivers like to use the horn. They use the horn a lot. They will press it then hold down for an indefinite period. They will push it for pretty much any situation to 'warn' people of their presence.

Here was a video of when I got the honour of travelling at the front of the bus back from the golf. This guy was a standard horn user.

So keep your wits about you on the road!
Happy Halloween.