Wacky Wacky Shanghai

Shanghai truly is a unique city. Someone told me that Shanghai is not "real" China. Even though, I have never been outside of Shanghai; I would actually agree with that. China is a Communist country, but Shanghai and the people of Shanghai are money making machines, extremely capitalistic. Shanghai is not exactly like an international Western city; it's not as clean and it's full of Chinese people working in foreign companies. Shanghai still lacks some traditional amenities that you would find in a Western city, something simple like toilet paper. However, Shanghai stands out with its futuristic looking skyscrapers. Of course, New York City has skyscrapers, but in terms of magnitude, New York does not even hold a candle to Shanghai.

But one neighborhood of Shanghai can give you an idea what old Shanghai/China is all about. The neighborhood is called Old City and it has some great historic landmarks. The Yu Gardens, which I did not go in because it cost 40 yuan. Ok, 40 yuan is about $6 USD; you may think I'm cheap but whatever. I'm not getting paid just yet. The Yu Gardens is Shanghai's only traditional Chinese garden. But right next to Yu Gardens was a little, but full of frenzy, shopping area all in Chinese architecture. Again, since I am not getting paid yet, I didn't really do any shopping. But the shops sold Chinese gifts, such as silk clothing and fabric, tea cups and pots, fans, chopsticks, and etc. I thought this was a really pretty area and it was great to see some Chinese architecture (finally) rather than seeing block and greyish skyscrapers. Right in the middle of the shopping center was a lake with a zig-zag path to the tea house, where Chinese tea is served in its traditional form. I had a woodberry and chrysanthemum tea. It tasted quite good, but it was not that big of a deal. I sat at a table next to a window and watch all of the consumers go by in the shopping area.

After I left the Yu Gardens area, I walked through Old City, through the really, really OLD parts of town. These streets were very narrow lined with shikumen houses. This area was a notorious gang area that used to be filled with opium smoke before the Communist government cleaned it up in the 1950s. Shikumen was a term to call the traditional Chinese city housing. Shikumen literally means "stone gate" (I looked it up on wikipedia). Something like this can be called townhouses in the English language. Since, Shanghai is an up and coming city in the world of capitalism, I heard these shikumen houses will eventually be demolished. It was quite an afternoon walking through these old shikumen neighborhoods. I honestly felt like I went back into the past, like a century ago. Some shikumen houses were being held together by bamboo sticks. Some markets that I walked by looked like it did not have ANY technology to help run the place. It was just fish, fruit, meat, and vegetables in racks made of bamboo and the store owner monitoring the market. The streets are covered with mud and no cars drove through here. Honestly, without insulting the Chinese, I seriously felt like I was really in a Third World country. Too bad that my camera isn't working at the moment so I could take pictures. No worries, I will be here for a year.

After walking through the neighborhood, I came across part of the Old City Wall, in which Shanghai used to be encircled in up until the mid 1800s. There's not much I can say about that, it's just a really old wall. But I remind myself, it's history! But close to the wall, I noticed that there was a temple. I thought, ok why not? Let's check it out. It was a Taoist temple. China in these days is considered an atheist country, but three different kinds of religion is well presented in Chinese history: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. I know the least about the Taoists. The temple was set up in its Chinese temple architecture. Inside was more brown, red and white. There were a lot of gold statues of Taoist figures. I walked into the center of the temple and there were people lighting up candles and huge cans of ash (what kind of ash, I am not certain) and praying. Around the temple were rooms, all with gold or colorful embossed statues, each with a purpose. You were supposed to pray in all of these rooms facing the statues, as I noticed one man doing. However, I noticed that one of the rooms were full of 3x5 plaques of people that had died and their funeral was held in the temple.

I felt kinda bad about being in the temple since I know nothing about Taoism, or any other Eastern religions for that matter. I kinda felt like I was intruding; this was a place of worship for some of the Chinese; and I was just looking around, not doing any kind of worship. But no one kicked me out. I was just curious about anything that has to do with China. This was a day that I learned more about Shanghai's history and at least a little bit more about religions in China. Well, I definitely will be making a trip back to Old City, either for historical insight or to bring friends who may come visit me. But I know I will be back when my camera works.

Now, remember the girls taking me to the "tea ceremony?" I was discussing this situation with the lady at the front desk of the hostel and she told me that I should report this to the police. She said there is a good chance I may get my money back. Apparently this happens to a lot of tourists, who, like me, felt incredibly stupid afterwards. Today, I went to the police station and found the ONE police officer that spoke English. I explained to him what had happened to me. He took down some information, but he told me if I can find the girls, so-called Helen and Shirley, which is not likely, I can get my money back. He said that this happens hundreds of times each year and only about 3-5 actually get caught. Plus, where the tea ceremony is held, moves its location all the time to reduce the risk of getting caught. I knew that there was no way I can find these girls, let alone trying to bring them to police station to be arrested. He also told me the consequences if they do get caught, they can go to jail for up to 8 years. I thought that it was a severe punishment for a scam of overpriced tea ceremonies. I guess it was more for not having some kind of permit to run these places and the idea of tricking poor tourists for a lot of money. I also told him where it was; and he said he will check it out. Would he really check it out, I wonder? But at least I tried.