Changes

Wednesday was my last day at work, which was really sad, but I was told that I would be very welcomed to return should I decide to revisit Shanghai, which was lovely! 

On Wednesday night, Miguel, Algis and I went to the current YHL venue of Shanghai (Young, Hot & Loaded). It is called M1NT and is on the 24th floor, with dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows giving 360° views of the Bund, Pudong, Nanjing Road, People's Square and Huaihai Road. The first thing you notice upon arriving at M1NT Club is the 17-metre long shark tank, with more than 20 black and white reef-tip sharks. It’s pretty impressive.

On Thursday, I went out with Patrick to a lovely lounge on the Bund, I met some of his friends there, who he described as ‘Chinese versions of Sex and the City girls!’ Amazing!

On Friday, I had to move to a different apartment (because Algis and I had finished work). Algis had his brother who was flying in from Japan were spending a week in a hotel outside M1NT. I was moved (3 metro stops away) to a hotel called ‘Bing Jiang Min Ren yuan’. It's nearby the Bund area on Zhong Hua rd. 近复兴路 (near Fuxing road) – which is a great area and really central.

However, I was told that I would be losing my lovely en-suite in my flat to share a bathroom with 3 boys! I was a bit apprehensive about this and this apprehension only grew when I visited the apartment for the first time.

The area of DaPuQiao, where my old apartment was situated, had lots of shops in a big mall, with a McDonalds and the quirky bazaar dubbed ‘the Soho of Shanghai’, whereas my new neighborhood was a little more ‘Old Shanghai’. There were old women hanging their washing out in the streets and cooking in small doorways leading to very rustic housing, and very young children, maybe 3 or 4 running around by themselves, crossing the majorly busy roads!

On our way, Sunny (my programme coordinator) and myself were discussing how dangerous driving a moped without a helmet was and how some people have their whole families on the back, including very young babies. As we were discussing this, all of a sudden, there was a collision where a young boy, possibly 18 came off his bike and landed head first into the road. He cracked his head open on the concrete and there was blood everywhere. Crowds formed and there was a big commotion, Sunny and I were dumbstruck. Luckily an ambulance arrived really quickly and I can only pray the poor boy was ok.

After this, Sunny explained that I would have the biggest room in the apartment; I asked if this because I was the only girl, she replied ‘No, it is because that room was robbed last week because the lock on the door was broken!’ Erm… awesome. Obviously, I was unimpressed by this and worried, but Sunny reassured me that the locks had been changed and that the boys had not locked the front door to the flat or the bedrooms, unfortunately though, the boy in question had his laptop, iPod touch and mobile phone stolen. Not ideal.

I was unable to see the room I would be living in but was pleased enough to accept it, based on the rest of the flat. I was still a bit shaken because all I really knew is that it was a much less developed area of Shanghai, the previous tenant had been burgled and someone had just pretty much died outside. It seemed ominous.

However, I moved in on the Friday and met my new housemates later on. There is one boy who is called Robert who luckily (for the rest of us) can speak Chinese! He learnt the Chinese he knows on the internet, which I think is amazing – because he knows quite a lot! His parents were originally from China but he lives in America and attended Tufts. The second housemate I met is called Eric and is Korean, he is a California boy though, as he attended USC and he cannot stand the cold! The third housemate I met is called Joe, he is from Boston, but his family are expats living in Shanghai. Here are some photos of my new apartment. It has amazing views.

On Friday night, our large group of interns decided to go for all you can eat sushi at a Japanese restaurant, where the staff wore traditional kimonos. It was really nice and gave everyone a chance to get to know each other better. Some people went out afterwards, but it was not a late one because everyone had to be up early for the day trip to Hangzhou.

 

The day to Hangzhou started out really well. Everyone met at 8am on the dot. Sunny had brought a few of her Chinese friends with her and there were around ten interns. My new housemate Robert had ventured out in the mysterious realm that is Chinese breakfast and had bought some cracked boiled eggs that have been soaked in soy sauce, so it gives them an unusual appearance, however, they were pretty difficult to eat on the move!

Our coach was late to turn up, which meant we set off around 20 minutes late. On the high speed train, which costs around £10, it takes 40 minutes to arrive into Hangzhou, however, we were told that it could take around 2 hours by coach. As the interns themselves had not organized the trip, we had to go by coach. It is only 120 miles away from Shanghai. The coach driver got lost and it took us 5 hours to get to Hangzhou! Unimpressive was not even the word! We finally arrived in Hangzhou around 1.30pm.

Hangzhou is the capital city of Zhejiang province in China. Famous for its picturesque scenery and rich history, I had been recommended to visit by most of my colleagues, who consider Hangzhou as ‘Shanghai’s secret garden’. One of the main attractions is West Lake, which, since ancient times, has been associated with a large number of romantic poets, profound philosophers, national heroes and heroines. It is featured as the picture on a 1 Yuan note.

We all went for lunch together in a traditional Chinese restaurant where the food is shared from a big circular rotation wheel on the table.

Afterwards the group split into three, as we did not have so much time any more. One group went to visit a temple, one group decided to explore West Lake by foot and the third group included Robert, Holly and myself decided to explore West Lake on a boat! . Holly is from Alabama and is currently studying for her GMAT.  We hired a small gondola type boat with paddles and splashed about on the lake for a while, after, we explored some areas surrounding the lake too, where we saw young children feeding white doves. Later, whilst waiting for the rest of the group to return from the temple, we sat on the edge of the lake playing cards, drinking Ginger tea and watching the sun set. It was beautiful.

Following the return of the group, we visited Hefang Laojie street market. This is the old pedestrian street in Hangzhou, it has a variety of shops in the old fashioned Chinese style, selling paper cuttings, carvings, Chinese crafts and ornaments, with bonsai shops and traditional tea shops, it is a lovely atmosphere. There is also lots of street vendors selling foods such as caramel which is dropped onto a board in the shape of whichever animal chosen by the spinning of the board. One of the interns, Pavir, got a phoenix. 

 

After this, everyone was so tired, but we had all had such a good day. Luckily, it only took 3 hours to return home! #So-wish-I-had-taken-the-train!