A world of difference.

Kitessssssssssssssssss

Great minds

headphones gallore

Techno mo-ped

Mao Mao Mao Mao Mao

Thai

Shanghai little’uns

Standing on the deck of the Chin Jif ferry as we entered the Shanghai harbour, watching the cargo destined for ports and shop shelves all around the world we were greeted by a thick, gritty feeling air. An air which made the pours of your face ache. The air resembled the type you may experience when standing on one of the more pollution ridden platforms of the London Underground. The kind of air you can see and touch and that makes you want to shower and stop breathing in. Once we arrived in port we attempted to orientate ourselves away from the ques of people to find a cash point and to the nearest internet cafe, as we’d forgotten where we had booked the hostel. We kinda got lost, as you would in a place where no one stopped when you asked for directions and even the kind front of house staff ushered you away from their expensive looking buildings in a less than polite (bordering on man handling) manner, only adding to the hostile welcome and confusion. We found ourselves wondering through what seemed like demolition sites. They looked as though bombs had hit them and someone had tried to glue them back together. The jarring thing was that they were all thriving with people hanging up washing and kids playing. One of the buildings was surrounded by bamboo scaffolding and the ground floor was filled with rubble and rubbish, there was no sign of life. On the second floor however, was an old women who must of been in her late 80′s just sitting their, chilling, looking out of the window. This was the first smile we got and maybe one of only a handful on our short stay in Shanghai.

Great minds

The hostel was a haven of good food and friendly people who helped us plan what to do, and the next day we set out to the Electrics market. This place was amazing although it did have the potential of bringing our trip to a financial end. It was full of cheap, rip off and genuine, electrical goods. Probably everything that is made in China and ends up on our shelves was here, maybe not in the best condition or the correct brand but never the less it was at a more than tempting price. There were shelves upon shelves of speakers, stereos, televisions, watches etc etc. All of which were considered but quickly eradicated as possible souvenirs for traveling. The most eye opening thing however was when we got to the end of the market and decided to take a detour down some quite side street. It was like walking into another world. It was, what seemed to me to be a maze of slums with small streets and back alleys adding to the mass of confusion, with a back drop of some of the most affluent looking buildings you could imagine.

headphones gallore

Techno mo-ped

Along each side were market stall traders, some cooking and selling noodles, some selling veg and raw meat, and all with raw chickens hanging everywhere, mixed with dirt and spit of passers by. There were fish which were alive the first time we walked round but by the second they were nothing more than a bowl of de-oxygenated bloody water and upturned belly’s. Some people were selling rabbits in cages no bigger than themselves and terrapins in little pots. There were kids dancing to techno work out videos that were strapped to televisions on the back of mo-peds and the whole time you were being forced along by a mass of people and traffic. Angry men on bikes and even angrier men in cars honked and yelled there way through the single lane street which you kinda would of though might of been sectioned off from traffic on market day…. It wasn’t so much the market that was the mind fuck (as crazy as it was) but more the sudden jarring, juxtaposition in wealth and lifestyle. This prevailing poverty contrasted against the dizzying wealth was a recurring unease throughout the stay in Shanghai. It was something that became even more of an issue when the first bit of western news we had watched of the trip so far was commenting on how the western recession is thought to be strengthening China’s economic power, and, that within the next 5 to 10 years they predict the world economic strength (and thereon currency) to lie in the hands of China and the Yuan. This is a country that cant even distribute its wealth evenly enough to allow its people to have clean drinking water and that is so bad at managing society that they seem fit to impose an almost genocidal law that prevents parents from baring more than one child in the more developed areas… there is something really uneasy about the power China stand to gain and the methods in which they may begin to share with world……

Mao Mao Mao Mao Mao

Apart from that there were some areas of beauty in Shanghai, lots of interesting markets, pretty parks and the areas that were clean and well kept were quite impressive. In every park we found ourselves in there seemed to be a group of people ballroom dancing to live bands. There was one fascinating market that was full of old propaganda from the beginning of Mao’s reign. lots of little porcelain (china) dolls of himself in the same pose in different clothes and lots of old poster with his promise to bring the power back to the workers and make them “happy”… All in we were happy to see the back of Shanghai however and the less than welcoming people within it. After a night sleeper train we arrived in Hong Kong at 6am in the morning. We were greeted with the news of jade goody’s death being broadcasted on the televisions in the subway trains. Im not sure which i was more bewildered by, the fact that they had televisions on there subways or at just what people consider to be worthy for international news content?! However, the English sign posts and super friendly nature of Hong Kong was more than welcoming and we soon felt at home. You spend more time looking up in this city than straight ahead. Piles upon piles of neon lights everywhere and old advertisement on the outside of the 15th floor for ivory factory’s make for some interesting viewing. We visited Temple night market, Stanley market and some old fishing village and the unforgettable floating Jumbo Restaurant… One of the grandest ‘boats’ i’ve ever seen, draped in marble, silk and gold. We sampled much dimsum in Hong Kong, a local delacessy, which was found in an aray of eateries and were sorry to leave. We were greeted by a warm blanket of moist, humid air however on our arrival to Thailand and our loss was short lived as we began to plan our stay…

Thai

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