Sipping on whiskey

Today is the day that Leonard Cohen died.
Team Canada is more upset about this than Team Rest of The World.

It is very warm here, almost too warm for jeans. I did check the general forecast before I left but didn't bargain on bright ass sun for the majority of the trip.

Shanghai is a lot more "western" than the rest of China. We're not photographed near as much here. Not a complaint, simply an observation we all made.

Team Canada ventured to People's Park to experience the Marriage Market.
The Marriage Market is where parents of unmarried young adults - those 25 year old spinsters - gather to find spouses for their children.

There are literally thousands of people here.

All of them are serious about finding a suitor.

We are the only white folk so we stand out.
They don't like you taking pictures so we had to get creative.

 

 For example, this is not a picture of umbrellas with marriage resumes on them. Nope. It is a picture of Sonya and a really nifty pink metal sculpture.

On each umbrella is a resume listing the ancient spinster's age, date of birth, education, occupation, Chinese zodiac sign, height, family values, and contact information. Some of them have pictures.

There are literally hundreds of these, possibly a thousand or more. It's amazing. The parents walk around and meet with other parents and see if their aged and decrepit children in their early-mid 20s will be matches.

We returned to the group for a walk along the Bund River with views of downtown Shanghai.

Downtown Shanghai is not older than me, which is very strange. All the buildings are very modern.

The building that looks like a beer bottle opener is a big Fuck You from the Japanese who designed it. When the sun rises, it comes up exactly in the middle of the rectangle, creating the Japanese flag. Apparently rivalries are a big deal in the far east.

There is a building deigned to look just like the Empire State Building in NYC.

I can see it.

Next: Trains and regret.

Don't talk to the weirdo

We arrive at the train station and are greeted by a "weirdo", as Harold put it.
He was very animated and insistent on talking to the white people though Howard was having none of it. "Don't talk to the weirdo, get your bags let's go!!"

We overnight trained to Shanghai.
Arriving mid-morning was something spectacular. The sky was blue, the buildings were magnificent and the taxi-drivers were abusive.
Team Canada got into a cab and Quebec handed the driver (who had already spoken with Howard) a piece of paper with the hotel address on it. He wouldn't take it. She pointed to the meter to indicate we would pay by meter and he slapped her hand away. Okay then.

The cab took a turn into a sketchy neighbourhood and we thought we'd been taken for a ride because of Quebec's actions. We're talking plastic sheeting over bamboo scaffolding on unfinished buildings, in what looks like an outskirts of downtown businessy kind of place. High rise office buildings, car parks, nothing to indicate anything touristy. We pull into a high rise office building and stay in the cab because of the whole "not speaking the language" thing in case we were in the wrong spot. Nothing about this seems right. We're about to use precious mobile data to call Howard when another team pulled up behind us, and another.  Okay. Apparently we're staying in an office building.
We learn it is not uncommon for companies to have hotels attached to their office buildings which tells me a lot about the work ethic. We also learn a lot about how much companies care for their employees via a sign in the lobby:

A kind rating.

We spend the day shopping on Nanjing Road. There are several major brands here and a LOT of people. We make our way to the Pearl Market, which is inside a building and full of shops with little more than pearls. Every shop has many of the same things but I managed to find one unique ring for Mom. They will even custom make you things but I opted to go with what I had. Everything is negotiable here and we spent a little money on a lot of product.

James got in on it too.

We spent the rest of the day walking around and enjoying Shanghai. We were photographed a lot less and there were more white people.

Next: Shanghai Day Two!