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| The Shanghai Pearl Tower shrouded in clouds |
My second day in Shanghai could be summarized in one small phrase, “a teachable moment”, a term that has gained traction as one of the most cliché sayings in America. My first lesson was that not all rain is created equally! In Seattle rain is like a drip hose where it’s a slow trickle over time, whereas here in Shanghai the rain is like a giant tropical waterfall pouring down from the heavens with a thunder and lightning show to go with it!
I woke up looked down from my cozy room on the 21st
floor and saw a wave of colorful umbrellas moving through the streets. Obviously
I knew it was raining and raining rather hard, but after all I’m from Seattle,
where rain is what we’re all about. I wasn’t going to let a few raindrops get
in my way. But this cavalier, can do
attitude was quickly washed away when I got out into the conditions! The rain
was relentless, coming in all different directions and making my time out in
the city miserable. So, after about 10 minutes of being soaked from head to
toe, I threw in the towel and headed back to my room. Eventually after about an
hour or two I could see the umbrellas starting to thin out. Not knowing how
long this window would last I figured I better move quickly and continue my day
before the rains made a return.
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| The Bund |
The first thing I did was head down to The Bund, a walkway
along the Huangpu River. It was fascinating to watch the giant
tankers pass by small little boats that looked barely fit enough to float in a bathtub.
From The Bund I walked a couple blocks uptown and bought a ticket on the “hop
on, hop off” double decker bus. Since Pudong (the financial district) is on one
side of the river and the rest of the city on the other side I’d have to get
off after only a few minutes and take a ferry to the other side of the river.
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| Old Shanghai |
The couple kept engaging me in conversation and showed me around the old part of the city. The contrast between Pudong (the financial district) and the old part was vast. The new part was nicely manicured, clean streets and laid out very nicely, whereas the old part was gritty, filthy, squalid and reminded me of India and some other Southern Asian nations I’d visited like Malaysia and Thailand. One thing that really stood out to me was the telephone and electric wires all wrapped up in extreme knots, one on top of the other as if someone just put them together so to assure a raging fire. As we toured the old part of town the man told me everything about Chinese history and gave me a very brief tutorial on Chinese numbers. I had heard about the number 8 being lucky, but it sounds as if it holds a much deeper meaning than that! For example, when Beijing held the Olympic games, the opening ceremonies were on 8-8-08 at 8:08 in the evening.
He then told me about the number 11 and how it is connected
with love and commitment. When men send flowers to women they send 11 flowers
to show they want to be with them forever. One of the most awkward moments of
our tour was when he told me to look over at one of the many clothing stalls in
the city. He said “see, ladies underwear…….very sexy being sold in old part
Shanghai”. I really did not understand what that had to do with anything but
whatever…………
Eventually we ended up at a rather small, old and tawdry
looking two-story building in a back alley. They told me they wanted me to take
part in a tea ceremony. Never one to want to miss a cultural experience I
figured this would be interesting and agreed to do it. We sat down at a small
table and a girl dressed in traditional Chinese clothes explained in Mandarin
all about the different teas and their meanings and effects on the body. One
was supposed to help with weight loss, another helped with memory, etc., etc.
It was interesting to try all the different teas, but there
was something suspicious about this couple. They seemed too nice and too
interested in me. The woman even complimented me about my skin saying that I
must “drink a lot of milk” because my skin was so white. Eventually after about
ten tea shots and an hours worth of discussing the different teas I said I had
had enough and that I really needed to go back to my hotel. They agreed and
then gave me a bill!!! WHOA I thought, a bill? I thought this was just sampling
tea. I could see paying maybe $10 or about 60 some yuan but 400 yuan or $61…..WTF???
That was hideous, outrageous, etc.!! I was so tired and so emotionally and
mentally drained that I grudgingly paid the price knowing I had no other
choice. In hindsight I should’ve haggled them down but likely would not have
done much good. Eventually we parted ways and it occurred to me I had been
scammed.
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| Tea festival |
I stewed about whether I’d been
scammed or not and even discussed it with my mom who was certain this is what
it was. I am always one to believe people have good intentions, so I wasn’t
entirely sure on this one even though it was pretty obvious. Just before I
wrote this latest article I googled the words “Shanghai tea ceremony scam” and
came up with dozens of hits. One in particular summarized my experience
exactly: If "friendly young Chinese
students" ask you to take their photo, then take yours, and indulge in
earnest chatting, expect this to lead to an invitation to something like a
"tea festival". At the end you will be faced with a bill of hundreds
to thousands of RMB. Although you will probably be able to "haggle"
this down, it will still end up as a complete rip off. As you are in
"their territory", there is little you can do at this stage other
than pay up and get out.”
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| Shanghai skyline |
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