This is China

This is China.

On Sunday night I turned a corner blinded by the scaffolding of an ongoing construction project when I was startled to see a car taking the same corner in the opposite direction on the broad sidewalk. I moved; the car was bigger than me. Apparently negotiating pedestrians on the sidewalk is easier than negotiating the traffic on the road.

While at the Bund yesterday a few middle-aged ladies approached Megan and asked to have their photo take with her. They told her she is beautiful. Their clothes were simple and plain. They seemed to be tourists from a distant western province who were visiting Shanghai during the Spring Festival. They probably hadn’t seen blonde hair before. Megan posed for three pictures with the women. We leave quickly after that as to not attract a crowd.

While riding around Shanghai our bus slides in and out of traffic, through the pillars that hold up the elevated highways above us and around the walls that outline ongoing construction projects. We are on the basement level of a city growing upwards around us. We take the ramp onto the highway and more is visible. Like the cars in the Jetson’s we soar in the midst of the skyscrapers, not below them.

At the Sichuan restaurant we sit around the table and turn the lazy Susan to observe each dish that has been served. The colors, smells, and tastes are foreign. We discuss what we might be eating: duck?, pork?, tofu?, probably all of the above. Our guide stops by the table and confirms or denies our hypotheses. Each time I look down to eat what is currently on my plate a new dish appears on the table by the time I look up. A new topic of debate. Orange slices, something we can all confidently identify, signify the end of the meal.

We are walking down the West Nanjing Road Commercial Area. “This is the most upscale shopping area of all Shanghai,” our guide says. Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci stores are all around us. Our guide darts between two such stores and within 20 meters we are in a different city at a different time. “This is how common Shanghaiese people live.” Three storey buildings line narrow alleys with clothes drying on lines out of windows. Neighbors sit in doorways and chat, one woman helps another with laundry. The alley dead ends. We turn around and return to modern Shanghai.

The host of the Shanghai acrobat show steps onto the stage in a wedding dress. “No one will ever forget the story of Rose and Jack” she recites but doesn’t understand. Megan is convinced she said “…the story of Russ and Jackie.” Two acrobats emerge and swing around a curtain hanging from the ceiling to the theme of Titanic. They swing over the crowd like a 3D movie entering the movie theater. I actually could have reached out and touched them from our front row seat. I will never forget the story of Russ and Jackie.

This is China.

And we’ve only been here 3 days.