Sunday, January 29, 2012

Arriving in Shanghai

Shanghai is one of China’s most populated and developed cities.  Historically Shanghai has been one of the major port cities for foreigners to visit and do business.  Even today Shanghai is still the most favorable port for international business interests.  Also many travelers from all over the world come to Shanghai to see its famous skyline and witness how western culture has influenced it. 

Jess and I arrived at the Shanghai Hong Qiao Airport at midnight.  Since it was too late to use the subways, we had to take a taxi to our hostel (The Rock and Wood International Youth Hostel).  Immediately after exiting the airport a man came up to me telling me he was a taxi driver and wanted to know where I was going.  After telling him where I wanted to go he very quickly told me his price was two hundred Yuan.  I thought this was strange so I walked away from him and then he lowered his price to one hundred and fifty Yuan.  I still thought that his price was too high so we waited in the taxi line to try a different taxi.  I ended up only paying seventy Yuan for the taxi ride to the hostel.  I later learned that unlicensed taxi drivers try to take advantage of tourists at the airports.  After we paid for our room and dropped our bags off, we went out to see if there were any restaurants open at two in the morning so we could get something to eat.  After finding a restaurant and we ate some Kung Pao Chicken and then went back to our hostel to get some sleep. 

The next morning we were able to have a very nice American style breakfast and then set out to the subway station to head over to Reid and June’s apartment.  This was Jess’s first experience with subway systems.  We arrived at their apartment in the early afternoon and were welcomed by their Ai Yi (maid).  Then we waited for Reid and June to arrive home from work by going to a Carrefour Supermarket to walk around in.  That night we ate a delicious dinner that their Ai Yi had prepared for us, drank some wine and talked about China. 

We went to bed pretty early that evening because we were going to wake up early the next morning to do some sight-seeing.    

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