Final Daze

Oh, and as if that wasn't enough then there are zeppelins with giant video screens on their sides floating above it all...

As you can see, the slightly unreal feeling from my day 1 entry remains - as do the flashbacks to Bladerunner. I always (naively) thought that seen five or six huge Asian cities and the rest would have much the same atmosphere... But they do all seem to have their own vibe. And the vibe here, more than any other Asian city so far, is: party on! Maybe it's in part due to arriving in the middle of the biggest Chinese festival, but I suspect this city maintains its cosmopolitan hip vibe and laid back attitude all year round. Hmm, must investigate this when I return in April.

Another nice surprise has been the easy-going friendliness of the people. I must say my memories of 1,5 weeks in Beijing three years ago led to me believe the Chinese were a bit more dour and glum - and prone to spontaneous and extremely loud shouting matches in the middle of the street. But here they seem a different race (and possibly are a different race?).

Little old ladies dancing by themselves in the park (it's the done thing here in some parks) will prance up and start practicing their English, as will little old ladies walking dogs (whome I show pictures of my sister's dog's puppies) and little young ladies cruising the Bund. One retired English teacher today was interested to find out I was Finnish and surprisingly even knew quite a lot about the country. He said he calls it "women's country" since the president is a woman and more than 50% of people with higher university degrees are women. Good work fellow Finnish country(wo)men!

I think I've had more street-talk out of the people of Shanghai in the last four days than I ever got in those ten days in Beijing!

Well tomorrow I head for Hangzhou, which should be a famous beauty spot. My flight on Friday leaves from there, so off I go towards new adventures. But I'm glad I get a chance to return to Shanghai on my way home and see the city in the Spring, when it should be at its most charming.

And here is your Chinese lesson number one: