J-term in Shanghai: Catherine Rigod’s entries

CATHERINE RIGOD (journalism major) writes:
First off, let me begin by explaining that in Shanghai the person-per-pavement ratio is pretty unbalanced. The city streets are filled with cars, trucks, vans, mopeds, bicycles, small animals ... and let’s not forget people. And if there was a pecking order to all this chaos, the king of the urban jungle would have to be the bicycle.

While Shanghai has definitely acknowledged its dense population by creating separate bike lanes to be shared by mopeds and bicycles alike, maneuvering through this city has never felt more like a video game to me than now. So it’s no surprise that in the reality version of a game on the Nintendo Wii system my number-one arch nemesis has got to be the bicycle.

I myself am a cyclist back home and I have a lot of friends who are even working as bike messengers, so you would think that I would be really excited to see all the cyclists working and getting around Shanghai. However, in reality here, I'm more inclined to see them as a possible cause of an early death than to rally them on in some sort of international sports camaraderie.

If I could cash in the number of times that I have almost been taken out here by a bicycle I might just run out and buy a villa. Cyclists in Shanghai apparently have places to be that are more important than the rest of us, because their bicycles just don’t stop. Period. They don’t yield to pedestrians, obey traffic lights, or back down when a truck is coming full-speed toward them. Now, the bikes here aren’t terribly fast, and I’ve seen one road bike in the entire time I’ve been here. The majority of bikes are old rusty cruisers or mountain bikes whose riders seem to never switch gears or raise their seats to their correct heights.

But bikes here are not a luxury item; they’re not for a weekend hobby and not for the kids to have fun and joy ride around the block with. Bikes here are a mode of transportation, and like it or not in China, they’re going to be around en mass. And when it gets down to it, that’s fine with me. I just wish I could stop and appreciate it all instead of having to play a game of personal Frogger every day.

Catherine Rigod is a senior in the journalism department.

CATHERINE RIGOD (journalism) writes:
In Shanghai, one of the most interesting ways to get around the city is to travel by taxi. There are taxi stands strategically placed near intersections, hotels, and places of interest, and with one push of a button, cabs are supposed to respond to the call.

However, that would be in an ideal situation, and everyone knows that things never work like they’re supposed to. Cabs are incredibly cheap in Shanghai, starting between 11 and 14 RMB per fare (or about two dollars)—just as long as you can get one. Today it took us approximately 40 minutes to get a cabbie to pick us up. Demand outweighs supply here in Shanghai, leaving people lining up on the side of roadways just trying to get somewhere.

The general practice is as soon as a taxi pulls over to drop off a passenger you must immediately enter the cab before they finish paying in order to claim the ride. If you don’t act quickly, someone else will.

There are also other cabs available where you negotiate an agreed upon fare, but being that these taxis aren’t exactly legit, it’s a little risky to hope that you will actually get to your destination. I remember using these underground cabs in London, but since I have such a huge language barrier here in China, I think I better learn some patience and simply stick to the real cabbies for now.

Catherine Rigod is a senior in journalism.

CATHERINE RIGOD (journalism) writes:
Tonight a group of us decided to go check out a local hangout, and we tried to experience a more mellow evening on the town (since the night before we had gone out to a club called the Paramount and stayed out until the wee hours dancing).

So, we went off to what we were told was the only dive bar in Shanghai, called Time Passage.

Time Passage is a cool little hole-in-the-wall located off a side street, Huashan Lu, in the French Concession district of Shanghai. As the night drew on, more and more people crammed into the little joint and things clearly pointed to the fact that this place was an ex-pat favorite.

At the bar, a group of us had the Chinese/European version of Western fare, consisting of hamburgers and chicken fingers served with steins of beer. The all-Chinese house band soon went on and began playing their best English versions of everything from Bob Marley to The Eagles.

Everyone in the bar was enjoying the entertainment until a guy from Long Beach, California decided to take a stab at singing for the crowd. He was a pretty large guy with a beanie and dreads, and when he started to make attempts to channel the band Sublime, it was an experience that could’ve been forgotten. And we weren't the only ones who felt that way. A group of guys sitting next to us who lived in Shanghai but hailed from such places as England, Germany, and Oregon, decided that it was time for the singer to step off the stage by booing him.

“What, you’re going to boo me, I’m from Long Beach m*$!*r f&%$*r !!,” said the singer to the rowdy crowd. “I don’t see you up on the stage. I’m from Long Beach!”

A few more words were exchanged and the singer eventually left the stage. The table of non-fans leaned over to us and explained that in Shanghai where you’re from has nothing to do with where you are.

Historically, Shanghai has been known as a city with an open-door policy, letting immigrants and refugees enter its gates for a better chance at a life free of persecution. With this idea of community comes a melting pot unique to the area, where cultures mix and where the country you were born in is simply a place on a map.

In fact, the ex-pat community is so large in Shanghai it's quite common to see Europeans who speak Mandarin better than they do English. And while many Westerners do come to Shanghai to teach English, some take up residency with local companies in order to gain a better life.

Our tour guide, Xhingyu Chen, explained that in Shanghai you might get a lower salary than in the States, but your money will go much further. Cheaper housing, food, and transportation, combined with a cosmopolitan way of life has made Shanghai a hotbed of Western traffic today, just as it might have been before the Revolution.

At the end of the night at Time Passage the singer eventually sat down with the booing table and made peace. I suppose that’s what it’s all about here: different nationalities coming together to form one community. It almost sounds idealistic, and believe me there are many problems here in Shanghai, but at least in this bar, segregation by nationalism isn’t one of them.

Catherine Rigod is a senior in journalism.