J-term in Shanghai: Tanya Robbins’s entries

TANYA ROBBINS (fiction writing major) writes:
This morning started out at the French Concession section of Shanghai at a Starbucks (the most American thing we could have possibly done!). We went to a small village-like area called Xian Tian Di, or New Heaven. All the original buildings from Old Shanghai are still there and we got to look inside a few of them. They are very small and cramped and sometimes the owners of shops live directly behind them. We walked around and saw a lot of shops and different food markets as we walked to catch our bus to go to get some lunch.

We got fried pork dumplings, which were pretty tasty. Now, I'm not a fan of pork, so I mostly took out the pork, but I did give it a try first. The soupy juice inside of the fried dough was very good. After consumption, we went to the Urban Planning Museum and saw a mini replica of the city of Shanghai, at least what's in the inner circle, anyhow. I think at least three or four Manhattans could fit inside of Shanghai. It's huge! You could see where the older parts are because the buildings are shorter and cramped together as where in the newer parts there are many skyscrapers and architecturally unique buildings. After that, we went to meet up with the head of the biggest and most important architectural group in Shanghai.

How many people in the world can say that they have met the architect of the major buildings in Shanghai and the head architect of the 2010 Shanghai World's Fair? I can. Xiang Tonghe of Xian Dai Architecture is a very prestigious man who made us all feel very welcome today when we went to his business to hear a lecture on the concepts for the future of Shanghai and the World's Fair. We went into a board room with the fancy leather chairs and big rectangular table. We were served traditional Chinese candy, bananas, dragon's eyes, oranges, and water. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, but then again I don't really know what I was expecting, anyhow.

The theme for the 2010 World's Fair is "Better City, Better Life." It is going to run from May to October, which is about six months, and an expected total of 17 million people are expected to attend, roughly 400,000 per day. It is being held on either side of the Huangpu River, and that site was chosen because some students from all over the world gave proposals for it and it seemed like the best place to have it.

The expo is 5.28 square kilometers, and many of the old buildings that are in that area have been renovated to accommodate new facilities for the expo. Some buildings were demolished to make space and some new buildings have been designed as well, including new buildings for each country's portion of the expo. Some countries create their own concepts for design and some use buildings that have already been created.

Guess who has yet to submit their design for the fair? The United States, of course! Only about one third of the buildings from the fair will remain after it is over. The theme and China Pavilions, International Conference Center, and Art Performing Center are a few of the buildings that will stay. There are 1,800 seats in the Art Performing Center, and it is the hub for all art performances.

We learned also about some new skyscrapers that are going to be built in the future. A 492-meter-high one and a 580-meter one are just two of the many that Mr. Xiang showed us, along with a very interesting statistic. Apparently, before 1949, when communism was created, there were about only 100 houses with more than eight floors, and as of 2005, there were more than 10,034.

The weather has been a bit chilly and very cloudy. It was sprinkling a lot today and the woman who is basically our tour guide told us that it is much smoggier than usual.

The Chinese don't seem to use a lot of toilet paper, because there is barely any on the roll in our hotel room, and in the bathrooms there is very little if any at all. And mind you, in Shanghai there are two different types of toilets, the sitting, normal kind that we Westerners know, and then the kind where you simply squat over what looks like a urinal in the floor. I have yet to try to second option, and hope to avoid it as long as possible.

What I've really noticed about Shanghai, since we've been traveling a lot by foot and by bus, is that people will simply walk out in front of cars, and that also cars do not stop, almost ever. They would just as soon run you over than stop to let you cross the street. There are tons of bicycles and mopeds, and they don't stop, either, so you really have to watch what you are doing and where you are going at all times. The drivers here are crazy as well; they cut you off so often and drive really close to your vehicle. It gives a whole new expression to driving offensively and defensively. Here doing both are a must.

It is definitely a different experience being an American here in China. We get stared at constantly. People will stop walking or biking just to watch us walk by. It's like they've never seen white people or Americans before, like were from outer space or something, it's really awkward. I don't really understand it, I guess, and try to ignore it as much as possible.

For dinner we went to a hot-pot place, where there are two big vats of boiling soup in the center of the table and you get raw meat and vegetables to cook inside of them. Personally, I didn't really like anything that was ordered or the taste of the soup, but I really liked the concept of it. We all had a fun time eating and laughing and trying new foods and duck's blood and tarp.

We walked back from the restaurant to Motel 168 where I sit now, freezing at my computer and trying to figure out why the internet doesn't work. I think I'm going to go cuddle up in the nice hard bed with a blanket and read some of the book I brought with me. Goodnight.

Tanya Robbins is a junior in the fiction writing department.

TANYA ROBBINS (fiction writing major) writes:
This morning we woke up at 5:00 a.m. to go see the exercises in the park. It was mostly older men and women, doing dance and Tai Chi to music. It was really interesting to watch their form of exercise, as it’s so different from America. There were a ton of cats in the park, too, and a cat lady who was feeding them some type of block-like food. I can say that I successfully did use the squatting toilet today, and it's not as bad as I imagined. In fact, I used them twice. After the park we took a two-hour bus ride to Suzhou, a town much older than Shanghai, where many intellectuals studied.

The first stop we made was the New Suzhou Museum built by I. M. Pei. The design of the building, the shapes inside, the use of wood and other materials, are all traditional Chinese designs, but Pei transformed them to be more modern. In the center of the museum, outside is a lake with stone bridges going across it and a beautiful green and rocky landscape. There were some koi fish, but not as many as I expected. The exhibits were interesting, featuring old jade and bronzes, some scrolls, and other ancient Chinese artifacts. There was one that was a Ming study room where intellectuals during the Ming dynasty went to study and students went to learn. The museum is a lot smaller on the inside than it looks from the outside, and I think the architecture is the more intriguing part about it.

After, we went to a large garden where you could get lost for hours. It was beautiful and tranquil, and if it wasn’t so cold out, it would have been a nice place to sit and write, but it was freezing! There was a bonsai tree museum in the garden which was really neat to look at. All the trees were contorted and shaped and mingled together. Some of the trees in there were 100 years old.

We had lunch at a Muslim restaurant which was really good. I ate a lot of lamb, which isn’t my favorite thing, but there it wasn’t as tough as it usually is. There was also great rice and noodles, spicy chicken and potatoes, and bread that I could eat all day.

We went to a smaller garden after lunch that was quaint and serene. I climbed up on top of one of the rock caves and just sat there for a while looking around and thinking. It was really peaceful and the perfect place for Chinese intellectuals to go.

Then we went to the silk factory where we got to the see the process of making silk. The tour showed us how they clean the cocoons and wash the silk, and then stretch it to make quilts and other things. They explained to us that if there is one worm in a cocoon they can use the silk to make anything, but if there are two, making it a double cocoon, it can only be used to make quilts. We got to stretch some of the silk ourselves and feel how soft it is. Apparently, the silk is high in protein, so all the workers at the factory have really soft hands, and the only way to wash the silk is with shampoo like you could use on your hair, because that is also protein. After the tour we went into the silk shop where I bought a beautiful mauve long silk robe. I’ve wanted one for a long time, so I figured why not now. They are much less expensive in China than they are in the States anyhow, and getting it at the silk factory where they make it also ensures that I’m purchasing real silk.

The bus ride back to Shanghai took another two hours and we watched the sun set on the way. For dinner we went to a vegetarian restaurant attached to the Buddhist temple we had been to previously. We had won ton soup and some sort of coconut dessert which was pretty tasty. The Chinese idea of dessert, once again, is much different than in the States. After dinner we came back to Motel 168 where I’m typing this. But, I think it’s time for an early sleep. Tomorrow we’re going to school to talk with some students and later we get MASSSAGES! I can’t wait.

Tanya Robbins is a junior in the fiction writing department.

TANYA ROBBINS (fiction writing major) writes:
Tongji University is one of the biggest universities in China, and today we went to the main campus to meet with Chinese students. The girl I spoke with the most called herself Paris because she wants to study French in Paris and is studying French currently through the school.

The school is for arts and communication, and she is majoring in news, or journalism as we would call it in the States. Her English was very good and we had fun talking about everything about life in Shanghai, from favorite bands and movies to what we want to do when we graduate. It was a great experience to be able to speak with someone one on one who is so culturally different from me. She was fascinating and we exchanged email addresses and hope to keep in contact. She wants me to send her some of my writing, and she is going to send me some of the articles that she’s written for the school newspaper. We had lunch with all the students, and she told me that apparently I can use chopsticks very well. (I was under the impression that I was not so great, so that was good to know.)

It was sad to leave, as I was having so much fun talking with her and getting to know both her and more about Shanghai from a Shanghainese person. After that, we left there and went to an animation studio.

Radiance is an animation studio that mainly puts out internet games, and they showed us the three main ones they are working on now, one of which is about volleyball, and they have spent a lot time working on how to get the women’s breasts to look just right. I’m not really a gamer so this wasn’t my forte, but it was rather interesting to find out all the work that goes into making a video game. The guy who runs the place, however, seemed a little sexist to me, saying that guys like to blow things up and women like to solve puzzles, which is why there aren’t many video games for women. I know that I certainly like to blow things up every once and a while. Overall, it was an interesting experience.

Then we finally went for massages! The massage hurt so badly in some parts, but felt phenomenal at the same time. They pressed so hard in all the sensitive spots, but they got out all the knots in my body, which definitely needed to be done. Now, when I got in there I was under the impression that we were getting shoulder and back massages, but it ended up being full body. I was definitely not complaining. This is the first professional massage I have ever had and boy was it good ... and not horribly expensive as this would be back home. However, right now I can feel the bruises forming along my shoulder blades. But it was so worth it.

After this we went to a giant DVD store called “Even Better Than Movie World” (Movie World is across the street from this store). They have really cheap DVDs and box sets of every TV show imaginable, but I decided not to get anything. I’m not a huge fan of watching movies, but it was still cool to see all the different box sets of things that I never knew were on DVD.

We had dinner at an Indian restaurant with Xing Yu and some of her friends and it was very tasty. I’ve never been to a specifically designated Indian restaurant before, so it was quite the experience. They had a drink called Mango Lichee, or something like that, which was really good and the perfect thing at the time. We had a variety of food, most of which was mildly spicy, just what I like. I took a cab home after that and now it’s time for bed.

We have a long day tomorrow. We're going to different museums and then to hear some Bandu music and then to a hip-hop club. Goodnight.

Tanya Robbins is a junior in the fiction writing department.