Day 7

Arriving in Shanghai, we checked into our hotel (the Shanghai hotel!) which was somewhat outside of the town. We then took a cab to the Bund, the strip of land running along the harbor. We arrived in time to catch the 7 p.m. harbor cruise. Buying tickets was not too difficult once we figured out where to do it (and that there was a boat leaving at 7). We were ushered upstairs to an air-conditioned room and served watermelon (a very popular item in China), beef jerky and cold coffee.

The boat ride, not very interesting in itself as the Wangpu River is pretty ugly, was my first introduction to two very persisten influences on Chinese life -- the Cultural Revolution and the one-child policy. In the first class lounge was a horrible band composed of five forty year olds playing the worst renditions of American standards. The trumpet player was the worst and it was nearly impossible to tell what was being played. There was really only one explanation that I could figure -- the musicians were older because they learned to play before the cultural revolution and the poor quality can be attributed to the lack of contact with the west. This is really just a guess but the old men-band music syndrome appeared several times during the trip.

s for the children, they are the most adorable, well-behaved things, with their big brown eyes and killer smiles. What's so interesting is the amount of attention heaped on them, the boys especially (and there seem to be many more boys than girls !?). They are never left alone. Fathers are always holding their sons, either in their arms or on the front of their bicycles. You really notice that everyone has just one child -- a couple with two really stands out. Further, they seem to be potty trained as soon as they can stand. Only the tiniest babies are suitably attired - in pants with slits down the middle! No diapers (too dirty) -- mom just cleans up afterwards.

Back to the boat, in the lower deck there was an acrobatics and magic show on the way back. We missed the first part but managed to catch the magic performed by an amusing (but hardly flashy) middle-aged man. And his assistant was far from the scantily clad young girl we're used to in the west. But the routine was a good one and the audience of children was as interesting as the show itself.

The advertised 3-1/2 hour cruise was only 2-1/2 hours but came with souvenir hankies and pins. Besides, 9:30 is still relatively late Chinese-time, where dinner is eaten at 5 and restaurants close by 8 (stores too). No nightlife at all -- after the cruise we popped our heads into the Peace Hotel jazz bar -- really dead, so back to the hotel we trotted and went to sleep (when in Rome ...)

written by  shoshtrvls on August 7, 1987 from Shanghai, China
from the travel blog: Around the World (1987)
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