Day 8

Well, the place the CITS person indicated on the map was not the right office and despite the attempts to several well meaning Chinese, we got quite lost and ended up wandering through the French Concession and the old city. It was fascinating! People selling eels in the middle of the street, tying pigeons onto bicycles to take home for dinner – an entirely different world impossible to describe. And so many things I didn’t understand – men with what appeared to be dried snakes and fluffy things – fortune-telling of some kind? Even the main road was interesting with the thousands of bicyclists carrying just about everything on back.

Finally, we found the ticket office – an unmarked building, bike park below, tickets upstairs. With a little ingenuity and some help from a native or two, we were finally able to buy tickets for the following day. On the way back, Barbara decided to stop at a streetside shoe repair and have heels put on her shoes. By the time the shoemaker had finished, a small crowd had developed, with each person giving the shoemaker different advice.

From there we decided to walk to Shanghai Mansions and catch the view from atop (highly rated by lonely Planet). Along the way, we discovered the Friendship Store, China’s version of the Berioska. I bought one piece of jade, some ducks and bookmarks, while Barbara agonized over a large carpet (which she later bought).

Finally we made it to the mansions and yes, the view was marvelous, although a bit overcast. Then we grabbed a cab to the vicinity of the Park Hotel where the acrobatics dome was located. However, despite all our best efforts (and attempted bribes) we were unable to buy tickets, having been told that all shows were sold out for the next two weeks. (Highly unlikely, but other westerners were being told the same thing). Forced to accept defeat, we wandered back to the Park Hotel, stopping in music and department stores along the way. We also caught a glimpse of the Chinese version of three-card monte using bowls and balls (like the famous magic trick). While Barbara rested at the Park Hotel, I wandered around People’s Park – nothing special, but a nice walk around. Then it was back to the Friendship store so Barbara could buy her rug (I think) and the hotel.

For dinner we went to the Jinjang Hotel in the outer French Concession – obviously the nicer part of town. The meal was great (I mean, really good) and throughout we flirted with four men at the next table. They weren’t particularly attractive but interesting looking, and speaking a language neither Barbara nor I could place. Finally, when they were done with their meal they came over – Portuguese engineers from Macau. How boring! They invited us to meet them at the Peace Hotel Jazz Bar later that evening but having seen what a hopping place it was the night before, we declined. Instead, we walked around the hotel grounds a bit, eventually ending up in the hotel bar where, who should we meet but the four Portuguese. We joined them for a few drinks and they were really quite nice. We discussed the state of China politics and received much helpful advice on traveling through Portugal and Morocco. We were even invited to look them up if ever in Macau. All in all, a nice evening.

written by  shoshtrvls on August 8, 1987 from Shanghai, China
from the travel blog: Around the World (1987)
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