Tuesday 5th September. Shanghai. 25-36°C. Sunny and Hot.

Everything in China is big. Big numbers (population 1.6 billion), Big cities (Shanghai 24.15 million), Big construction (I have never seen so much building activity), Big highways, Big flavours.

With quantity comes efficiency. (In the middle of the night I thought of the words that describes this, but in the light of day this morning, I have no recollection of the phrase. Do you ever have that issue? Where you wake in the night and everything comes to you with clarity and purpose, but in the morning you remember nothing? At home I have a pad of paper beside the bed or sometimes email myself in the middle of the night. Feel free to help me try to remember the phrase!)

China’s ‘bigness’ seems to help things happen easily and quickly. Entire buildings go up in a matter of weeks,  trains run every two minutes in every direction.  There are so many people that labour is cheap, so manufacturing is therefore cheap. Most people live in high rise buildings, so the cities are relatively compact, meaning you can get around quickly. High speed trains traversing the country depart regularly and are good value. Multi-lane highways and ‘elevated roads’ crisscross both the cities and the countryside.

The government owns most things in China. There a numerous banks, all state owned. There were 17 ferries lined up last night, of various styles and quality, to take tourists on Huangpu River tours. All were government run. All charged the same price.

We had China described to us this week as a ‘Communist Government, but capitalist economy.’ The shopping mall beside this hotel with its international upmarket brands, full of well-dressed obviously affluent families is evidence of this.  The extremes seem to me to be more evident than in many countries I have visited. Back lane apartments in each Chinese city we have visited house multiple families per room, with many earning less than $1 US per day. Communism, (just like democracy) seems to me to be full of juxtapositions. It has both its advantages and disadvantages. Its definitely big, but not necessarily better. Best? I’m yet to visit anywhere in the world that nails it!

Bike sharing is an example of something I think the Chinese do really well. There are numerous companies (subsided and controlled by the government) who run bike-sharing enterprises. There are literally hundreds of bikes in every street ready to be hired. They use a simple App to scan, unlock and pay for the use of a bike. At around A$1 per month this is super popular. BTW: Everyone seems to have smart phone. The advantages of this bike sharing are:

• Less vehicles/less pollution
• Improved health from exercise
• Government knows where you are (they are tracked via GPS)

Yesterday afternoon, after we rested, we went for a walk along the Huangpu riverside, then took a taxi to the other side of the river to board an evening river cruise. Note: we walked past this restaurant where the chefs were multitasking, in full uniform, helping to repair an electrical sign!

The cruise went for 50 minutes. The lights of Shanghai are simply amazing!

It was past 8pm when we got back to the hotel. The shopping centre houses numerous restaurants – tonight we choose Japanese!

It was well after 9pm when we got back to the room. Big day! My fit-bit says we walked 20K+ steps! Not a bad effort 😉

Today, by comparison, has been pretty quiet. A little shopping (but didn’t buy much), a massage for Dave and then we acted like true capitalists and enjoyed an overpriced lunch at the TWG teahouse. Dave had Zulu Breakfast tea with date scones, I had a set menu of mushroom soup, seafood spaghetti and then a fruit tart, with Assam Highlands black tea. There was hundreds of teas to choose from – seven pages full in fact!

We are now waiting at the hotel to head to the airport. Our taxi is booked for 4pm.

Catchya in Aus  🙂