Community Outreach

On Saturday I went with other volunteers to a migrant school on the outskirts of the city to do some community outreach work by painting a classroom with the primary school kids. The kids were so excited and some could speak a little bit of English. We sat with them in their classroom and had grapes and watermelon. Some of the kids were studying me quizzically then one little girl spoke to me in chinese and I said ‘I don’t understand’ and then I got asked by another little girl if “Are you Chinese?” in English. It was very cute. They also performed a little concert - playing harmonicas for us and singing and doing the actions to some songs.

We met with the principal who gave us a tour around the school which included seeing the playground, library and cookery and craft rooms. We were told that the migrant kids were sons and daughters of migrants who moved to Shanghai for work like construction, or in a restaurant or as ayis (maids) and one of the purposes of the craft rooms was to offer children who may have lost interest in formal education from moving around so much, a different way to learn a skill and engage in the learning process which is a very innovative form of education in China. We looked at some woodwork models of the Langpu bridge, which was the main bridge that enters the city for the world expo last year, that were made by Grade 5 students and the craftmanship was extremely impressive - I doubt even I could make a model that scale with so much detail! The principal also explained aside from formal education, the school programme puts emphasis on teaching life skills and self-confidence.

The children helped create murals and drawings on the walls and helped us paint the scenes which included an orchard with apple trees, flowers, bird and butterflies, sanrio cartoon characters and characters planting seeds in a garden and we all had lots of fun! Going outside of the main city and seeing a  small suburban neighbourhood people live in shows a very different way of life to the glittering big city life we live.

As for my time in city, I managed to get to see before it closes this week the JonOne (a New York graffiti artist) solo exhibition at Bund 18 gallery. Unfortunately the main installation piece was shipped to another country as it is nearing the end of the exhibit but it was very inspiring to see his paintings of tag signs and works inspired by chinese characters which he created after visiting Shanghai.
Shanghai has an extremely vibrant art scene and I like that artwork transcends any language barriers. As you blog readers will know I have an avid interest in street art and have learned that sadly one of the most anticipated sights I wanted to see the Moganshu Lu graffiti wall is being torn down to make way for property development. There is another famous graffiti art spot at Rucker Park which I hope I will have time to get to before the end of my trip.

I have tried a very different type of Chinese cuisine from a place called Xibo which specialises in Xinjiang cuisine which is very different from the usual ‘Chinese’ fare. I learned that traditionally cooked roast mutton from the region is as famous as Beijing duck.  Although I have had many Chinese cuisines within my time in Singapore and Malaysia I have never had this one before. Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Afganistan, Pakistan and India and incorporates the ‘Silk Road’ so the food is a bit more close to Arabian style with lots of hot spice and flavour. I had fried cumin seasoned lamb with onion, green and red bell peppers, garlic served with uygur bread (a flat bread similar to naan) and vegetable pancakes with kale and cowpeas.  It was extremely delicious.


Acrobatics and Art

I have had another exciting week in Shanghai and this week also marks the fact that I will have been in China for 1 month. Though it’s a complete contradiction,  it feels like it has gone both slowly and fast. I think because I have done so much it feels like I have been here a lot longer.

Tonight I went to the Shanghai Centre so to a Chinese acrobatic show. It was really interesting and showcased many different forms of acrobatics and entertainment from circus acrobatics to magic to ‘Cirque du Soleil’ style acrobatics. It was simple yet very impressive, especially the agility and skill that goes into the performance. It was a very enjoyable evening and makes me want to see more theatre here.

After already having seen the ‘Pixar: 25 Years of Animation’ exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) which was of course an international exhibit,  I also had the opportunity to go to the opening of ‘Huang Yao: Cartoonist, Scholar, Painter 1917-1987’ at the Shanghai Art Museum.

Hosted by The Huang Yao Foundation, the exhibition is a retrospective of his varied work. He started as a journalist at the Shanghai Post and is considered an important artist from 1930‘s period. In the earlier half of his career he was an innovative cartoonist created a famous Niubizi Chinese cartoon character which went on to be published in Malay. His cartoons range from children’s cartoons to comical to revolutionary political protest.

I was very intrigued by this exhibition on a personal level considering my heritage and find it fascinating learning about the context and relationship of place and time in Asian art.
In the middle period of his career, Huang Yao travelled all around Asia including to Kunming, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok an spent much of his later life in Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Alor Setar. He helped shape many educational policies in Malaysia including libraries and adult education and wrote the book ‘The History of Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore.’ Later in life Huang Yao produced more paintings with a less politically charged edge than his earlier work including scenes of children. He was once quoted as believing that “art is our common source of happiness” and I couldn’t agree more.

Both museums are located in People’s Park which an extremely nice serene respite from the bustle and buildings of the city. There are many gardens and tree and pretty lotus ponds and people sit around playing mahjong and little kids run round and play.

oolong tea and tea snacks

Also this past weekend after collecting my fabulous dress from the fabric market (which fitted and looked even nicer than expected!) I went to famous Huxinting tea house in old town located in the middle of the lake pavilion at Yuyuan Gardens. I had the oolong tea and also ordered tea snacks - fermented quail’s eggs, green tea jelly sweet things, some kind of dried fruit, fried bean curd (tofu) which were interesting and of course very different to the usual type of things we have for tea in England (I had been expecting sweet rather than savory foods!)

Aside from the tea snacks, I have also continued with my culinary exploration and tried out different regions. I had Yunnan food at Lapis Yun at Mall 88 on West Nanjing Road where I sampled black pineapple rice, chicken curry, spring rolls and Yunnan noodles which was very nice and different from other Chinese food I have eaten before. Also had really nice Sichuan food from a place called Pinchuan - had the beef meatball soup and green beans with chilli which was very spicy and hot which I liked very much. And finally went for dinner at Crystal Jade and had crisp pork served with mustard, green beans, chilli and mincemeat, lemon chicken, duck pancakes - all food which I missed very much from eating it in Singapore so really enjoyed it!

Being British i have to discuss the weather - which is still very extreme! Scorchingly hot one minute then pouring down with rivers of rain and thunderstorms the next! Last night there was a lot of lightning which was kinda of freaky. Actually the type of temperature after it has rained (but isn’t pouring down on you) is probably the best time to be out walking about as it is relatively cool.

xoxo

Old and Ancient Shanghai

So at end of last week we were all bracing ourselves for super typhoon muifa, one of the most powerful to hit china in recent years and were told to stay inside and keep doors and windows shut. However in Shanghai ultimately the weather warning got downgraded to tropical storm and aside from some showers and thunder storms it was okay weather.

However, the sound of thunder here reminds me of the type of storms you imagine when reading horror novels (Stephen King’s The Stand springs to mind), the classic foley artist go-to thunder sound effect but amped up mega loud. Then you get the sporadic flashes of lightning and the fat droplets of rain. It always starts out as a light shower at first then within the next few minutes you know the rain means business.

This past weekend it was the Qixi festival which commonly dubbed as Chinese Valentine’s Day. Legend states that a celestial weaver girl escaped from heaven and was noticed by a cowboy herding his cattle and they both fell in love, got married and had two children. The girl’s goddess mother was very angry that her daughter had married a mortal so created a river in the sky to separate the pair, which we now know as as the star constellation known as  ‘the milky way’. On the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, millions of stellar magpies form a bridge across the milky way so the girl and her cowboy lover can be reunited again. It is said if it rains on the day of the festival (which it did) it is the lovers tears falling because of their sorrow of being parted. It was really cute seeing couples wearing matching tee shirts (a lot of shops sell t shirt in sets for couple here and you can even buy matching shirts for the whole family!)

Old Shanghai

I spent my weekend doing some shopping. At People’s Square, one of the exit comes out through a tunnel described as a ‘time machine’ decorated with brownstone and old shop fronts to recreate downtown ‘Old Shanghai’ of the 1930’s. The street is based on the French style Xiafei Road with some British and Japanese constructions complete with red glowing lanterns, sunny clear blue skies painted on the ceiling and those plastic cutouts of people like the ones you sometimes see at museum exhibits - very touristy but fun. You can also take your picture with a trolley bus under a neon sign that says ‘Shanghai 1930’s traditional street.’ This leads you into the Hong Kong shopping centre, the style of mall similar to some outlets in some of the malls in Singapore and Malaysia (and hong Kong of course) with little boutiques and stalls and a really nice bubble tea stall where I can indulge in my favourite milk pearl tea. Aside from dresses, clothing and accessories there are also a few shops of cartoon characters  (benko? astro boy?) and general gift stores in the vast mall. The food courts here are different than other parts of asia I have been to as you have to purchase coupons in a machine before going to whichever place you want to eat. I also went to the fabric market and got a dress made to measure and West Nanjing Road which is a more westernised shopping area where you can find most western brand stores.

Yuyuan Gardens

I started off this week on a very fun and informative tour of Yuayan Gardens which is in the old city next to Yuyuan bazaar which is basically tourist central and the buildings maintain the exterior look of ancient chinese architecture, how the market square would have looked in imperial times (you have to imagine it without the McDonalds, Dairy Queen and Starbucks). I learnt all about Chinese garden design and Taoism and my own personal Taoist protector which correlates with my Chinese birth year and sign (Year of the pig). I even enjoyed it in the searing hot and humid heat which has started up again this week after it had cooled some when typhoon muifa was looming.

For the second time i had the most delicious amazing dumplings at place called Din Tai Fung which is a Taiwanese chain and has several branches in Shanghai and throughout South East Asia and one in Los Angeles. I went to the one in Xintiandi in the French Concession. I cannot rave enough about these dumplings - the dumplings are steamed have have soup inside and we ate loads and I also tried a hairy crab meat dumpling, as Shanghainese cuisine is famous for hairy crab it had to be to be tried. It was nice but not as nice as the prawn and seafood dumplings.  The area around Xintiandi is a pretty nice with lots of shopping malls and bars and cafes.

In terms of day to day life, i don’t think I will ever get used to crossing the street here - I am terrified every time! Eventually hopefully I will get the hang of it!

xoxo

Shanghtastic!

I am over my culture shock now and really enjoying learning and exploring life here. The only thing though is the past week has been the hottest. Even during a 5 minute walk you literally have sweat pouring down your face and back no and you hear the constant very loud and persistant clickety hum of cicadas most places you go. Also last Sunday there was a epic thunderstorm complete with crashing lightning and thunder and pounding rain which I got caught in while walking through People’s Park and got totally drenched! It was like a flash flood with rivers of water pouring down the sidewalk. This is because apparently there is a typhoon called Muifa which is coming towards a neighbouring province and there are supposed to be more similar style thunder storms occurring in the evenings this week.

I am getting into the local arts scene and last week attended a drinks and canape reception on The Bund (main tourist area) for a performance art charity event which was very interesting and thought provoking. You can take really pretty pictures of the city skyline across the river from The Bund at night but the area is rammed with tourists. Think the type of numbers you see somewhere like the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Times Square or Leicester Square and double it - I have never seen so many people trying to take pictures in one tourist location anywhere I have been!  I also went to the old French Concession and had the best coffee and banana smoothie, cheese and bacon omelette ad toast for brunch in the courtyard at a place called Kommune which is located in an alley in Taikang Lu Art street, a nice little place with a series of lanes filled with many boutiques and galleries.

I have continued my adventures with local food and went back to the dumpling place and tried the drink I mentioned in my last post and it turns out kind of not to be a drink as such. You do drink it through a straw, but is actually black rice gruel, which I know does not sound appealing (gruel is something I associate with the Middles Ages or what the crew eats on pirate ships) which made me think I would not be crazy about it but I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted syrupy, almost like the syrup you get in canned fruit or chinese desserts and had boiled rice grains inside the syrup so a bit like a syrupy bubble tea/rice pudding combo.

I have also tried a local place for what I assume is Shanghainese style food where at I ate a eggplant and mincemeat hot pot type dish, a fried pork and vegetables type dish and fried curry noodles type dish (the menu was not in English at all so I am not sure what these dishes are called or the region of cuisine) which was okay. And I had some really delicious and filling stir-fried guangdong choi sum, spicy sichuan pork and banana and red bean cake from a place called Heng Shan Xiao Guan.

my 'hood

I love the sense of community they have here. Outside on any given evening you can see older people sitting and talking, babies being pushed around in strollers and the little kids are so cute riding their tricycles and playing games in the park areas with their mums and dads and grandads and grandmas watching on; it is a buzzing hub of activity. Looking out from the balcony, the skyscrappers and apartment blocks look like something out of a comic book or graphic novel, and I can also see a view of older more traditional houses; grey smaller buildings with brown slate and corregated roofs.

It’s what I like about the city - old mixed with new. It seems it is ever evolving which is an exciting time to be here.

xoxo

Lost In Translation: Shanghai Style

When I first saw Lost In Translation I didn’t really get it. I mean the whole underlying theme of feeling alienated and disjointed in country like Japan (and weirdly enough since I have got to China I have mainly been eating Japanese food because it is one of the nearest local restaurants to my place) and seeking people that are similar to you and I thought pace of the storyline moved really slowly. Now I feel I understand that movie more than ever!!!!

metro at rush hour

It is a very strange feeling arriving in Shanghai for the first time. I asked for directions at the airport and it quickly became really apparent that I was not going to be understood. You very soon realise that communication is very difficult and that people don’t really even speak their own form of english you have to adapt to speaking in very short syllable words and involve lots of pointing and miming. So the storytelling techniques I learnt at RADA have come in very good use! Either you do that or you have to remember to bring out pictures, english words accompanied by the chinese characters or the actual object like phone cards and drink bottles with you when you go out to buy things if you have to ask for the items. Or you end up with you just talking English and the other person in Chinese and then in the end you both staring at each other blankly. This is a common occurrence when trying to ask for directions. I end up saying xiexie (thank you in mandarin, my only other known phrase is Ni Hao=Hello) over and over even though I do not even know what I am thanking them for as neither one of us has understood! Time seems to move extremely slowly and not in a pleasant way. It is very unsettling, there’s so much that is new, I have only been here for a week and it feels like an age. But I am starting to get into a groove now, I think. I am more familiar with my neighbourhood and surrounding areas and a lot more comfortable with crossing the road. The fact is even if there is the little green man showing at the pedestrian crossing it  is irrelevant. It only makes it slightly safer to cross! I try to play it cool and walk and weave like the locals but more often that not I end up sprinting cross the road like a jackrabbit and have people laughing at me!

 No peanut butter cup perfection to be found in China :(

It really does feel very foreign and at first I was thinking what the hell have I let myself get in for, I’m not going to like this but I think now after a week I am slowly adapting. Normally I really like to get stuck into the culture and way of life wherever I go. You know ‘When in Rome,’ and all that. I would look down with distain on my fellow tourists who wanted their western food, sterilized environments and home comforts. I am personally a firm believer that when you travel to a country that has a very different culture you should embrace it, but I can honestly say for the first time in my life I have really experienced true culture shock and found myself seeking out familiar things. Especially brands and food and shopping chains. Like Carrefour for shopping and US chains such as Starbucks, Subway, McDonalds, Cold Stone Creamery, Dairy Queen and my fave bakery Breadtalk which also has stores in Singapore.  For this reason I am inexplicably excited about the fact they are opening a new 7-11 store a block away from my apartment which I hope opens soon. Good old 7-11 seems universal to every destination I have been so far so it is possibly the most familiar and normal site I will see anywhere in the world. That and I bought some cookies form the local chain equivalent and ate one which tasted funny then I realised they were very out of date, the  green tea drink I had just finished drinking was also out of date but it was too late to do anything about that.

I am still to yet have real local Chinese food. There is a home takeaway delivery service called Sherpa’s which has every kind of food you can think of under the sun and it is just way too tempting and easy to order. It is actually more expensive than eating at local places, like the Japanese place I mentioned earlier but while I am settling in it’s all good for me. I want to get into eating more local places and trying some local dishes but all in good time. Actually it is not that difficult with the language barrier when eating out. Eating out is cheap (think £4 or less for a full meal plus drink). At most restaurants you go to you just have to point at the menu (luckily most establishments have picture menus) and do the hand counting signals they use here for the number of dishes you want. When the restaurants don’t have pictures, it is very difficult to be understood which is why I was so happy when the lady at the dumpling/bun little shop nearby spoke to me in a few words of English while I was frantically pointing at pork dumplings. She was sold out of those (they are a popular and common breakfast snack) but did have some little sticky rice and pork type of things wrapped in dumpling sheets. She told me next time she will tell me to try something else that she will recommend including a drink that I have seen many people drinking so it must been good. At the time I just picked up some soybean milk which really wasn’t a good choice, I had expected it to be sweet but it most definitely was not.

The one familiar thing here is the subway system which is very easy to navigate and for single use tickets has a similar system to Singapore. Taxis are convenient and cheap but if you want a taxi driver to take you anywhere you need to have the actual Chinese characters written down so you have to be prepared (or have a Lonely Planet book!)

random stall

Have not had a chance to do many tourists things yet. There is so much I want to do and Shanghai is such a big city not just in terms of land size but also the number of people (to compare and this is just an off the top of my head rough guess - there are about 9million people in London during peak hours for the tube. In Shanghai there are about 20million - I will probably discuss the rush hour subway journeys in another post!). I thought about braving it on my own and proper getting stuck into going round the city but instead went along to the Shanghai Museum which is like the British Museum near People’s Park with a few other people. Also near there is Raffles City Mall (just like Singapore!) where I won a prize! I have no clue what it was there for but there was a queue of people to go into something at a stand for the I T festival and we were told to play games to win things so I played this game where you had to try and throw rubber balls into a bucket which was obstructed by moving windmills on the wall. I aimed at the biggest and nearest bucket which seemed the easiest. You got four trys and I got one ball in so won some I T Festival fridge magnets. Very random indeed.

It is the hottest time of the year right now in Shanghai, with temperatures soaring to 37. I will never again complain about heat anywhere else in the world again! It is very hot but really it is the humidity that is the worst part.  I will be glad when it cools down but I know it actually does not get much cooler so I will have to put up with it!

xoxo

Hi from Shanghai!

Hey everyone,

So I'm in Shanghai and have to say it is very different from anywhere else I have been in Asia. The culture is very different and there are not many english speakers so I think it will certainly be a challenge but a worthwhile one and I am really looking forward to getting to know the culture and seeing what the city has to offer.

So far I have been to the World Financial centre which has a club on the 92nd and the other went to Shanghai Museum and People's Square and Park. I really want to get out there and see more so will probably go and do that at some point this week.

Basically I have just been getting my bearings and getting used to the culture here so hopefully you will hear more from me soon.



XOXO