The Bund, no place for epileptics

We are taking a trip on the metro today to the heart of Shanghai.  It's a bit over an hour from here.  I'm looking forward to some city vitality.  The buildings out here are overwhelmingly grey or muted brown.  When the sun shines it is fine. The humanity of the multistory buildings is evident and there is a happy feeling.  But when the skies are grey a sort of despair washes amongst them. The pollution is evident and it all seems a bit sad and pre-apocalypytic..  I wonder if that is just my impression.

The view from the window - West Jiading

Chinese writing fascinates me - each complex little square of lines and curves that can be understood by people who can't speak each others' languages.  Fredi told me "Be careful" is represented by signs which mean "little heart".  Maybe that means "moderate your rashness" who knows.  Sometimes however,translation out of the symbols into English yields up lovely poetry. In Starbucks (which is one of the few places that accepts credit cards here but more of tthat later) a sign says "Every shot with precision and passion"  I sipped my cappucino with relish.

Starbucks Chinglish

We've come down to the Bund area of Shanghai which lines one side of the Yangtse River.  It consists of a kilometre of European style grand buildings built  from 1902 through the 1920s with one from 2010.  In the day they are sombre and darkened by pollution but from 6 pm onwards they are bathed in golden floodlighting and look ethereal as fairy palaces.  They need to because the competition on the other side of the Yangtse is extraordinary.  Pudong, the financial district  sports insolent glass structures, tall and curvy and defiantly modern. As if their presence were not assertive enough, at about 6pm each one puts on a light show, shifting flashing lights and messages - some in English "I (love heart) SH" A spiral of vivid letters spelling OBSERVATORY curls up a tubular building and ironically the end of the word disappears spookily into the smog. The lights flash and unravel butterflies and cartoons in dizzying disorder and I'm glad epilepsy isn't my problem.

Touristing on the Bund

Pudong from the Bund - the 2nd tallest tower in the world, centre

The Bund at night

We take a little cruise boat down the river with heaps of other Chinese tourists.  (I'm surprised how rarely we see another European face) We are afraid we'll be packed on like sardines but no so.  There's room for all.  We sip beers brought by Finn and look out on to fairyland on the way down the river and then turn round to witness the demonic garishness of Pudong on the way back, Flash Flash Zip Sprawl of fluorescent light bars.

Pudong lights at night - from the Bund

We have dinner at a restaurant called Grandmothers and are rushed out at 9.30.  "She says we really must go" says Fredi and we set off to go home on the metro.  There's so much I don't understand about China.  There is a nanny state quality about the video screens on the trains.  One tells me how to stand on the escalators, not hunched over but upright.  I tested hunching and it felt all right to me.

Shanghai Metro map

I think I am beginning to lose my collectivist feeling of being one of many.  My acquiescence to the controllers of life here is wearing a little thin.