Throughout my travels, I have tried to blend in as best I can, although in the last couple of countries it has become increasingly difficult.Staring is a common part of any experience in this part of Asia, and to be honest it's something that I have got used to, even though at first it was terribly disconcerting. Once you realise that you are the elephant in their room pretty much anywhere you go, then your level of self-conciousness goes down and it becomes less of an issue.
It's strange that I stand out as more of a sore thumb in this part of the world, even though I'm in amongst a much larger population. When I was somewhere like Laos or Vietnam for example, the density of tourists was much higher where as of the last two countries I have been to, Korea isn't a very touristy place, and in China it's hard for people to visit because of their largely restrictive visa policy.
I can't say it's something which really bothers me too much in fairness as whenever I'm out I am usually on a mission to do something or go somewhere, and it's not like I have been meeting up with other tourists and doing anything - sometimes it's hard not to feel like the odd one out though.
On the whole from what I have learned during my time in Asia, during this spell and previous visits, is that the people of this continent are some of the most intrigued but friendly people that you will ever be fortunate enough to meet. As I learned during my time there, Koreans are generally fascinated by the western world, and as they rarely get a chance to visit, they do their best to make people from that part of the planet feel welcome. Sure there are times when they'll shoot you the strangest looks which make you feel like you have three heads, or they will push their way past you, but one thing they do seem to love to do is speak English to you - and even though they get embarrassed about getting things wrong, in my experience they are always willing to be helpful.
I feel like in England we aren't anywhere near as friendly to tourists as people are in Asia. We usually see them as a nuisance, and very rarely offer them help, but over here it's a bit different where I feel like people will go out of their way to assist you if at all they possibly can. Not that I have needed it, but I'd have no qualms about asking for help should I require it in China as I know that I am likely to get a helpful response - provided they speak English of course...
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I didn't really get out and about to see much of Shanghai yesterday, but today I was hoping to do some serious exploring. The hotel I am staying in is a little outside of the centre, but with the metro station being pretty close by it means that access is relatively easy.
That's something I've looked to try to arrange with my stays in Busan and Shanghai, and I will look to try and continue that trend moving forwards as it makes things much easier for me.
As great as it is to be to the centre of the city I am staying in, it often comes at a premium price. I'd much rather stay in a nice hotel that's outside of the centre rather than staying on something a little more run-down which means I can walk to things; I feel like mastering the public transportation system somewhere is part of the experience. I tend to rely on it to get me from A to B, and I like to think it helps me learn my way around, and combining it with walking makes sense. In a large city, I guess it doesn't make sense to walk everywhere as it'd take you forever to get from one place to another.
Having originally planned to come to Shanghai, and then having taken it off my list of destinations, I had to go and dig up the document I'd written with the list of places I'd thought about visiting. Naturally, there are lots of things to do here so it took a lot of prioritising, especially as I am on the clock in terms of the time I have to visit everything here.
I decided that today I was going to try and do a couple of different activities which were slightly outside of town, and then tomorrow I would spend in and around the city (if all goes to plan). Much of the entertainment in Shanghai comes from the huge skyscrapers at the heart of this city, but I decided to turn my back on the concrete jungle for a little today.
It seemed like a bit of a strange move to have the airport right next to the zoo, and I wasn't sure how OK the animals would be with it, but I set a course for the western side of Shanghai hoping that it wouldn't take an eternity to reach on the metro.
As I mentioned yesterday, the metro system in Shanghai is extremely extensive, and it seems to cover almost every part of the wider city area. There are sixteen lines I believe, seventeen, if you include the Maglev service which I think might be the most different lines I've ever seen a metro use.
I'm staying on Line Three which runs pretty much north to south so I had to travel a couple of stations south and then change to the line which the airport is on. Thankfully all the ticket machines in the metro station are automated, and you can change the language to English so it's just a case of pressing the stop you need to go to, and then feeding it with the required coins. The journey from the Maglev Station to the airport yesterday cost Y5 (which is about 50p) and to get to the zoo it was Y6 which isn't bad considering I am going almost entirely from East to West.
Things are relatively well signposted and announcements on the train are made in Chinese and English which is useful - although they have used the most stereotypical English voice ever, I'm pretty surprised it doesn't say "Tally Ho" after the announcement of every stop.
Interchange stations are marked pretty clearly once you get off with huge arrows on the floor to guide you the right way, and then there are also colour maps everywhere with signs which tell you where the train has just come from and where it's going next to make sure you go the right way. There's even a TV every now and then with a counter on which shows you how long it will take before the next three trains arrive, and what their terminal stations are. The terminals are less useful as they are in Chinese, but the clock is much appreciated as it lets you know when you need to rush to the gates in order to avoid being pushed in front of by a bunch of people.
It was fittingly busy when it finally did arrive as we took the extra few stations to the zoo before everyone pretty much emptied off and headed to the entrance.
I think Shanghai will be the third zoo that I have visited - that's not including KL Bird Park of any of the animal encounters I had in Kuching. I've mentioned before that I have a bit of a love for animals, and I do enjoy spending time observing them. I've been to some fairly impressive ones back in England including London, and most recently Chester which was enjoyable to walk around on a surprisingly sunny winter's day.
I've endured my fair share of busy cities on the way through several different parts of Asia, but largely it has been 'off-peak' as countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are visited much more regularly at this part of the year. One of the issues with coming to one of the world's most populous cities is that the three days I happen to be here are over a weekend so I was certainly expecting to busyness, and as I got out of the metro that is certainly what I experienced.
I think I do pretty well to tolerate crowds considering that I usually try my best to avoid them whenever I can back home, but after a little time on the metro yesterday and walking through some of the local streets last night I knew that wasn't always going to be possible. It's just a fact of life that at some point I'm going to cross paths with at least 1% of the 24 million people who leave here, and when I do, it's about making sure that I try not to lose my calm as they inevitably barge their way past, and cut in line in front of me.
Speaking of which, I did have to experience a rather interesting queue when I first got to the zoo. There were some barriers zig-zagging to try and cope with the crowds, but that didn't stop people attempting to buy tickets by pushing their body in front of others. Thankfully there was some kind of police/security guard presence which largely prevented any issues. The queue was actually moving quite quickly and there were some little sub-lines for each window which I got to the back of before some lady from a window that was previously closed waved me forward.
As I began to tackle the hoards of people in front of pretty much exhibit, I was reminded of a trip to the zoo which I took in 2009, a couple of months after moving to Korea when Kevin, Charlie and I went to Seoul Zoo on a day we had off from school. The reason we had time off was because it was 'Children's Day' and in hindsight going to the zoo perhaps wasn't the best move as it was absolutely packed. It might not have been any kind of day celebrating kids today, but it was certainly a family day out as I attempted to dodge and weave just get a good view of the animals I was interested in seeing.
Some exhibits were understandably busier than others; this, for example, was the crowd in front of the tiger cage....
...eventually with a bit of patience I managed to be able to get close enough to the glass to take a picture:
I tried to put the amount of people out of my head, and just have an enjoyable afternoon walking around in the sunshine. For once I didn't stop and take pictures of every animal that I saw, and reserved my photography for only the animals I was truly intrigued in:
As I mentioned before, Shanghai Zoo was very extensive and covered pretty much every range species of animal that you can imagine. One thing I was particularly fascinated by, but didn't realise was there until I saw a sign for it was the panda. Naturally being in China you'd think that there probably was going to be one somewhere, and as I got close to the panda exhibit I had to think to myself if I have actually ever seen one before which I don't think that I have.
This was definitely the busiest part of the zoo with people crowded around the glass trying to get a view of the panda which was sitting on what looked to be a slide eating some bamboo:
It was definitely an interesting sight, and quite a surreal feeling to actually be standing looking at an animal which I've never see live in front of my eyes before.
Continuing on from there, the last section of the zoo that I came to was the area where the monkeys, orang-utans and chimpanzees were. They seemed to have quite a large variety of each species, and even though there were massive signs up saying no feeding, the people of Shanghai obviously didn't think those rules applied to them as they freely grabbed sticks off trees and stuck bananas on the end of them in order to have enough length to reach the cage and give some of the animals a little treat.
I've written before about how pretty much any species of monkey, chimpanzee, gorilla, orang-utan or baboon entertains me as I find their human-like qualities irresistible, and it was the same here as for some reason these exhibits were much quieter and it was peaceful to be able to stand and watch them for a while:
One of the funniest moments when I was inside an area with different monkeys in it was when a little girl went up to the glass between her and some monkeys and started tapping on it to try and get some attention. When the monkeys came close to her, she stuck he tongue out at one of the animals who responded in this way:
This is the kind of thing to me that makes them hilarious and means that I could pretty much sit and watch them all day long without ever getting bored.
There was a section of some baboons outside which were also pretty entertaining to watch. I think there were about four or five in the cage, with one huge one and then a couple of other smaller ones clinging onto the bars trying to accept some food from someone using the 'banana on a stick method'. Before accepting the food of the person putting it through the cage, the smaller baboons would check over to see if the largest one was looking before grabbing the food quickly off the stick and then jumping down to make sure that the dominant one hadn't seen. It was like they were committing a crime or something, as if accepting food from strangers was going behind the largest baboon's back. If the larger one was looking at them they'd start climbing around as if they were pretending not to notice the food on offer, and then when it turned around they'd quickly come back down, grab the food and be off again. It really was incredible.
I'd completed a full circuit of the zoo in about two hours or so which was pretty impressive considering its size and the amount of animals there were to see. As I walked out, I noticed that the queue to get in was now much smaller, but as it turned out apart from a few moments where it wasn't possible to take a picture, it was mostly like the crowds weren't really there.
Next it was time to go back to the metro station in order to head towards my second stop of the day which was to go to the Shanghai International Circuit.
Anyone who reads this blog regularly (or knows me in any way at all) will know that I am a huge fan of sport. Motor racing is something I've become interested in over the last six or seven years, and I have been known to get up at ridiculous times in the morning just to catch the start of a race.
I've never been fortunate enough to go to a Grand Prix event although I was very close on two occasions, including in 2008 when I had tickets booked to go to the Shanghai Grand Prix but wasn't allowed to take the time off work. A couple of years later when I was in Singapore I missed out on going to the race there by a day as I had to return to England to go to a friend's wedding.
Having said that, I have been fortunate enough to spend time on a Grand Prix track as this time last year I powered my way around the Silverstone Circuit in a half marathon which took place in and around the grounds including starting and finishing down the grid straight and also running along the pit lane. It was a great experience although I'm not sure if I appreciated it at the time as I attempted to get under the one hour and thirty minute mark!
The Shanghai Grand Prix actually took place in the middle of April, so there's another piece of poor timing in terms of visiting - I was early by the same time period in Malaysia back in March. The International Circuit here is also out of town, but in order to get there I had to go back towards the city, and then come back out on a different line which again caused me the problem of splitting and having to make sure that I was on the right train. I wasn't even sure if the circuit itself did tours, but I was quite intrigued just to see where it was held if nothing else.
The vast building looked almost derelict as you walked up to it with barely anyone seemingly within 100m of the entrance gate. There were a couple of security guards who I said the word 'tour' to, and they pointed me towards the main building where two other people had just walked towards.
The tour service around there cost Y50 and after buying a ticket I had to wait about five or so minutes for a tour guide to show up, as I guess it isn't a regular thing for people to visit - interesting to see what they still do tours even though this might not be the case.
Throughout the duration of the tour the man leading us round spoke exclusively in Chinese to the other two people who were walking around with me. I tried not to feel awkward about it, although it was almost like I was invisible. One of the men tried to talk to me, but his grasp of English was about as great as my grasp of Chinese!
The tour lasted about forty minutes or so as we were taken onto the main grandstand, into the press and media area, and then down the pit lane and also to an area where the teams are based during the weekend:
Even though I couldn't understand a lick of what was being said to me, it was all very interesting to me, and pretty surreal to actually get a look at the track which I'd watched the drivers race round just two weeks ago.
Once the tour had finished it looked as if the place was entirely shutting up for the day, and there was a little shop which was unfortunately closed that I'd quite like to have had a look around.
I got back on the metro pretty satisfied with my day's work, and was going to head back towards my hotel in order to get some food and see what the evening had in store for me.
As both the zoo and the F1 circuit were so far outside of town it felt like I had been on an ever-lasting metro ride at times, although not nearly as bad as they day I spent on the bus on Thursday whilst pretty much completing an entire circuit of Jeju!
On my way back towards the station I noticed that quite a lot of people dressed in replica football shirts had boarded the train. Two stops away from where I am staying I'd seen the stadium of Shanghai Greenland Shenua who play in the top division of the Chinese Soccer League.
After my enjoyable experiences watching I'Park Busan play, I thought the next opportunity I'd get to watch football might be in Japan, but as we got closer to the Hongkou Football Stadium stop I sensed that the team were probably playing at home tonight and this might be an ideal opportunity to watch them.
We got to the stadium and the floodlights were on, and looking out of the window I could see that there were plenty of people milling around so I decided to see if I could get a ticket for the match.
Walking from the metro station I had to go out and then try to find the ticket booths which were crawling with touts trying to sell you tickets. I waved them off as I got in line as I wasn't sure if the tickets they were selling were even real.
There was quite a strong police presence around and they were openly letting these touts try to hawk tickets to those in the queue so I figured that they were either turning a blind eye to it, or it was a common practice.
When I got to the front of the queue there was a map of the stadium which showed which areas tickets were left in. I wasn't looking to spend a fortune after the zoo and the F1 circuit so I looked at the lowest bracket for prices and it seemed as though there were none left.
It then dawned on me as I went to another window to see what they people who were hawking the tickets had clearly brought quite a lot of the seats in the cheapest section and were then selling them off for personal gain to the public who'd wanted to queue up and purchase them.
Strangely, having been pestered about twenty times I now couldn't find anyone who was selling tickets, although I was determined to pay no more than Y100 which is what they were valued at by the ticket office. Several of the people who were selling tickets had pictures of where abouts in the stadium the tickets they'd brought were located, and after about three attempts I found someone who was selling a reasonably priced ticket - hoped that it was genuine and then queued up to get in.
The Hongkou Stadium was a pretty impressive structure, and as I queued up to get into the ground, a man in the line started talking to me asking me where I was from and who I was supporting. I wouldn't say that I follow the Chinese League in anyway, but I think he was quite surprised by my knowledge of the team and also what I knew generally about the league - what can I say, I do my research!
Shanghai Greenland Shenua are actually a team I do know a little something about as in 2012 they had a huge influx of finances into their coffers by what turned out to be an unscrupulous individual who signed Didier Drogba, Nicholas Anelka and then appointed Jean Tiagana the manager. After a couple of weeks the whole thing fell apart and the club was left in financial ruins, eventually being brought out and taken over by the Greenland Financial Group who added their name to the club's official title and set about trying to do things a little more legitimately.
I got to my seat which was actually in a great location....
....and the atmosphere was fabulous as the game kicked off with Shenhua looking to improve on their fourth-placed position in the table. Rather entertainingly, the team at the top of the league are also based in Shanghai, I believe they are called Shanghai East Asia and they are managed by none other than former England and Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson!
It was actually a really good game between Shenhua and Hangzhou who they were playing. The home side played some good football, and are able to boast the talents of one Tim Cahill who used to play for Everton and the New York Red Bulls before moving to Shanghai this summer. They also had a Columbian players in midfield called Moreno who seemed to be relatively good, and he scored the opening goal with an overhead kick which brought the crowd inside the stadium rising to their feet just before half time.
In the second half it was a closely fought game, but Cahill ended the match as a contest with about seventy minutes gone when he scored a twice-taken penalty followed by his customary celebration (shadow boxing the corner flag) which almost everyone around me copied. The game finished 2-0 which was probably a fair result as Shenhua had been the better team throughout.
I figured that the metro would be extremely busy trying to get away from the game and as the stadium's stop is only a couple away from my closest one I decided to walk following the tracks back in the direction of my hotel, hoping that I'd be able to get on at the next station.
As it turned out I continued walking from the station next to mine, all the way back to my hotel as it only took about thirty minutes to get there, and there were seemingly lots of people doing the same thing to try and save themselves the hustle and bustle of the train, as well as enjoy the warm evening air of Shanghai.
When I got back to my hotel, I quickly had to go and grab some food from a shop next door and then quickly fill up my rumbling stomach which hadn't been fed since about lunchtime. My body was clealy grateful of the rest having been on the go all day, but I was pleased with what I had achieved, and enjoyed the extra bonus of being able to watch a football match tonight. I hope that my second, and final full day in Shanghai is just as successful.
The Chain
Fleetwood Mack (1977)
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