Pudong

While we were in Shanghai, we took a ferry across the river Huangpu to the island of Pudong (the name means "east of the Pu;" mainland Shanghai is called Puxi, which means "west of the Pu"). We went over on the luxury air-conditioned ferry, which cost 2 yuan per person (28 cents).

Pudong has some of the tallest buildings in China. The Shanghai World Financial Center is over 100 stories tall and looks like a giant bottle opener. We went to the observation deck on the 97th floor and enjoyed some amazing views. (The observation deck is just below the opening at the top of the building -- very cool effect to be up there.) The next tallest building is the Jin Mao tower, which looks sort of like the top of the Chrysler Building made into a full skyscraper. And then there's the Oriental Pearl Tower, the largest TV transmitter in the world, and an incredible sight to see.

We came home on the commuter ferry, which mainly cater to bicycles and motorcycles. It was quite an experience, but only half a yuan (7 cents), so we couldn't really complain.



The photo above shows the boys posing with the mascot for the 2010 Expo, who is pictured all over Shanghai the way the Olympic mascots were plastered all over Beijing. He looks sort of like a blue Gumby, but cuter. We never actually found out his Chinese name. We'll just have to come back in 2010. ;-)

Arrival in Zhuhai

This morning we flew from Shanghai to Zhuhai. We were very nervous, both because we had read how difficult the local airlines might be and because UIC, the school at which we are staying, has been very poor at communicating with me.

The day has been a series of pleasant surprises. We flew out of the Shanghai International Airport, which is the largest airport I have ever visited. Each of three terminals was larger than O'Hare. The terminal we were in had 40 check-in sections, each with over 20 desks (so 800 passengers at a time could theoretically check in). Since we are traveling off season, there were almost no lines for check-in or security. The only bad aspect of that was they had the time for a very thorough search and Stacy was forced to give up her small crochet scissors because they were a bit too long.

The plane was a modern Boeing 737, complete with in-flight movie (in Chinese) and hot lunch (so we ate the rolls and fruit).

Arriving in Zhuhai, an assistant from the university met us and we are staying on a hotel next to campus which caters to the two adjoining universities. They have an extremely busy schedule for me, with three separate talks given to six different classes over the week, as well as some days of formal gatherings.

We had a lovely welcoming dinner with a number of the faculty and staff. Everyone was quite nice. They did not get the information that we needed vegetarian dishes, but quickly adjusted what they were ordering to accommodate us. We had three different kinds of fish (only one of which could we readily identify, but all were real fish with fins and scales). We ate bamboo, Chinese leeks and huge mushrooms, and watched the others try jellyfish, shrimp, pork and many interesting looking items.

Tomorrow we will tour the area a bit, then on Monday I go to work. It should be an interesting week.

Bike ride on Xi’an City Wall - Post by Noah

Last week, my father and I went bike riding on the Xi’an city wall. The city wall is a high stone wall that surrounds the old part of the city.


It had four archway gates when it was made, but now has twenty gates to allow for traffic.

We rode on a double bike. It was scary. There were some wires (conduit cables) sticking out, bricks in the pavement were gone, and ramps changed the height of the wall.

We only had one hour. We had to ride fast on the way back because we had to go to our train for Shanghai.

Not many people do this and that is kind of cool.

Suzhou

We went on a day trip to Suzhou, the birthplace of silk, and toured a silk factory. It was utterly fascinating to watch the process, from silkworm to cocoon to sorting machine to skeins of raw silk, through dyeing and weaving to the beautiful new silk duvet cover we will proudly be displaying on our bed when we return home.






Suzhou also boasts many beautiful gardens and the Grand Canal, which was started in the fifth century BCE and took a thousand years to build. It is the largest man-made waterway in the world, stretching over a thousand miles from Beijing to Shanghai and beyond. It is about 50 meters wide and 15 meters deep. All rivers in China flow east--west, and the Emperor decided he needed a waterway to go north--south, so he conscripted 5 million men to build the canal, which is still in use today.

Shanghai Photos by Avery

Shanghai

This is an incredible city! The whole place is like a Times Square explosion. The first night we were here, it was raining. Between the rain, the endless neon, the crowds of people, the lights on all the gigantic buildings (all changing colors), the Jumbotron screens on the sides of buildings, the moving and talking ads -- it was like something out of "Blade Runner." In the daytime it's not quite so surreal.

The heart of the city is the Bund, a major thoroughfare that follows the river. On one side is a pedestrian walkway, like El Malecon in Puerto Vallarta, but much bigger (everything in Shanghai is much bigger). It looks out on Pudong, an island neighborhood that used to be all slums and brothels. In 1990, it was named a special economic zone, and now boasts the largest buildings in China, such as the Oriental Pearl Tower, pictured above. The walkway is jammed with sightseers, vendors, and people taking pictures from all angles. I've never seen so many cameras in my life. Our guide tells us that locals rarely go there.

The inland side of the Bund features European-style buildings constructed by Victor Sassoon, the Jewish founder of the city in 1850, and his peers (and competitors). The street looks like it was lifted straight out of London.

The main street leading away from the Bund is Nanjing Road. It is lined with shops of every description (and, in fact, many I cannot describe). The eastern part is the cheaper side; the western part (where the Ritz Carlton is) is the more expensive side. There is a noticeable difference when you switch sides.

Today we will go to the Yu Yuan Market in the Old City. This is a tangle of tiny alleys filled with little shops and stalls that sell everything you can imagine (and some things you couldn't dream of). This is where we will do the bulk of our gift shopping. We are just doing our part to support international economic relations.

Will post more photos soon.

Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Shanghai - Post by Avery

Today we visited the Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Shanghai. To memorialize the success of protecting Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, the Chinese government turned the former synagogue into a museum to show the rest of the world that they are better morally than anyone gives them credit for. Unfortunately, too few people know about the museum for there to be an impact on the world’s mindset.

The Jews fled to Shanghai from the Nazis, because they were being persecuted. From the rise of the Nazi party in the early 1930s, Jews had been looking for places to flee to. Most countries had set up “quotas,” or limits to the amount of people allowed into the country. When the quota was filled, no more immigrants were allowed in. However, Shanghai let in as many people as would come. In all, 30,000 Jews fled to Shanghai.

Once they got to Shanghai, the Jews began to set up their community. They brought over their culture from Europe, with their own Kosher deli and corresponding schochets and rabbis. They had their own German newspaper, the “Echo,” and its journalists, reporters, and writers. They also built seven shuls. Only two still stand, and one has been converted into a government office building. The Jews built a simple synagogue to keep their culture together.

The remaining shul, the Ohel Moshe, is a small, plain shul. The brickwork is a simple red and brown pattern. In the actual sanctuary, there are an upper and lower seating sections. Men sit downstairs, on long wooden benches, while women sat upstairs on small uncomfortable chairs. The bema is a small, mahogany construct, without any sort of carving or mark.

Three months ago, the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission finished the renovation of the Ohel Moshe. The blueprints to the original synagogue had been found in the city archives. The renovation was funded by the SMTAC and by donations from various Israeli businesses, and was meant by the Chinese government to show that China stood the moral high ground. When almost everyone else started blocking the immigration of Jews, China welcomed them with open arms. It maintained its open-door policy until Japan controlled Shanghai.

The Chinese government created the museum to try to show that they are morally better than the rest of the world thinks they are. Unfortunately, because few people know about the museum, it has had no impact on the rest of the world’s mindset.