Life in China Continues at a Rapid Pace

The broadband internet connection in my room at the hotel is pretty jank, so it’s been tough to keep up with my blog. I keep getting kicked off of the internet after 15 seconds or so and cannot access the internet again after each attempt. Luckily, there is a small coffee shop a couple of blocks away with free wifi, so I can still access the internet for short intervals while I wait for the IT guy to figure out what the problem is with my hotel connection.

I’ve decided to forego writing daily blog entries, and instead, I’ll add some anecdotes whenever I have the chance. I am still keeping a daily log, typing just before I crash each night, but it’s mostly memory cues, scattered images and thoughts from each day. I’ll save some of the more compelling and coherent entries for this blog.

Chen Juan invited me to a lecture yesterday, by one of the University professors, about the adaptive reuse of buildings. The most interesting project he discussed was the Nanshi Power Plant, which was converted to an art gallery and museum. The project is somewhat close to the Expo site. Three different iterations of the design were discussed, including an early scheme where the chimney would be fitted with what appeared to be a spiraling escalator, meant to express how electricity was generated within the plant through the architecture. Many elements, such as a massive ramp and the generators were preserved to highlight the building’s past. Overall, the project was incredibly beautiful. The lecture was not in English, but thanks to Chen whispering answers to some of my questions (using the translator app on her iPhone to help find the correct terms) and the order of images presented by the professor, I could generally understand the project as a whole. Architecture is a universal language.

In other news, I have somewhat unofficially become the navigator of our group, the man with the map. Before I arrived, while looking through maps of the city, I was thinking that Shanghai would be incredibly difficult to navigate because it seemed to lack any coherent grid system or urban layout. It turns out that way finding isn’t actually too difficult. There is some type of logic hidden within the organized chaos of the Shanghai streets.

Thursday night was our first visit to the Bund, to view the Pudong skyline. It was also our first trip via the Shanghai subway system. At rush hour. It was unbelievable how many people were packed into one space! I finally began to comprehend the sheer scale of the city and its population. The contrast between the European colonial facades of the Bund and the futuristic towers of Pudong was beyond words. From the Huangpu River waterfront, we were able to watch 360 degrees of buildings slowly brighten as the sky slowly darkened. I now have around 50 photographs that cannot do justice to the experience.

Last night, after stopping by Yang’s Fry Dumplings after work (delicious, by the way, and sort of comparable to Voodoo Donuts in terms of touristy lines), Reina, Avik, and I took a quick break at the hotel to recuperate and plan our first Shanghai nightlife outing. We headed to the French Concession district, beginning the night at a swanky jazz club. From there, we wandered from building to building, checking out different venues along the way. Virtually all of the bars were ritzy with a capital “R”. We almost forgot that we were in Shanghai, because the whole area felt so European. The bars were mansion-like, set behind gates. It’s incredible how many faces there are to this city, and we’ve still barely scratched the surface.