sweat, delicious food, and exhaustion

Sweat, delicious food, and exhaustion: that rather effectively sums up my first full day in Shanghai.

In the morning we took the subway to Yuyuan, which is an area of Shanghai filled with shops and exorbitant numbers of people--and a Chinese garden tucked into one corner. Because there was an entrance fee for the gardens, they were blessedly quiet, uncrowded, and peaceful, and all in all made for a striking juxtaposition to the outside hustle and bustle. The gardens were gorgeous--with beautiful planting and architecture--though the weather was anything but.

The weather is hot here (99 degrees hot) and can best be described by the word "soupy." After an hour outside, we were completely drenched in sweat. This unfortunately meant that we found it hard to linger in the gardens for too long, and had to pass up the opportunity to (for only a small fee!) have our "Photo Taken With Wearing [ancient Chinese] Costume"--for the thought of ancient Chinese costume finery congealed to our skin by the ever-present sheen of sweat outweighed the thought of what would certainly have been a priceless picture.

After having an exceptional lunch of traditional Shanghainese food which I could happily go to great lengths to describe (but will resist doing), we headed back to our apartment and decided to take a brief xiuxi (pronounced sho-shi, and which is the equivalent of a siesta/afternoon nap). This proved to be quite a mistake. Four hours later, and my mom could barely wake me up. It's what I would call a jet lag attack. Being forcefully woken up, I was sure that it was the middle of the night, which it was--according to California time, which is 15 hours behind China time. I groggily stumbled my way to dinner through what was in fact a very nice walk into a happening part of the city--well, in a city of 15 million, most every place is happening--with splendid neon, enhanced by exhaustion, no doubt. We enjoyed another wonderful meal, accompanied by my mom's friend Yilin (they became friends back when my parents lived here in the 80s). Yilin is retired and now makes money on the Chinese stock market, and is apparently quite skilled at this endeavor. She shared tips with us which mainly comprised of--due to her limited English--"buy low, sell high."

A few random observations based on my first full day:

1) Walking across streets in Shanghai is quite exciting; you never know if you might get hit by a car. Not only do Chinese drivers not yield to the pedestrian, they also honestly don't care a whit if they run you over, and at times seem to actively seek you out as a target. Also, red lights are apparently only a suggestion--one that most drivers tend to ignore.

2) Ordering at a restaurant in China is quite unlike one elsewhere. It's a long, complicated process that involves extensive conversation, consultation, and negotiation with the server about each dish. The Chinese server becomes your table's personal attendant, and when you get a menu they stay there for as long as necessary until you have decided on dishes and ordered. This is a result of the fact that Chinese servers are paid by the hour and are not tipped, so they have no reason to rush to wait on as many tables as possible.