China Day 10 and 11: Shanghai Circus and 18 hours on a train

The day started early because we had just 1 day to see the main spots in Shanghai. Agenda went like this:

-Checking out of the hostel

- Visit of Yuyuan garden surroundings and the marketplace

- Sending postcards :)

- Lunch 

- Walk along the Bund

- The People’s Square

 - Sudden meeting in the rain with 2 other Chinese younsters and joining them for a Chinese tea tasting

- Sitting at McDonald’s

- Tomoko leaving to the airport to take her flight to Beijing, I am wandering around until the time to go to Shanghai Circus.

The Shanghai Circus was really a highlight of the day. It was professional performance with lots of amazing tricks and surprises. I hadn’t been to circus for a long time and this was something what was really good one and came on time.

Neverstopping train

After the circus it was time to leave Shanghai and take my night train to Beijing. That was another challenging experience as the trains there are not comfortable, rather opposite - they are a bit cold and damp and very crowded. However, I was expecting to be in Beijing in the morning, but…the morning came and the train was moving and moving and never stopped. Midday came, afternoon came and it was still moving and I started to get worried. I went to the man who seemed to be responsible there and he showed me 6 on his fingers; we couldn’t communicate as I didn’t speak Chinese. In the beginning I thought it was still six hours to go, but after contacting Tomoko she managed to find out that the train was late and it should arrive at 6pm in Beijing. So, it was 2 more hours left in the train. I was really exhausted and tired and a bit ill too. And the only thing I could do was sitting and waiting and looking out of the window…sometimes you need also such moments, however this wasn’t the right time as I felt sick and also started to get hungry…after all it was 18 hours spent in a train.

Chinese dinner, Japanese atmosphere

The train arrived and I was happy to feel my feet again. It was evening already, getting dark and Tomoko had invited me for dinner with her Japanese and Chinese classmates. It was a really nice restaurant and a nice atmosphere that reminded me of the times in Japan. This is nice thing what Asians have: eating together and sharing food, stories and becoming closer to each other. Also the interior of a restaurant is appropriate for gathering in groups as the rooms are separated. 

China Day 8: the Second Day in EXPO

Countries visited: Japan, UK, Canada, Brazil, USA, South Africa, Egypt, Italy, Africa Joint Pavilion

(1) Japan: what this unique country means first is waiting around 2-3 hours in a long queue before you get in. After that Japan gives a very rich impression. There’s everything: cute Japanese ladies, nature beauties, tea drinking traditions, technology achievements with a robot who is playing a violin and a stage performance in the end. It was worth waiting in the line as you spend a lot of time in the Pavilion itself.

(2) UK: the long lines were bigger than the actual value of the Pavilion. In the end the UK Pavilion attracted with the peculiar pavilion building which nobody could guess what it is made of and what it shows inside unless you come in. Once this truth had been found out, you appreciate the great work invested and the idea, but the Pavilion itself wasn’t that special. However, after exiting the pavilion it had a nice relaxation area given for people to take a rest as well as you could wave your goodbye to David Bekhem, or to be more precise – his statue.

(3) Romania

(4) Canada: it attracted me with some indie music inside pavilion, then it led further to green city life with opportunity to use bikes and cycle there. Lots of water and a very touchy movie of life in Canada.

(5) Brazil: the feeling of Rio was there! The live city is around you! And also a feeling that you are in the football stadium.

(6) USA: It attracted with a very informal presenter from the beginning which was kind of American style, then there were couple of videos to see: people from street trying to speak Chinese; important people in America (including the president Obama) speaking about the importance of EXPO and the topic it dealt with this year; a touch video of how dreams can come true through lots of failure, but with lots of struggling.

(7) South Africa: nice place to take a rest in the cozy armchairs

(8) Egypt: to be honest I was expecting more than just putting up the ancient Egyptian heroes probably taken from Egyptian Museum. No current culture there, all information based on ancient Egypt mainly. Even the salesperson seemed bored there listening to his iPod and not paying attention to the customers who might have wanted to buy something.

(9) Africa Joint Pavilion: so much tribes and culture. Sometimes the joint pavilions seem more successful than individual ones as they give more feeling of the country. And especially in Africa joint pavilion you really feel like in Africa meeting African people, seeing the traditional buildings and places for rest, buying traditional souvenirs in a market place.

(10) Italy: lots of small elements exposed in 2 floors, miniatures of life, all fields covered what present Italy: fashion, pasta, shoes, Italian restaurants etc.; all kinds of brands, nice and posh and in the end the advertisement of EXPO Milano 2015.

China Day 7: Welcome to Shanghai and the World EXPO

October, 5th, 2010
EXPO countries today: Latvia, Switzerland, EU, Belgium, Spain, North Korea, Iran, 
Lebanon, Mjanma/Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Kazakhstan

Right after the Brainstorm gig on the day before, we were heading for Tomoko’s dormitory to take our stuff and then to the train station to take a night train to Shanghai. Yes!! One challenge after another! The night at the train was really hard. We had bought sitting seats and were sitting/sleeping all night long for 13 hours. That wasn’t comfortable at all, of course, but this was a great part of the adventure. Especially, after seeing some people having standing “seats”, we felt lucky to have our places to sit.

The morning came while being in the train. I was trying to catch the sights of Chinese nature as much as I could apart from dosing after the sleepless night…this was also the time when I started feeling too much of sitting in my legs and wanted to stand up and move. But because the aisles were full of people, that was not that easy. Some of them were walking there and back to get some hot water for the morning noodles, some who had a standing “seat” were trying to find an object where to sit on…and finally the train arrived in Shanghai and all of us could get off.

The first thing I remember from Shanghai is long waiting for buying the ticket back to Beijing. The reason for waiting was a very angry and aggressive Chinese lady being served before us and being incredibly angry and stressed about something. A wrong ticket? Or no ticket at all? We don’t know the reason as she was speaking Chinese and speaking very rude to others. She was calling someone and shouting loud and the overall atmosphere had become really tense…but after buying my ticket, I was glad to go out in the streets of Shanghai and admire the city. It’s true that Shanghai gives us a different picture from Beijing. It’s so modern, multicultural and developed and more expensive than Beijing, of course. Somehow I got a similar feeling as last year in Japan…yes, it reminded me of modernization I found in Tokyo. 

After the first impressions, it was time to find our hostel, leave our stuff and get ready for the first day in EXPO. Finally the main aim of this trip is coming true though I can admit I was a bit tired on this first morning in Shanghai…but as a tourist you cannot be tired! A quick shower, change of clothes and ready to go and explore! :)

Even though I knew that EXPO will be flooded by crowds of people due to the national holidays, I never expected to visualize it in the number of 400’000 on our first day there. That was amazing! It becomes a small village and you are a part of it. After entering the area of EXPO you feel confused: where to go, what to choose first, how to manage in order not to waste your time, but see everything. But no – you will never see everything in EXPO if you come just for a couple of days. Therefore, my recommendation for the next years is to create a plan for each day: what to start with and how to proceed. Otherwise, thinking and planning during EXPO is wasting your time which could better be spent on visiting hundreds of pavilions. 

So, after getting a bit familiar with the territory and planning of the event, we decided to go to (1) Latvia Pavilion and try out flying. After all we had the important mission from Renārs Kaupers (from Brainstorm) to say hi to AERODIUM guys. We entered Latvia Pavilion, saw the flyers’ show and after that we did the promised mission. And by chance I asked how it is possible to fly. “Come downstairs!” was a simple answer from the AERODIUM guy. Me, Tomoko and her friend didn’t hesitate and in the next 10 minutes were already wearing the flying costumes. We also heard the instructions and after that waited for our flying time and here it was: the time to go into the wind tunnel and enjoy the unique opportunity. The first impression was lots of wind, around you and in your face. And you don’t understand if you are struggling with it or adapting to it. Somehow I had a feeling I am doing both and whatever it looked like I was also enjoying it. In the first round we were just trying to hold our flying position, but in the second one we were flying up and down and that feeling of rising up was really the best one! I didn’t want to exit the tunnel, but keep flying and flying and flying…and enjoying this miracle of humankind. 

Unfortunately, the dreamy experience came to an end and we said bye to Latvia Pavilion to keep our EXPO trip further to:

(2) Switzerland Pavilion: real, natural views and the feeling of being in the mountains of Switzerand

(3) EU: the round theatre on 1 day in Europe. Really fantastic to see EU countries from the early morning when they wake up till midnight when they go to sleep and get ready for the next day.

(4) Belgium: the pavilion where you get free Belgium chocolate and, of course, see the most famous Belgian – the Manneken Pis

(5) Spain: it starts with a wild Spanish dance by Spanish woman and ends with a huge baby nodding to you waiting to be captured in so many cameras.

(6) North Korea: 

(7) Iran: a mosque in the middle

(8) Lebanon: movie of the country that gives a good visual impression

(9) Mjanma/Burma

(10) Laos: this was inside joint Pavilion and I remember I liked it because of the coffee they were selling there and for rather a good price. That was a nice stop for coffee for me. Otherwise, there was no time to go and find it elsewhere while visiting pavilions.

(11) Vietnam: vases, so nice and huge

(12) Kazakhstan: long queue for waiting and in the beginning you don’t understand why, but then you get the point: they have a movie there, so they gather a certain amount of people and then let them in. Nice presentation with mentioning that the next Asian Olympic Games will take place in Kazakhstan. You can also find snow inside the Pavilion: cold in the late evening, but gives the real impression of the country.