From the monthly archives:

May 2010

Secret Doors in Shanghai

by Keith on May 24, 2010 · 3 comments

After reading this article in the New York Times about the creativity and resourcefulness of the Shanghai bootleg DVD merchants, I had to see one of the stores for myself, secret door and all.   I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a special password needed to get into the secret section where the bootleg DVDs were displayed, but luckily just walking in the door was good enough.

Despite my anxiety that we would not be understood, as soon as we walked into a DVD shop in the French Concession area of Shanghai we were whisked to a corner of the store with a red shelf that had a couple of DVDs displayed on it.  Without pausing the clerk pulled the left side of the shelf and it swung toward her allowing her to knock on what appeared to be a wall.  A couple of seconds later the wall opened and we were shown to the back room where bootleg DVDs, Blu-Ray disks, CDs, books and even magazines were for sale.

In an attempt to document this eyewitness reporter style, I used my new iCamcorder app for my iPhone 3G to record the very shaky and low quality 15 second clip of how we left the back room of the store.   While not very good quality, at least it was discrete.

Along with rearranging the bootleg DVD shops around town, the EXPO has had a tremendous impact on the city of Shanghai.  The 300 kilometers of new Metro lines opened in the last year is just one of the many additions to the city.  All of this rapid construction, however, comes at a cost.  According to the Associated Press, each Shanghai family will receive a free Expo ticket and a 200 yuan ($29) prepaid transportation card from the government as partial compensation for inconveniences such as traffic and mandatory bag scans at subway stations.

And perhaps most discouraging is that all of the effort, money ($55 billion in total by some accounts) and resources dedicated to the monumental effort of putting on the EXPO may not have a lasting positive impact.  We found that after being opened for only 4 days there were many examples of EXPO construction falling apart.  Paint was peeling off benches and light poles were leaning precariously as they had come loose.  It seems that the old adage holds true, you can have only two of the following three attributes for a project: Fast, Cheap or Good.  It seems the Chinese always opt for the first two.  This has created a huge branding problem that the 1.3 billion Chinese will be dealing with for the foreseeable future as they look to build an economy not solely based on exporting the cheapest, least value-added products to the rest of the world.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In other news, Amy and I contributed, along with 200 other top travel bloggers, to Tripbase’s Travel Secrets eBook that has just launched.   We were happy to contribute our travel tips because there is a great sustainability aspect to the project.  For every e-book that is downloaded Tripbase will make a $1 donation to the fantastic cause, Charity: Water.

  • Charity: Water’s mission: to help bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
  • Tripbase campaign target: to build 4 freshwater wells, providing clean water for an entire school for the next 20 years.

How it works:
You, the GreenAroundTheGlobe reader, get a FREE ebook with travel tips from the best travel bloggers across the net (including us!). When you download the FREE ebook, Tripbase will donate $1 to the clean water project. Simple. YOU click, YOU download, YOU get great travel tips, YOU help bring safe drinking water to the world.

Click away on the icon below so that others can drink away!

I’ve helped, please help too
led by Tripbase

{ 3 comments }

Out from Chinese Censorship

by Keith on May 19, 2010 · 8 comments

The land of the rising sun has provided us with many things over the last two days. Delicious sushi and beer, orderly street crossings and clean air to name just a few. But one of the most exciting things for flashpackers like us has to be the uncensored and incredibly high-speed internet we have at our hostel. We have had our Mainland Southeast Asia highlight video finished for weeks but despite having a VPN we were unable to get it past the Chinese censors and uploaded to Vimeo.  Check it out below, and if you have not yet seen the first two episodes you can check them out here.

Also be sure to to check out our guest post on the Art of Backpacking here.  The post details our experiences and features some of our best pictures from Expo 2010 in Shanghai.  We will soon have a post here highlighting the different sustainability efforts we saw at the Expo, but this post gives our overview and recommendations if you are planning a visit to Shanghai and the Expo.  Be sure to leave a comment on Art of Backpacking with your thoughts.

{ 8 comments }

The Truth About Travel in China – Part Three: People

by Amy on May 18, 2010 · 5 comments

This post is part of a series on our experiences while traveling independently in China. Click here to read Part One: Language and here to read Part Two: Food

The people are pushy and rude.  And you can forget about personal space.Sorry, folks, but after nearly a month in China I can tell you that there is no way around this one.  You will be pushed.  You will be cut off.  And that cute old grandma over there?  She’ll throw you an elbow in a heartbeat if you come between her and that bus.

You will also have your Western sense of personal space violated in any and every crowded public space.  We experienced this for hours on end during our two days standing in line at the World Expo in Shanghai. If there is an inch of space between you and person behind you, the line is too drawn out. Instead of withdrawing from contact, it seems to be sought after.

And it wasn’t just us. While eating lunch outside the Terra Cotta Warriors museum in Xi’an, we witnessed what to us was the most bizarre scene.  A young Chinese woman is sitting on bench eating her lunch.  Other empty, equally shaded, equally scenic benches surround her.  Along come three elderly Chinese women, who all decide that it is time for a rest.  The three of them squeeze onto the bench where the young woman is eating her lunch.  The young woman packs up her lunch and moves the 3 meters to the next bench to eat her lunch in peace.  Thirty seconds later, the elderly women leave.

So how do you deal with the constant chaos and touchy strangers? We decided that rather than get upset about what is really nothing more than different cultural norms, to take the approach of cultural anthropologists and make stuff up about why the Chinese do what they do.  Rubbing up against us?  Must be that touching a Westerner is good luck.  Cars that plow into crowded crosswalks?  Perhaps they are just doing their part for population control.   Rushing the gate at the airport as soon as it looks like they might begin boarding?  Everyone is so excited to be flying for the first time they cannot wait another minute.

Adjusting you perspective is the key to enjoying your time in China.  You are not going to instill Western norms of personal space in the 1.3 billion Chinese.  So instead of having them wonder why that white person (you) is so upset standing on the crowded subway, stand back (in the arms of a stranger) and enjoy the ride.

{ 5 comments }

← Previous Entries