travels--HK to Shanghai

from june 5 to 10, i was in shanghai. after taiwan, i flew to HK (cos i was flying cathay pacific). because i want to save money and experience what the everyday mainland Chinese go thru, i decided to take the train from HK to Shanghai. it was a 20-hour train ride. but a pretty good experience.

i learned a few things...

• bring your own cup (they provide hot water only)
• bring your own food (they are slow in selling the train food and i thought it looked pretty oily)
• people were pretty friendly to one another
• men can snore very loudly at night
• it was a long journey (duh!)

before i went, everybody was warning me to be cautious so i was super cautious. i didn't talk to anybody but just listened and watched the interaction of people. i thought most of the passengers were mainlanders (in the hard sleep section ... 6 to a cabin) and some adventurous westerners. there was an old man who didn't seem to prepare any food so those in his cabin offered him bread. i thought it was a very communal experience.

after arriving to shanghai, i spent the next few days with jw's family. (jw is a friend from my previous church.) i was very touched by their hospitality and how well 6 people can be cramped into a 2-bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment without any conflicts. i think they were amused to have a taiwanese living amongst them so jw's father would explain some of the china communist traditions, notable heroes, poems, etc. i think it is beneficial for my research on chinese american music (since i've not narrowed it down to chinese from which area).

because it was 'dragon boat festival', there was an extended holiday for that weekend. i think we went for a very avg chinese kind of weekend stroll in the public parks. it was interesting to see all the families with their young children (maybe pre-elementary school age) with their parents and grand parents.

i think the timing for my trip is pretty providential. before the trip, i already heard that my 3rd aunt's husband was hospitalized. but i think we all didn't think he would stay in the hospital for over a month. i got to visit him in the hospital and prayed along with the family for quick recovery. (thank God that he's gone home from the hospital but need to continue to pray for his full recovery) and because it was 'dragon boat festival', i also had a reunion dinner with my extended family. i've not had a chance to meet some of these relatives who's been living in shanghai all these years. it was good to finally meet them. i also had brief moments to catch up with those cousins that i'm more familiar with (thank God for family!)

hmm... this is getting pretty long. for coming back to HK, i decided to take the plane to shenzhen. that was also quite an experience... i guess i wont elaborate on that now.

for shanghai pix, you can go here.