Shanghai is a strange place even for me, a not-so-foreign-foreigner. I may be ethnically Chinese, and I grew up knowing my relatives who live here, but there are so many things - habits, behaviour, rituals - that have shocked and surprised me. I've never been bored here, because no matter how used I got to daily life, something will always unexpectedly jump out and surprise me. I remember how after a month of living here, all I wanted to do was to just simply stay at home and not allow my brain to be shocked by the craziness in Shanghai. That's only happened on a few occassions though. I generally love it here, and I believe that's because I came here with an open mind and I appreciate differences in culture and lifestyle. I love the speed, the dizzying direction of change, the level of energy this city has that I've felt in no other places. I truly feel like I'm living in a different world here.
There were so many times when I saw something funny and wished I had my camera with me. Last weekend, I took my camera out (DSLRs are so heavy...) and took photos of these things I saw, which I found amusing and unusual:
An old trishaw with a pile full of stuff from DHL! This brings express mail service to a whole new level!
Okay, this doesn't count as amusing or unusual, but I found this cute.
old man and old woman cycling together makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :)
There are a few places in the city where there are 'dog meets' - people bring their pet pooches and they socialise with other people and their pet pooches. This one's outside the Nanjing West Road station, where I get off from work, and it's really a funny scene because there are always, ALWAYS many dogs around the area (esp chow-chows) and many curious onlookers. This lady brought some snacks for all her new doggie friends.
On the way home I have to go through a skybridge and last week I saw something strange - there were people sleeping on the bridge! I thought they were probably homeless - but I took a closer look and noticed that they were pretty well dressed. I walked more and found more people lying on the floor, on rattan mats, fast asleep. I asked a passerby about it, and turns out that these guys were sleeping there cos it was freaking hot in Shanghai, and their house was probably too warm so they slept outside. On my way home, I saw more people sleeping on mats on public benches and sidewalks. Weird sight. I told my dad about it and he said he used to do that too as a kid (dad left Shanghai at 10). Weird!
Okay, I'll have to blog about this one in another post. I took this photo at a MARRIAGE MARKET. Yes you heard that right! Crowds gather at People's Park every Saturday and Sunday to matchmake their sons and daughters, posting up their photos and profiles for the whole world to see. It's like farmer's market meets match.com.
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Amusing blog you have here...
ReplyDeleteOn the marriage market, I am not sure whether the person should laugh or cry if his/her parent did that...
oh yi, i love tt shot of the dogs! it's like a National Geogrphic shot, with movement and all:D the shot also made me realize tt the chinese have come a long way in fashion. not tt there's any big fashion statement but generally people there hv caught up with the rest of the world:)
ReplyDeleteenjoyed this post.keep them comin'
i was told tt it was a crime to own pooches. now look at them.
ReplyDeleteplease keep the pics coming hy! you're looking great and shanghai looks sooo enticing. really hoping i make it there over my christmas break. can't wait to hear more when i see you!
ReplyDeleteCan I ask you what's the name of the street with the man in green shirt on a bike? I had a drink in a bar once along a street that looks like that but I forgot to take down the name of the place.
ReplyDeleteAll I could remember were the plane trees like the ones found in France. And I saw a shop that was built with one of those trees inside it. I wonder if it is the same street in your photo.
Thanks a bunch.