City of lights with dirty secrets–Shanghai, China

Ok, let me start by saying I think China is a great country. It’s an economic powerhouse with the largest population in the world and can brag of an extraordinary history that goes far beyond what my country can claim. It’s landscapes vary from deserts to mountains to flat lands and it truly offers some jaw dropping sights. That being said, I am glad I am writing this blog thousands of miles away from China and can probably say with certainty that I won’t be returning. I’ve been putting off writing about our experiences in China because I never have much good to say about it when talking to friends and family and I never want to come across as insensitive and certainly never want to describe an entire country with stereotypes. But to be honest, this is our blog and my opinions so I’ve decided there is no need to sugar coat my feelings.

Now, about Shanghai.

With another overnight train ride behind us (and we were happy it was behind us as we hadn’t been so lucky with our cabin mates this time) we decided to brave public transportation and use the metro to get to our hostel. Mark grabbed breakfast on the rooftop restaurant but I had my eyes on the bakery we passed on the way. We walked down the road and watched as all the owners of the seafood stands set up for the day. Smelly ice covered the ground as they filled the shelves and tanks with some familiar (fish, muscles, oysters) and some really strange creatures from the sea. Off to the side was a couple crates full of bullfrogs and snakes-not together of course- that seems to be a popular dish in China. Fresh as it was, I bypassed the seafood and grabbed a danish at the bakery that would come to eat at every morning during our stay.

Fresh Seafood every morning

Bullfrog..

We ventured into the city to get our bearings and headed towards the infamous Bund. The first thing we noticed was the pollution. We were in a city full of sky scrapers but you couldn’t actually see them until you were right next to them. After walking for about 45 minutes you could actually feel a burn in the back of your throat and our eyes began to water from the smog. I completely understand why so many locals wear facemasks on a day to day basis here because at times its hard to breathe.

We arrived at the Bund and pollution aside, it was a lovely part of town. The Bund is basically a river walk that overlooks the iconic Pudong skyline. On the city side the street is lined with art deco buildings that gave the walk a very European feel. The river side was full of tourists taking pictures and we were no different snapping shots of the boats coming in. The smog on the river gave it an almost mystical look and the sun was doing its best to shine through.

The view from the Bund

The next day we took the advice of our guide book and set to investigate the French Concession. I had visions of more European architecture with cafes and boutiques. Couldn’t have been more wrong. It was essentially a long road full of high street and designer stores. While it didn’t match my expectations it did say a lot for the ‘communist’ state in China. We stopped in a few of our favorite stores but quickly left when we realized how much Western clothes cost in Asia. We stopped at a major intersection with an Apple, Louise Vuitton, Coach and a large corporate office building flanking the corners and busy business men and women rushing by. This was a city like every other major city in the world.

We stopped at a Chinese culture museum on the way back to our hostel and browsed the ancient artefacts. We found some really great pieces but due to lack of sleep we just couldn’t find the energy to be interested for very long and actually ended up spending most of our time in the feature gallery of the Russian Alexandria.

A bit controversial to have a Tibetan mask in the Chinese culture museum but I thought it was cool

On the third day we navigated the side streets and alleyways to visit the Yuyuan gardens. These massive gardens were made for an aristocratic family and took 18 years to complete. After years of war and dilapidation they have been restored to their former glory and we were actually surprised by how pretty they were. Stone pathways wind through an array of various types of trees (I won’t pretend I know what they were), ornate pagodas were sprinkled throughout the gardens overlooking large ponds packed with brightly colored koi fish. Huge rock formations provided secret caves you could sneak away to and despite the guide books warnings of large crowds we were surprised by the serene atmosphere of this place. The garden provided an oasis and the sounds of the city disappeared.

 

The fourth day was largely spent looking for a museum that we ended up not being able to find. We ate in a Western shopping center that had a Hooters. To give you an idea of the cultural hygiene differences, we noticed large metal bowls sitting on top of the trash cans. These bowls were for the people to spit the huge chunks of phlegm they were constantly hacking up. Needless to say walking by these things made me a little queasy and we decided to spend the rest of the day hanging out at the hostel.  A friend that we met in Xi’an happened to book the same place so we had a few beers and chatted with some fellow travellers. That night we visited the Bund again to take some night time pictures of the skyline.

The Pudong Skyline

The Bund by night

Day 5. The zoo. This day is probably the main reason I have such a poor opinion of China although I was later informed that the situation is a common occurrence in most Southeast Asian zoos.

Mark had wanted to go to the zoo since we arrived and we thought a day out of the city would be welcome. It started out like any zoo visit. We cruised through the reptiles and the birds and stopped for lunch at a restaurant inside. Afterwards we headed for the bears. As we were walking up the the Grizzly bear exhibit we noticed a small crowd forming so we rushed up to see what was going on. The giant animal was stretching up the concrete wall with his paws extended towards the people. I ran up to get a picture having never seen any zoo animal get so close to the crowd in zoos back home (there is usually a large moat or some barrier preventing it). Upon closer inspection I realized the bear was begging for food. The Chinese visitors were throwing all kinds in at it and the bear, clearly used to this, caught each piece in its mouth. When the bear had enough and walked away the man next to me threw his plastic water bottle at its head. I was so shocked I yelled at him but he had no idea what I was saying and as this is normal practice in the zoo he couldn’t see any reason for me to be upset. There were no zoo keepers, no security team, no one at all who worked there around to stop this from happening and we saw maybe 3 people the entire visit who had a uniform on.

The only picture we took in the zoo

With nothing more we could do we moved on and passed the next bear exhibit with two black bears. They were busy pulling apart pieces of trash that had been thrown into their enclosure much to the delight of onlookers. I was livid so we decided to move on. We saw a sign for Pet World so thinking it was a petting zoo we thought it would be a nice reprieve from the bears. As soon as you walk in you see lines of cages full of dogs. Domestic dogs, collies, beagles, dalmations, etc, all sat in tiny concrete cages. They were emaciated and covered in sores from the hard surface. Some were aggressive and biting at the cages as kids poked them with sticks while some just sat there with a resigned look on their faces. I was shaking with shock and we ran away trying to get away from the sound of the dogs crying and barking.

We decided to leave, I agreed to stop at the Panda exhibit on the way out. This, being the main draw for visitors at the zoo, was well kept up and the pandas were fat and happy. Still, a fat old man did his best to throw pieces of trash over the tall wall and again I yelled at him. We walked towards the exit, I was in tears when we walked past a baby tiger enclosure I heard a young boy say ‘they look a little happier’. I made a comment about nothing being happy in this place. The mother heard me speaking in English and came over to talk. Her and her family were from Malaysia and while the standards are low in their country they were shocked by the conditions in the Shanghai zoo. The kids spoke passionately about the Pet World and their mother told us that they cried when they saw the familiar pets in the cages. We left as fast as we could after that and decided to leave zoo’s off the list of things to do for the rest of our trip.

Shanghai is one of the most modern cities in China. Just a week before we arrived they finished up the Expo that attracted millions of domestic and foreign visitors. It’s hard to understand how a city known for its advances in technology can be so far behind in the welfare of its people (that’s another story) and its animals.

To read about the current state of animal rights and activists in China read here.

I’m still in the process of investigating what if anything can be done that might make an impact but unfortunately, I don’t think the Chinese government sees the state of their zoos as a priority.

Anyway,  our experience in Shanghai will forever be tainted by our experience at the zoo. I can’t help but to say I was ready to leave China.

-H

For more pictures of Shanghai look here