RadioRoryA New Chapter
The trip enters a new chapter now. After three weeks of bouncing through China and Tibet on an organized group tour, I’m back on my own.
At least in Hong Kong, I have free access to the internet again. Do you know what it’s like to give up Google?!?! You have no idea how much I depend on it for everything, especially in a new city. I was able to access Facebook and Google at times using my cell phone, but it was inconsistent, at best. It’s nice to get back on real wi-fi and a little less Big Brother.
While I’m tempted to write a 300-page blog post about my time in Mainland China I think it’s best for everyone if I break it down by the timeline.
Shanghaied
After 12-hours of flying from Seattle to Shanghai I was eager to get off the plane, that is, until I saw the air outside. While the pilot steered toward the runway, a look outside showed air that was thick and brown. Not tan, brown. Beijing’s pollution problems are well-known, but I wasn’t expecting this in Shanghai. I’ve always had breathing/lung issues, but I really got worried that this would be a problem Turns out, there was no need for concern. A summer haze hangs over the city (and every Chinese city I visited) but it is made worse by the pollution. There was a light rain on the first night I arrived and that help to clear the air. My definition of “clear air” has also changed since getting to China.
Maybe it was my friends or my five-star accommodations (I got the air mattress on the floor), but I found Shanghai to be a breeze. The subway is a clean, efficient, and affordable way to get around while the chaos on the streets above is its own spectacle.
I remember growing up and seeing pictures of Chinese people wearing their dark-colored uniforms and pedaling around on the same black bicycle.
That nice quiet bike has been sent to the scrap heap, replaced by the buzzing menace of the scooter. The only things worse that the noisy, smelly scooters are the silent electric ones. As you walk around the city they come out of nowhere to run you down. Well, not me. I’m pretty sure scooters drivers do some quick engineering in their head and figure that hitting me would recreate something seen in a Road Runner cartoon. I just put on my best pissed-off face and try to look like I know where I’m going.
Oh and these reckless scooter drivers aren’t limited to young men. We’re talking families of four that are riding on these things without a helmet in sight. I suppose with 1.3-billion people, humans aren’t a rare natural resource.