Tom: Hefei (May 09)

Hefei (May 09) · May 11, 11:06 AM

The seats on this bus to Shanghai are wide, heavily padded faux leather. I’m in the last row at the back of the bus on the right, and I can stretch my legs into the aisle. Hunger aside — I only have a roll of crackers and and a small tube of sausage — this six hour ride will be pleasant.

Yesterday Michael met me at the train station in Hefei to explain very accurately how I could have taken a bus and avoided the memorable train ride. He lives in a dorm and works on the wooded campus of a state enterprise which also houses a university. We were too late to the cafeteria for breakfast; had to make do with sliced of spicy triangle bread and fried bread. Then I took a short nap to take the edge of the sleep deficit and we spent the afternoon walking Hefei’s long parks. The first required 15Y to enter, and featured a wilting peony display, and many “power ranger” style monsters with motion-triggered actions: flashing lights, roars, flapping appendages, and so on. We walked and talked slowly across the east/west parks running along the south side of the city’s center. On the bus ride back to his place it started raining lightly. He found a three/four star hotel for me with a 100Y single and I fell quickly asleep after my first shower in a couple days. I slept in the next morning — missing my chance to exercise — and he met me for porridge and steamed bread at the hotel before he walked me to the bus stop. The long distance bus station is across town, and commuters crowded the bus. One girl also going to my stop gave me help and an umbrella; it’s still raining a little.

...

Now I’m on the bus to Shanghai, maybe an hour to go, and then I have another hour or two of travel time to my new friends’ home on the far East of Shanghai. After seeing the last two weeks go by to … wastefully … I’m eager to plan the remainder of my first thirty day entry into China. I have 18 nights to see Shanghai and get to Beijing. Then I will have to go find a border to step over and back to trigger the second entry on my visa. I expect to use Hong Kong.

I’ve accumulated a dozen phone numbers, and as many QQ and MSN chat ids; email is not ubiquitous here, I only have a couple of those. Everywhere there are friendly people eager to help or just chat. Anyone I have spent time with refuses to let me pay for meals — I think pressing the issue would be a bit insulting. I get “hello”, “ok”, and “laowai” from passing natives. Everyone knows “hello”. Shopkeepers also know “please come in”, and are happy to apply the special foreigner’s price multiplier. Restaurants are eager to bring out their English language menu with marked up prices. But if I with locals, we get the Chinese price. I’ve eaten very well asking people to select “ordinary” fare this way: tomato and egg soup, steamed dumplings, chopped chicken, spicy tofu, noodle bowls, and corn on the cob on a stick on the street.

* * *

mmmmm….sausage tubes!
— JFu May 12, 11:37 PM #

http://tom.spacing-guild.net/2006/05/13/shanghai-i-may-09-10

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