Day 19 : swindled by Shanghai
The say started at the Urban Planning Museum on People's Square. The first floor had old maps and pictures of "old" Shanghai - it gave us a better understanding of the city. The second floor started out impressive with a model of the entire city, it was the size of the room. There was also a model of Pudong Airport and a place where little kids could " drive" a boat. There were lots of lights and music and screen showing the major cities in the world : New York, Sydney, Paris, Rome... In brief, we were in the middle of the biggest advertisement for Shanghai World Expo 2010.
From there we went across the square to the Shanghai Museum where we saw calligraphy, pottery, costumes...but neither of us was in the mood for a museum so not even the air conditioning could keep us in the museum.
We sat outside the museum trying to figure out where to eat and keep cool when some nice students came up to us and started conversation. They said they were visiting Shanghai and had heard about a tea ceremony that they'd like to visit and did we want to come. Rebecca's guard instantly went up but remembering the reporters in Kaifeng, she decided to listen to Jerome who was more trustful. We followed them a few blocks away thinking we would watch something interesting.
We were set up in a room where a woman told us after different teas, the various ways to drink them and their benefits. By this point, we were fairly certain that we were getting swindled but could do nothing about it. Rebecca secretly believed the tea was poisoned. After tasting a few different teas, we decided it was time to end it and said we didn't want to try anymore. Our "friends" however wanted to buy some tea first stressing that tea and tea sets make great gifts. Then the bill came at which point one of our friends said they really wanted to treat us but they were just poor students. The rotten tourists who we are refused to pay their part and their tea. The only thing we lost in the end was our pride...
We needed to recover so took our time and didn't get to the French Concession until after sundown. We were heading to a bar that Jerome had read about. We decided to pass through the market to see about getting some gifts but ended up leaving with nothing but aggrevation. The market was a nightmare (see the silk market experience in Beijing). We went in circles for what seemed like forever and finally found the bar. We settled into the plush chairs of the Face Bar in an old French Concession hotel and enjoyed well deserved expensive cocktails and the calm atmosphere.
From there we went across the square to the Shanghai Museum where we saw calligraphy, pottery, costumes...but neither of us was in the mood for a museum so not even the air conditioning could keep us in the museum.
We sat outside the museum trying to figure out where to eat and keep cool when some nice students came up to us and started conversation. They said they were visiting Shanghai and had heard about a tea ceremony that they'd like to visit and did we want to come. Rebecca's guard instantly went up but remembering the reporters in Kaifeng, she decided to listen to Jerome who was more trustful. We followed them a few blocks away thinking we would watch something interesting.
We were set up in a room where a woman told us after different teas, the various ways to drink them and their benefits. By this point, we were fairly certain that we were getting swindled but could do nothing about it. Rebecca secretly believed the tea was poisoned. After tasting a few different teas, we decided it was time to end it and said we didn't want to try anymore. Our "friends" however wanted to buy some tea first stressing that tea and tea sets make great gifts. Then the bill came at which point one of our friends said they really wanted to treat us but they were just poor students. The rotten tourists who we are refused to pay their part and their tea. The only thing we lost in the end was our pride...
We needed to recover so took our time and didn't get to the French Concession until after sundown. We were heading to a bar that Jerome had read about. We decided to pass through the market to see about getting some gifts but ended up leaving with nothing but aggrevation. The market was a nightmare (see the silk market experience in Beijing). We went in circles for what seemed like forever and finally found the bar. We settled into the plush chairs of the Face Bar in an old French Concession hotel and enjoyed well deserved expensive cocktails and the calm atmosphere.
posted by Gros Joe at
10:32 AM
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