The beautiful thing about Shanghai is the contrast between new and old, at least in the center: skyscrapers and small areas of little houses, but very well restored. This is outside my hostel, which was really cheap, with a wooden small bridge between the pool for red fish and the one with turtles.

I was lucky to take this photo, in Shanghai you can see more Porches than bikes like this. I entered one of the two Ferrari shops, they sell 200 cars per year. And the best selling day is Sunday. I try to find an explanation, why it’s not Saturday not to wait for the next weekend:

1.      Sunday is the day to spend with the family, so you go shopping

2.      you went out in a club on Saturday, nothing happened and you buy an aspirator

3.      exclusion: if it’s Monday then you’ll have to buy all the week, if it’s Tuesday in unlucky, Wed is Champions league, Fri closes the stock market, Sat … yes, why is not Sat ? 

 Unfortunately the New replaces quick and everywhere the Old. In the Art Museum there are photos from the 90’s. There were a lot of visitors (only Chinese) and they were amazed.

 

 I fish without any reason,

The fish are big and the boat is light

I am afraid not to sink

…….

It’s like the relation between me and the society: the fish are my goals, but if I am not strong enough I can fail.

Many of the Chinese Masters first failed in politics, so they were exiled and had to travel. Painting was a way to express their frustrations and to escape the present.

Weng Xiang is the greatest Calligrapher, lived around 300AD. He discovered the way to write cursive. He liked a lot the geese. It is said that once he followed one until he got on the property of a farmer. He bought the goose by drawing its character.

All these stories I got from Wei. She was laughing on a political Comic. It’s amazing that right after Mao, there were published political comics in very popular journals about: one child policy – one nephew asking his grandmother why his father has so many brothers, basic needs – some people waiting for a drop of water at shower.

I am impressed about the knowledge of a Chinese student on the West Culture, Wei likes a lot Kundera, jazz, but because she listens on a web site, she doesn’t know many names. And of course, like many others studied violin. She had no toys, but her parents bought all the time books. She has a “tiger” mother: very severe and demanding, but very close to her.

The house where it took place the first reunion of the Chinese Communist Party is a luxurious one in the French area. This is the only photo you could take, at the entrance. The guardians don’t have labels with their names, but numbers, otherwise, they are very willing to provide you information  about any photo. There are a lot of figures, not one single showman like Stalin and Ceausescu. 

At the opera I missed a concert of our great and a little commercial soprano, Angela Burlacu.

I have to compare the building of the opera in Shanghai with others: Paris, Viena – very beautiful, London – big name, Covent Garden, but small entrance in front of a market, Scala from Milano, I passed by, an ugly building, the interior is nice. The one in Shanghai I cannot say that I liked a lot, but for sure I’ll remember it. And it has a nice location.

 

This is my image about Chinese entrepreneurial spirit: very inventive, skillful, enjoying and proud on what they are doing. This lady sells little toys made from grass: grasshoppers, butterflies, some little birds… And this is the scale I could see in the streets, but I am sure that it is the same at higher scale.

 

Try to AVOID first of May ! It was an interesting experience, but the crowd is very tiring. 

 

Add at metro: hall of fame with a scientist, an opera singer and a highly respected professor at university.

 Here is my hostel, right in the center, 6 euros / night / big and clean four beds room

 

Conclusion from Shanghai: contrast of Old and New 

The airport and the railway station are twin buildings, from here I took the night train to Pekin.