SHANGHAI - A TRAGIC TALE OF A HOST NATION

Posted 1 Week, 13 Hours, 53 Minutes ago

Shanghai - the apparent commercial and financial centre of the People's Republic of China. I was to spend 10 days (...days that I'll never get back) in Shanghai. When I arrived on its shores after a five-hour flight from Singapore, I was immediately greeted by a blast of hot air, even inside the air-conditioned Pudong International Airport. I was to find out later that 'air-conditioning' was synonymous with 'room temperature'. Arriving at the immigration desk of the arrival hall, I was blinded by excitement as to the apparent chaos of the city. Looking back, alarm bells should have been ringing the moment I saw long, snaking queues and people pushing against me. Little did I know, it was merely a prelude to the ridiculous chaos that was to follow throughout the trip...

Day Zero - That evening, dinner was pre-arranged by a couple of friends, who suggested a steamboat restaurant near our hotel. The food was delicious, and it was overshadowed only by the top-class service and awesome company of friends. We decided to take a long walk back to the hotel instead of taking a cab. As we stepped out of the restaurant, I noticed an elderly man conjouring all his inner 'chi' and funneling that energy through all his entrails and out through his mouth in the form of a nice sticky green lump of spit. I made a mental note to avoid the sacred ground on which he had offered this 'blessing'. If I thought this was bad, I would soon be in for a rude awakening.