Disclaimer:
I just want to remind everyone again that there will most likely be some cursing in some of the videos and in the post, why? Because when people where trying to screw us over and rob me I wasn’t thinking “fiddlesticks” I was thinking “what the fuck is going on?” that’s why. I don’t want this to be a watered down version of a traveling experience, this is the real deal with real stories, experiences, and thoughts, hope you can deal with that.
Back to the story…
At this point during the trip it’s just Brian and I, the two non-mandarin speakers. Our friend Daniel stayed in Beijing (where he works) so we had nobody to translate or communicate for us. We spent around 2 days in Shanghai exploring. Don’t ask about the picture below, as far as I gathered, it was some sort of mascot.
We got off the train station found our hotel, which again was the “home inn” and then started exploring. Our first stop was the Bund museum which housed a lot of interesting artifacts and exhibits from various Asian countries. This is also the first place where we had our first near scam experience. In front of the museum two guys in their 20’s were taking photos of each other as if they were tourists and of course asked us to take their photo. We made small take and they talked a bit about the NBA and Kobe Bryant. Next thing I knew they were telling us to go have tea with them and some emperor at some Chinese tea festival. Brian and I both looked at each other and literally said “what the fuck are these guys talking about?” Needless to say we declined their invitation and continued onto the museum. We laughed about their invitation for the rest of the day, I mean come on, drinking tea with an emperor? For those unfamiliar with this scam, basically you get invited to go drink tea with some people, you don’t see any of the prices until the very end when it’s time for the bill to get there. The people that bring you to the tea party disappear and you’re left with a massive bill for tea that you didn’t want, please avoid any tea invitations for your sake.
After the museum we ended walking through a main square, we were starving and for some reason McDonald’s sounded like a good idea, especially since we were familiar with it! We also walked by a Pizza hut and a Papa John’s but believe it or not, these are actually luxury restaurants in China and I wasn’t about to pay more for a pizza overseas then I do in the States. After we ate we then made our way to the T.V. tower and to an area known as the Bund which is long walk way along the water. We took some photos and walked around. There were these two cute girls that came up to us and started making small talk. Again scammers, this time the scam was to view some art which you are then pressured into buying, we casually turned down their invitation and then witnessed how they tried to scam other Americans, we came to their rescue and told them what was going on, the scammers didn’t like that. We exchanged phone numbers together (before we figured out the were scammers) which led to a series of insulting back and forth text messages which eventually ended up in a message from them that said “go back to your fucking country.” Hey it wasn’t our fault they were making a living suckering people into “buying” art.
We also met two cute little girls (around 10) that called themselves little journalists (see video below), they asked us a few random questions and then we went on our merry little way.
It was pretty overcast and cloudy in Shangai and to be honest neither Brian or I liked the city that much. Apparently the nightlife there is great if you know were to go, but sadly I didn’t have a clue. Shanghai just felt like a massive city which is something I didn’t want to see. On a side note as we were walking back to our hotel another pair of girls came up to us, they were scantily clad and were giggling; then one of them came up to Brian and said “want to fuck?” Ah yes, good ‘ol Shanghai, that’s exactly what we wanted to hear after a full day of people trying to scam us. Of course, we said no (we really did say no!).
Eventually we made it over to the t.v. tower which is surrounded by other large buildings. We tried to go into several of them but each building had a ridiculous entrance fee just to see the top floor, it was also quite cloudy so we decided against it. Overall Shanghai was just ok, I definitely had a better time in Beijing! When we finally got back to the hotel it was pouring rain. I remembered seeing a massage parlor near our hotel so I thought about going over there to get a massage. Now I know what you’re thinking, do all these massages in China come with a happy ending? Fortunately for me I ended up in a legitimate massage parlor and got the most amazing one hour foot massage for under $5, that’s less then the price of a happy meal in the states!
Things to remember in Shanghai
- Don’t accept invitations to go look at art
- Don’t accept invitations to go drink tea
- Visit the Bund museum the Bund itself
- If it’s a nice day it might be worth to check out the view from one of the tall buildings in the city
- Check out the main square/promenade area near the Bund museum (forgot what it’s called)
Here are some videos!
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