last days in shanghai

So on my last full day in Shanghai, although I tried my best to avoid it, I had my first solo restaurant meal. It wasn't so bad... until I was seated at the only available table, which was incidentally equipped for 6 people. So not only was I alone but I had 5 other empty places of people that obviously weren't eating with me. Le sigh. It also didn't help that while I was eating, 3 different groups of 5 people came into the restaurant, but of course couldn't be seated because one person was taking up the table that they needed. Lovely. Needless to say, I ate fast. On a brighter note, the restaurant was located in a lovely area of town. It's a series of little shops and eateries crammed into a labyrinth of alleyways called Taikang Lu. Rich suggested I go there, and I'm so glad that I did! You really don't notice it off the main street. The entrance looks like every other alley way, with colorful laundry lines extending across from windows and AC units dripping onto the crumbling brick pathway below. But after a few meters, you discover the first tiny, indie shops and then it's a completely different place- I love places like that, places that encourage exploration. The buildings themselves felt very old and had a somewhat deteriorating look to them, but they had a certain rustic quality that was charming and aesthetically pleasing. There were shops for everything, and it was a delight to get lost in the maze of alleys. In between shops were old residences and it was also nice to see some of the locals out and about. I'm sure this feeling wasn't shared on their end very much (this area was pretty busy as well)... But, I'm sure they like making business off us visitors.

After that, I tried to walk to Jing'An Temple, but I had forgotten that one block in the streets of Shanghai is about 3 to 4 times the length of an avenue block in New York... So I made it to the temple, finally, just when it closed. Fail. But I did get there the next morning, on my last day. The temple was beautiful. As you entered, you came to a square courtyard, surrounded by the 4 main buildings. In the courtyard was a type of tower/statue structure decorated with many dragon figures that people threw coins into for luck. And along side that was a mini, iron house of sorts for burning incense. It was drizzling when I went so the mist combined with the burning incense made the whole experience much more solemn. Walking up the steps to the main building, I was immediately struck by a flash of silver. Inside was an enormous, silver Buddha statue. I walked into the temple behind some visiting monks and looked on in awe at the statue. I eyed it upward and when I reached it's eyes something kind of froze, as cheesy as that sounds. I ended up staring at it for a good half an hour. It felt like it was looking in me and through me and I hadn't felt so spiritually moved like that in a long time. It was a good way to end my trip in Shanghai.

The train station, was another good experience to end my trip in Shanghai, but a different type of good. Good in the sense that I think I can handle anything now after that train station! With the chaos, the crowds and crowds of people, and most information in Chinese characters, it's really a wonder that I made it onto my train at all. But I suppose I don't give myself and my survival skills enough credit. With some help from a very nice Chinese couple, I made it onto my train and discovered it to be a sleeper and not seated. The mystery as to why the ticket was so expensive was answered! (I had gone to the train station before to buy the ticket myself, wanting to see if I could manage it, and came away with a ticket costing three times as much as I had budgeted for, EEP!) In the end I'm glad that I accidentally bought a sleeper ticket- it was much more comfortable for the 11 hour trip. That and I'd never been on a sleeper train before! I was excited like a little kid, and even more so because I got top bunk! YES! The other 5 people crammed into my compartment didn't get my enthusiasm for being squeezed all the way at the top, where I could really barely sit up. But I loved it! I felt like I was in a fort! Complete with snacks and a book to read! And I had to awkwardly climb up some ladder step things, so it was like a tree house fort! Yay forever! But anyway, yes, the train ride was cool.

And now I'm in Xi'an. But I should get out of here and go exploring! I'll report on Xi'an later! Ta!