Journey to the East/Shanghai streetscum

Hello comrades
greetings and well-wishes
time for another message addressed to Mr & Ms cyberspace
At this time, i am in Hangzhou, just west of Shanghai. Famous for its beautiful west lake, China worships this city as a tourist mecca and cultural icon. And i must admit the lake itself is quite stunning. The history of Hangzhou goes back a long way too. A visit to a couple of local museums convinced me well of that. Home to serene kingdoms while the rest of China was in chaos between dynasties, it has been a centre of Buddhism, art and calligraphy since pre-christian times. Unfortunately some of the ancient buddhist stele carvings were destroyed during the cultural revolution (the taliban needed an example!), but tall stupas- old and rebuilt, still circle the lake here and there and add to the sense of serenity created by the intermingling of water, earth, greenery and humanity. Long causeways have been built across the lake to create many large and small lakes joined together under bridges, and dredged material piled up to create islands that dotting the water body. Nowadays Hangzhou prides itself on being a 'healthy-living city'- apparently up to date with world standards- big projects have been undertaken to clean up the lake, lots of green spaces, and local govt has launched a bicycle vending system on almost every corner to imitate european cities. Perhaps thats why they're hosting a world mayoral congress for healthy cities next month.
A few days ago i was in Shanghai, having spent a leisurely 5 days to tour the town, visit some friends and catch a big tourism exhibition going on in the city. Some dramas on my 2nd night in town made things very memorable. In the centre of Shanghai is Remin Gongcheng- people's square- but unfortunately- apart from being the domain of 'the people' its also home to a variety of smooth-talking shikesters. I sensed this as soon as i got off the subway and was almost immeadiately approach by some over-friendly characters suggesting i go this way or the other. No thanks! on the 500m walk accross the sqaure to the Shanghai museum, there must have been 3 or 4 other groups who attempted to lead me wayside. Now i am a friendly fella, like to think the best of people, give them a chance to tell their story, but these guys often make an artform of using others trust and milking their goodwill for all its worth. Some just want you to visit a shop, others see 'their' artwork or they'll try to take you to an expensive show. But later i had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting a couple of much more sinister shikesters.
After spending a good 4 hours in the Shanghai museum- a wonderful collection of ancient bronzes, ceramics, sculpture, calligraphy, jadework and other materials- all with English captions (and its free!), i started heading off towards the famous riverfront Bund city-viewing strip via the busy neon-lit shopping mall st Nanjing rd. As i entered the street, two beaming young girls said hello and followed me, saying they wished to practice their English. Though being a little suspicious of their intentions, i saw no harm in some innocent chat with these young ladies. Their smiles perhaps made me see them too favorably, and when they suggested we stop for a drink i was, in retrospect, too agreeable. Though i stuck to my guns at the first place we went- up an old lift to a 7th floor restaurant- and checked the menu, saw high prices and the lack of an advertised view so insisted to their suprise that we leave- i wanted to go to the Bund. But when they gently asked for us to stop for a drink to warm up at one more quiet place i checked the menu and ordered a slightly pricey ($6aud) pot of tea. When other drinks and snacks came out i said i didnt want them and sent them back. But these girls ordered a couple more whiskeys and when i often protested they kept insisting they would pay.
How much could a whiskey cost?
At about 7.30pm i thought it was time to go - so they sent the bill- $600 AUD!!!
I couldnt believe my eyes! The smiling assassins across the table maintained their innocent posture, while i took the matter up with staff, four guys playing cards abruptly finished their game to approach me threateningly. I couldnt leave until the bill was paid. I asked for a blanket to sleep here. Another guy put a lock on the door. I studied the bill with a menu. An obscure back page in the menu listed the girls whiskeys @ 400CNY a glass!? their wallets were empty. I'd been scammed. I breathed in meditation to consider my options. Meanwhile the vulture-like staff were circling at my back, grunting and scoffing at each other. After a few minutes the 'kind and generous' manager offered to accept only 1000CNY on top of the 400 we already offered. I waited longer until he offered i pay 600 more, then moved over to the bar to negotiate. After taking some photos of the bar and staff (while they scattered fearfully) i agreed to pay 500 CNY if they unlocked the door. I told the girls to come with me, and then on the street i let them know what i thought of their utterly ruthless, cold, heartless, inhumane activities.
I went straight to the police, avoiding a local station where ones of the thieves tried to gesture me towards and called from a restaurant up the road. But these cops, when they came, were from the same local station, refused to go back to the bar with me and also refused to tell me their name and rank. I showed them photos of the culprits but they only smiled blankly. I made my point to them clearly before walking on, tempted to go back for a fight, but deciding against it.
Later walking the street, approached by many such ladies i realised the scale of this kind of business going on here.
Maybe they have a shikester university set-up there- amateurs learn the trade around museum in daytime and if they pass the cut graduate to the big buck business round Nanjing road after sunset. In any case, i get the feeling that organised crime is still well-entrenched in the Shanghai scene. And the local cops are no match for them.
Moral of the story: Shanghai travellers beware!
Apart from this experience, Shanghai was enjoyable. Whether it be enjoying the views over high rises of Lujiazui from my friends 80th floor hotel room, sampling cultural sights at Jade Buddha and Jing an temples, or admiring the classic architecture and parks of the french concession area, i had fun wandering around by foot and subway, meeting up with a few old friends along the way. Shanghai is clearly a flourishing city of wealth, with openess and more of an international flavour than Beijing. 2010 Expo will be a great time to visit. Locals are gearing up for this as their event to rival the beijing games and many new building projects (e.g. subways) planned completed by then.
After zipping back from Hangzhou on the 'harmony' train at over 170km, I went out to dinner with a nice young lady i met in Hangzhou for some chinese practice, before catching an early flight to Chengdu the next morning.
Now im back in Jiuzhaigou, having spent the day on an epic 10.5 hour bus journey from Chengdu- through 3500m high mountain passes and some of the areas worst affected by the may 12 earthquake. For an 100km stretch of the road there were landslides everywhere -entire hillsides in places, much temporary housing and rebuilding going on, large tracts of the road had fallen away- leaving only one lane- and collpased bridges stood as reminder of the power of the earth when it tremors. Though outward signs of destroyed buildings had largely been cleared up, it was obvious that many of these dozens of villages were rebuilding almost from stratch. No wonder the Sichuan government has allocated 3 trillion yuan (about 700 billion AUD) for reconstruction and recovery projects. This was huge.
Back at the park, i have reports to write and future projects to think about. Im also expected to put a performance of Australian culture for other staff at the parks 30th birthday celebration in a couple of weeks... What the %^&*!
PEACE OUT
cal