Shanghai.....and a Squirt of Social Justice

A day as busy as only Americans would welcome started quite early-boarding the bus to Shanghai at 7:30 to begin our two hour journey to the big city! (As if Jiaxing's 3 million populous wasn't already big enough-haha)

Nifty Nugget of Knowledge #3:
While we Ah'Murricans pronounce it ShAAAng-HIGH, the Chinese pronounce it ShAUNG-high.

Our first stop was the American Consulate, where we received our official security briefing and more information about the State Department's Foreign Service Officer program. Here I had a lovely surprise! I serve on GenerationOn's National Youth Advisory Council alongside 13 other youth from around the country. Most of our collaboration is done via e-mail and conference call, and we rarely get to see each other! However, I knew that my fellow council member, Tyler was also studying with NSLI-Y in China (though in another province). So imagine my surprise when his group is at the briefing! It was great to see him, and I wish the AFS group a great summer of studying!

Nifty Nugget of Knowledge #4:
Chinese law DOES trump US law for any and all American citizens. If you are detained by Chinese police, the best the consulate can do is make sure you're getting some food and water. They "will not send black-hawk choppers to your rescue"- quote the wonderful presenters.

After the meeting was a quick stop at a Western bakery and grocery store. Alas, while it was fun to look around and actually recognize foods, they had no hummus

Next stop-Yue Gardens! The gardens were built as a place for the founder's father to rest at the end of his long life. Filled with symbolism and particularly arranged rock gardens, beautiful architecture and waterscapes, Chinese gardens are seen as a place for philosophical reflection-where man and nature can meet in peace.

We were only given 30 minutes to explore-and Lauren and I certainly used every minute! I could lose myself in those gardens for days-with the many rock pathways, scenic rest spots and all around beautiful landscape.

The markets outside of Yue Gardens were just the same-so much to see, so little time! We waited in line for the famous street food of Shanghai-special dumplings made with pork and crab that is bathing in a soup. When you bite into the tasty dumplings, the hot, broth based soup fills your mouth-a perfect preparation for the delicious dumpling that follows! Coupled with a nice walk through the markets and an ice cream cone, it was a great lunch!

As we window shopped, we practiced our bargaining skills. The merchants can get quite demanding-Lauren and I had one follow us halfway down the block, calling out lower prices. Its quite an experience to say the least! We're getting better, and saving some moolah all the while practicing our language!

Next up, the Pearl Tower! Formerly the tallest building in the world, the Pearl Tower is only truly functional as a TV tower-everything else is tourism! We headed up to two different observation decks-the second of which had a glass floor-263 meters in the air! While I don't typically suffer from acrophobia, even a quick glance down caused all of my muscles to go rigid! Some brave members of our group laid down on the floor-and I commend them for their courage! The view was rather incredible. With a 360 walk around, I kept looking for the city to thin out, but it never did! Every one refers to Shanghai as the New York City of China-but I would argue that its much bigger!

We walked down to the banks of the Pu River just in time to see the sun setting on Shanghai.

A few beggars came up to us at the banks of the Pu, which in all reality surprised me only because that was the first I had seen of any sort of street residents. This led to a great discussion with our RD, Michelle, about her experiences with the issue of homelessness in China. As it turns out, the number of homeless is very low-extraordinarily low compared to the US. In fact, there aren't many (if any) social programs or organizations set on helping this population (no Goodwill, Salvation Army) because it is such a small minority. It all goes back to that powerful theme of family-people take care of their parents, and grandparents, and even in my family's situation, GREAT grandparents. I feel that we as Americans have so much to learn from this society. As their middle class is emerging, and ours is shrinking, it seems only that we should be taking notes...

But enough of my sidetracked analysis...I could talk about social justice issues for page after page-and soon I hope to be doing so! As I begin research and interviews for my culminating project, my eyes are being opened to a third continent's perspective on women's issues. I will be analyzing the Evolution of Gender Equality, focusing on the role of women! I'm very excited to have had my idea for my project approved, and be on my way!

So with reflections on Shanghai and social justice in my mind, I bid you all goodnight, and pray that you have a great day Zaijian!