First steps in Shanghai
I had planned to arrive in Shanghai 3 days before I had to start working, to visit, have some rest and get use to the time difference.
Unfortunately because of the raining season I had an awful whether and I was not able to walk around in streets as planned.
However, I had time to read a lot about Shanghai and to obtain an overview of this city where I would live in for two months. As you can see on the map below there is a LOT of things to see in Shanghai.
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You can divide Shanghai in district as the following map shown it.
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For my first week I live in Luwan district near the French town, and my work is 30 minutes from there in Changning district.
In this page of my blog you will find articles about touristic stuffs I will see, chinese habits, customs ... and everything I will do when I will be out of office.
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The dragon boat festival, a chinese custom
Monday, June 9th, the day which should have been my first working day in Shanghai, was in fact, one of the rare Chinese holidays, here is its story ...
Each year, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, China celebrates Dragon Boat Festival. That day, original boat races are held on the Hangpu river, attracting a crowd of spectators overexcited.
I had planned to arrive in Shanghai 3 days before I had to start working, to visit, have some rest and get use to the time difference.
Unfortunately because of the raining season I had an awful whether and I was not able to walk around in streets as planned.
However, I had time to read a lot about Shanghai and to obtain an overview of this city where I would live in for two months. As you can see on the map below there is a LOT of things to see in Shanghai.
You can divide Shanghai in district as the following map shown it.
For my first week I live in Luwan district near the French town, and my work is 30 minutes from there in Changning district.
In this page of my blog you will find articles about touristic stuffs I will see, chinese habits, customs ... and everything I will do when I will be out of office.
***
The dragon boat festival, a chinese custom
Monday, June 9th, the day which should have been my first working day in Shanghai, was in fact, one of the rare Chinese holidays, here is its story ...
Each year, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, China celebrates Dragon Boat Festival. That day, original boat races are held on the Hangpu river, attracting a crowd of spectators overexcited.
The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival dates back over 2500 years to the day when Qu Yuan, popular disillusioned hero (of the crawing corruption of the regime), threw itself into the river Mi Lo. To honor him, the people went on the river banks whereas fishermen aboard their boats tried to find his body.
It is said that some of them played drums to keep the fish away while others trowed rice balls into the water, so that the body of Qu Yuan is not devoured by fishes. Today, these dumplings of glutinous rice have become the emblematic dish of the festival. They are accompanied with side dish and surrounded by bamboo leaves.
It is said that some of them played drums to keep the fish away while others trowed rice balls into the water, so that the body of Qu Yuan is not devoured by fishes. Today, these dumplings of glutinous rice have become the emblematic dish of the festival. They are accompanied with side dish and surrounded by bamboo leaves.
Now you know why during the Dragon Boat Festival everyone eats "Zong Ze" and participates to the dragon-shaped-boat race.
The atmosphere is very typical and therefore I suggest you check it out if you are in China at this moment. The only problem is that this festival does not take place on the same date each year.
The atmosphere is very typical and therefore I suggest you check it out if you are in China at this moment. The only problem is that this festival does not take place on the same date each year.
Let me explain, in China there are two calendars: the calendar that everyone knows and which is fixed and the lunar calendar based on phases of the moon. Basically this year there is ten days difference between the two calendars, but next year the gap may be more important or less important. Thus inform you before take your plane tickets!
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Because Chinese people never do anything like everyone else …
Here is an article to teach you Chinese method to count on fingers. As you will see it is rather different from the one we use in France. And as for me it can be very helpful.
For everybody traveling in China, it is very useful to know the way Chinese count, especially if you do not master the language. Indeed, a Chinese who converses with a foreigner will tend to indicate him figures or numbers with the hands as much as with the word thinking that gestures will more easily be understood. It is thus very frequent, in China, to express a price or the floor of a building with hands.
Obviously Chinese people never know that their sign language is not universal and is rarely understood by a foreigner. Here is thus a small guide of gestures used in China for figures.
To count from 1 to 5 no problem. As in most of the countries, it is enough to show the number of fingers corresponding to the figure, but as you can see it on the drawing below everything gets more complicated with 6.
To say 10, they can either show their fist or cross the indexes of the two hands to create a cross representing the character ten in Chinese 十.
Example of combinations:
To say 20, they use 2 followed by 10.
To say 30, they use 3 followed by 10.
To say 18, they use 10 followed by 8.
To say 847, they use 8 followed by 4 followed by 7
This is it now you know how to count in chinese!
See you soon for new explanations of chinese habits...
***
How to buy train tickets in China
To buy a train ticket in China is quite a trip. This week end my friends and I are going to Beijing so I had to buy my train tickets. Here are some tips to give you an overview of China and to facilitate a little bit the task for next Chinese adventurers who read this blog.
First of all, train tickets are generally sold at the station. It is also possible to buy tickets with travel agencies but obviously they will be more expensive.
In Shanghai you will find 3 railway stations: Shanghai Railway station, Shanghai South Railway station and the brand new Hong Qiao railway station.
The Chinese station is not the place which leaves the best memory, especially the place where you buy tickets. The box office always looks the same, which means a multitude of ticket offices aligned in a big room cold and crowded. The waiting time is often half an hour of queuing and that if you are in the right ticket line(explanations coming…)
The Chinese station is not the place which leaves the best memory, especially the place where you buy tickets. The box office always looks the same, which means a multitude of ticket offices aligned in a big room cold and crowded. The waiting time is often half an hour of queuing and that if you are in the right ticket line(explanations coming…)
Some facts
Before buying a ticket, you have to know some rules that are not made to facilitate life.
- A train ticket can be sold no more than 10 days in advance. By travel agency, you can make reservations several weeks in advance but you can remove tickets only a few days before departure so the result is the same.
- A train ticket can be sold no more than 10 days in advance. By travel agency, you can make reservations several weeks in advance but you can remove tickets only a few days before departure so the result is the same.
- We cannot buy train ticket from another city than the one where we are. If for example I am in Beijing, I cannot buy of ticket Shanghai-Hong-Kong Kong. It means that if you travel in several cities, you have to surrender to the railway station of every city to buy your ticket towards the next destination.
However, the purchase of a round trip ticket is possible. For example, as I live in Shanghai, I was able to buy my ticket Shanghai-Beijing but also the return Beijing-Shanghai because I returned within 10 days.
Be careful, trains are often full several days before departure, so you better comes to desk several days before.
Choose the counter
Every counter is not identical and to choose one at random or because there is less queue would be a painful error (believe in my experience). However, in Shanghai and Beijing, the counter choice is more obvious because stations of these two cities have an English speaking counter. They are the only ones, everywhere else you will have to manage with the few Chinese you know.
Generally, counters which are at the extreme left or right of the room are reserved for the refunds or the exchanges of tickets. Normally, all other counters offer tickets for all the country. If you can recognize this: 全国 it means that whatever is your destination, you can choose this counter.
But beware it gets complicated… these counters are often divided into two categories. Those who sell tickets up to 10 days in advance and those who sell tickets only 2 days in advance (by 2 days understand tickets for today and tomorrow and not until the day after tomorrow). If you queue in front of a counter " 2 days " while you leave in 3 days, they will send you back to an other queue, which is very painful after having already waited for a long time.
It is also necessary to pay attention to hours of opening and closure of counters. In many stations, counters close 30 minutes every 30 or 45 minutes. You better not queue in front of a counter that is going to close soon.
Here is an illustarted exemple:
Here is an illustarted exemple:
First observation: nothing is written in English, even in the very touristic stations. On this panel, posted above the counter, you can read:
- The counter number: 20号
- 二天窗口: "2 days" counter
- 02天内车票 : train tickets only for trains that leave in two days (today and tomorrow)
- Opening hours. Here you can see that the counter closes from 10:30am till 11:00am and from 2:00pm till 2:30pm. You have to pay attention to this when you choose a line, even if the panel (when there is one, sometimes there is none and in this case it is the surprise) is not clearly visible of the bottom of the room.
"10 days" counters are indicated like this: 十天窗口 and 10天内车票
- The counter number: 20号
- 二天窗口: "2 days" counter
- 02天内车票 : train tickets only for trains that leave in two days (today and tomorrow)
- Opening hours. Here you can see that the counter closes from 10:30am till 11:00am and from 2:00pm till 2:30pm. You have to pay attention to this when you choose a line, even if the panel (when there is one, sometimes there is none and in this case it is the surprise) is not clearly visible of the bottom of the room.
"10 days" counters are indicated like this: 十天窗口 and 10天内车票
Buy a ticket
To arrive at the right counter is not enough, it is then necessary to buy your ticket, what is not the easiest part. Except in Beijing and Shanghai, where they speak a little bit English (as well as in Hong-Kong naturally), you will have to manage in Chinese in all other stations and that is not always easy especially that the staff can be very unfriendly (if you are a girl prefer a counter held by a man they are nicer!).
The best technique consists in knowing exactly which train you want to take and, better, to note everything on a piece of paper when you are still at home.
To know the train schedule from a city to the other one, you can have a look at the following website in English but be careful prices are not up to date: http: // www.travelchinaguide.com / china-trains/
Either http: // www.tielu.org/ more up to date, but everything in Chinese!
Thanks to these sites you can indicate clearly which train you want to take (destination, train number and schedule) but you still have to tell counter the number of people and your choice of seat. You can ask for:
- Hard seat 硬座 (yìngzùo)
- Soft seat 软座 (ruǎnzùo)
- Hard sleeper 硬卧 (yìngwò)
- Soft sleeper 软卧 (ruǎnwò)
If you do not specify, the counter clerk will understand that you want to travel in economic (hard).
If you want to travel in sleeper, it will be necessary to specify which sleeper you want to use (top, bottom or middle). Bottom sleepers are slightly more expensive.
- Top sleeper (上铺, shàngpù)
- Bottom sleeper (下铺, xiàpù)
- Middle sleeper (zhōngpù)
I thus strongly recommend you to write all this information on a paper which you will give to the counter clerk. Everything writes in Chinese. Here is my example for three persons who want to travel from Shanghai to Beijing by sleeper train:
----------------------------------
From Shanghai: 上海
To Beijing: 北京
Train number K230
07h17 - 08h06
Departure on July the 19th: 7月 19日
The number of tickets 3个人
2下铺 - 1中铺 Two sleepers below and one in the middle. Without precision the counter clerk understands that I speak about the economic class. Furthermore, there is no middle sleeper in superior class.
----------------------------------
It only remains to you to understand what the counter clerk says.
Try to remember: " Mei you " (there is not) used to tell you that there is no place in the train, not the kind of place you want, or no train at all. To this you can answer " Bié de you ma?" (Is there anything else?). For the rest, the GOOD LUCK!
If you really have a problem with a counter clerk understanding, try another one or return later. In every case, do not buy a ticket in the street because it could be a fake one.
The best technique consists in knowing exactly which train you want to take and, better, to note everything on a piece of paper when you are still at home.
To know the train schedule from a city to the other one, you can have a look at the following website in English but be careful prices are not up to date: http: // www.travelchinaguide.com / china-trains/
Either http: // www.tielu.org/ more up to date, but everything in Chinese!
Thanks to these sites you can indicate clearly which train you want to take (destination, train number and schedule) but you still have to tell counter the number of people and your choice of seat. You can ask for:
- Hard seat 硬座 (yìngzùo)
- Soft seat 软座 (ruǎnzùo)
- Hard sleeper 硬卧 (yìngwò)
- Soft sleeper 软卧 (ruǎnwò)
If you do not specify, the counter clerk will understand that you want to travel in economic (hard).
If you want to travel in sleeper, it will be necessary to specify which sleeper you want to use (top, bottom or middle). Bottom sleepers are slightly more expensive.
- Top sleeper (上铺, shàngpù)
- Bottom sleeper (下铺, xiàpù)
- Middle sleeper (zhōngpù)
I thus strongly recommend you to write all this information on a paper which you will give to the counter clerk. Everything writes in Chinese. Here is my example for three persons who want to travel from Shanghai to Beijing by sleeper train:
----------------------------------
From Shanghai: 上海
To Beijing: 北京
Train number K230
07h17 - 08h06
Departure on July the 19th: 7月 19日
The number of tickets 3个人
2下铺 - 1中铺 Two sleepers below and one in the middle. Without precision the counter clerk understands that I speak about the economic class. Furthermore, there is no middle sleeper in superior class.
----------------------------------
It only remains to you to understand what the counter clerk says.
Try to remember: " Mei you " (there is not) used to tell you that there is no place in the train, not the kind of place you want, or no train at all. To this you can answer " Bié de you ma?" (Is there anything else?). For the rest, the GOOD LUCK!
If you really have a problem with a counter clerk understanding, try another one or return later. In every case, do not buy a ticket in the street because it could be a fake one.
***
My trip to Beijing
21:25, after a long working day, Alex Kim Mag Sab and I meet in Saizeriya to have a lunch together before leaving from shanghai Hongqiao station to a weekend of tourism in China’s capital!
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Jour 1
21:25, after a long working day, Alex Kim Mag Sab and I meet in Saizeriya to have a lunch together before leaving from shanghai Hongqiao station to a weekend of tourism in China’s capital!
Jour 1
10 hours of train later, we finally arrived in Beijing, all very excited by all discoveries we were about to!
We went to our wonderful little youth hotel that Magali had booked a week before (called the sweet garden hotel) take a shower and be prepared to our Beijing marathon!
During the first day we have visited the temple of Heaven, eaten in a small Chinese restaurant and visited the summer palace, which is according to me the most beautiful palace in Beijing (just see evidences following).
During the evening we have been to the night market where we (almost) all eat snake, beetle and starfish! Then we all have eaten a good mc do!
Jour 2
On our second day we all wake up very early to go to the great wall (Jinshanling section).
Because I had blisters on my feets (because of the previous day), I took the extremely bad decision to spend the day in flip-flops, I totally under estimated the steps of the Great Wall! We spend the day climbing this wall but even if I suffered it is a must in Beijing!
For the evening we were all exhausted so we have decided to eat a Teppanyaki and to have a drink (and play tarot) in a bar in Sanlitum district. We had a really good time because in Shanghai there is not so many terraces so we enjoy played tarot outside, drinking bears!
Jour 3
For our last day we have decided to see as many things as we could do.
We have started by Tien’anmen and Mao's mausoleum
Then we went to the top of the drums tower then at the top of the bells tower,
As we started being starving we stopped to eat in a small restaurant then we had a break in the park Beihai strolling in a boat and through paths.
Finally our last visits have been the temple of the sun and the ritan park.
Tuesday, 7:30am after a night of travelling (almost) all of us went to work!
***