Honeymoon: Shanghai Still

B and I are still in Shanghai, which is hectic, noisy, exciting and strange. It's hectic because there are 20 million people here, and wherever you go, at whatever time of day or night, they all seem to be out on the streets. I actually find this very frustrating because Chinese people walk at half the speed I do (even though I don't really walk that fast for an American, being short-legged) and I must either shuffle along or constantly try to pass the hordes. The other aspect of the hecticness is that there are thousands of bicycles, scooters, cars, taxis, buses, bicycle carts, people carrying goods on wooden poles, etc. on the streets too. The traffic is suprisingly fast-moving though, and much better than in LA; the excellent public transportation system probably helps.

Shanghai is incredibly noisy too (although our hotel room is very quiet), due to the 20 million people, the traffic, and the fact that Chinese people are much noisier than Americans and yell at each other with abandon. In fact, they like noise because it connotes liveliness and cheerfulness (perhaps this is why restaurants, etc. are always lined with marble and no carpeting for maximum sound reflection). All the quiet areas are for the benefit of foreigners (like expensive European restaurants). Going for a walk in the park is crazy because all these people are singing, playing instruments, shouting with excitement while gambling, or talking loudly. And the entire city, like the rest of China, seems to be under constant construction 24 hours a day (construction doesn't stop at night here, as they don't have overtime or noise regulations).

But the noise and the hectic craziness do make it a very exciting place to be, and I feel like I'm surrounded by constant change, thousands of things to do, and all kinds of people, from all parts of China, from the very sophisticated lady in Gucci to the rag-clad laborer from some rural backwater. China doesn't really have immigrants, but since it's such a large country, the people are incredibly diverse and one gets the same feeling of endless variety here as in LA or San Francisco (unlike in Taiwan, where the people were very homogeneous).