Shanghai Museum/Acrobat Show

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Trip Start Oct 07, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Oct 25, 2008

  Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Today I went to the Shanghai Museum.  I took the subway and walked through a park.  I was interrupted twice by two groups of young people. The first group of three came up to me on the street.  There was one woman and two guys, all 18-20ish.  They spoke good English.  The woman told me that they were students--she was studying English, one of the guys was studying engineering, and the other one was studying something else (I don't remember).  I spoke some Chinese--told them I was American.  When they seemed impressed with that I told them in Chinese that I am a teacher.  They asked about my hair, of course.  The woman circled some sights on my map for me and talked about the city.  She told me that the Museum would be crowded at that time because it was the hot part of the day and everyone goes inside.  She said that it's better to go at around 4 o'clock.  That didn't make any sense to me because the Museum closes at 6 o'clock.  Regardless, I was going to the Museum.  She then asked me if I had heard of the Tea Festival. I thought, "Here we go!"  She talked about how maybe nobody  told me about it because I look different, how they could practice their English, how it's a great opportunity to see a Chinese Tea Festival, and how I could tell all my friends in the US about it.  I recognized a potential ruse, plus I really wanted to get to the Museum.  I declined and told them that I appreciated their invitation but that I wouldn't have enough time and so I was going straight to the Museum.  They pointed me in the direction of the Museum and went on their way.  When I got to the Museum I saw that it actually closed at 5:00 and they don't let anyone enter after 4:00! 

But before I got there I walked through a beautiful park and on the other side ran into another group of young people.  This time it\\there was a group of three young women who also spoke very good English.  They asked me where I was from.  I answered in Chinese, of course!  They told me asked me about my hair--if I got it done in China, if they could touch it, if they could make the style with their hair, and how long it takes to do.  They told me that in China the hairstyle is cool.  As I was explaining, an older woman came up behind them staring at me and listening to what I was saying.  I can't adequately describe the scene, but the lady was shorter than the younger women and the way she just came up behind them to listen so intently with her head leaning upward toward me was funny.  I guess she was just being nosy.   Then they brought up the Tea Festival that's not too far from where we were.  I thought, "Here we go!"  They told me how they could practice their English and I could practice my Chinese.  I again declined.  They continued to try to convince me but when they saw I wasn't going to go, they pointed me to the Museum and I finally made it there.

The Shanghai Museum is very nice and if I ever get back to Shanghai I will go again because I didn't get a chance to see all of the exhibits I wanted to see.   I rented an audiotour which explained the history and significance of some of the artifacts.  As I came down the steps to the first floor to leave, I saw a class of schoolchildren (maybe 9 or 10 years old)  in two beautifully straight lines.  I stopped to snap a picture to show my next class how straight lines are supposed to look. But a few of the boys turned around, spotted me, and started hamming it up for the camera.  I said "Oh, you want me to take your  picture?" and took a snapshot.  Then some of the boys and girls started to talk to me in English--"Hello," "Where are you from?" and "What's your name?"  I answered their questions in Chinese and also told them that I am a teacher (one of my favorite Chinese sentences).  I asked them in English if they understood my Chinese and  they said yes.  I spoke to them a little bit more in  English as well and then waved goodbye as I saw that we were getting a little loud in the otherwise quiet museum.  As I made it to the exit, I saw them talking to a couple of other tourists.  The kids were so cute!  Too bad I only got one picture.

After I left, I took the subway for a brief stop at the hotel, then I got back on the subway and went to the Shanghai Acrobat Show at Circus World.  It was very cool!  I was sitting next to two guys from South America so we chatted about the show.  We were not allowed to take pictures or videos.  The guy next to me was secretly videotaping the show but he got busted so he had to turn his camera off.  Without pictures it's hard to describe but the show involved acrobats hanging from umbrellas, running on huge spinning "guinea pig" wheels, riding on motorcycles in a huge metal sphere, and performing other entertaining feats.  It was an excellent show.  I also spotted six black people sitting two sections away from me.  I wanted to wave, but I controlled myself.

After the show, I took the subway back to the hotel to prepare myself for the next day.

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