Traveling With The Crowds

We had an interesting day, making our way to downtown Shanghai on our own. The one thing we did not consider was that this is the May Day holiday, when many people use their time off from work to travel and shop. For us, it was like traveling to the mall and shopping on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), but with millions more people. The taxi's were easy to find, and pretty easy to navigate -- especially since we had the name of the subway station and the University (for our return) written in Chinese. Actually being in a taxi, however, was sometimes a bit nerve wracking. We discovered that road signs, lane markers, and traffic signals are used as suggestions. With one hand on the steering wheel, and one on the horn, the driver's nerves and skill had us imagining that we were on a thrill ride at Disneyworld.

We figured out the train station pretty well. We were able to select the correct train, and purchase our tickets using the automated machines pretty easily. Actually getting onto the train was another issue. We were a bit nervous seeing several "packed" trains stop at the station, and crowds of people waiting to get on, but decided to literally, join the crowd. The process of boarding the train was chaotic. Massive crowds simultaneously pushing on and off though each doorway. When it looks like there is no more room for anyone else to board, another surge of people pushes on until "security" pulls out the people who would prevent the doors from closing. Pamela was uncomfortable, but seemed to take it as part of the experience. Joshua, on the other hand, was horrified, claiming that this was the worst experience of his life.

We finally arrived at our destination, a bit shaken and disoriented, but considered it part of our "adventure." We spent some time walking through the park at Peoples Square. We stopped into the Shanghai Art Museum to see the Ferragamo exhibit -- shoes, purses, and dresses, oh my! We then took a stroll along Nanjing Road -- a shopping street filled with department stores, upscale retailers, and familiar western restaurants (KFC, MacDonalds, Subway, Starbucks, etc.). It would have been a shoppers dream, had it not been for the crowds.