Shanghai Saturday

A grim early start awaited for me whilst I went to change travellers cheques and to also prepare for my class. Yes…On a Saturday. In China if there is a public holiday on a workday, they move the day that will be missed to a Saturday oh so strange. My class went rather quickly and I told the class we would work through break so we could finish early. This pleased them very much as they wanted to travel home themselves.

In the afternoon I had a few hours to pack and then before I knew it we were off to the bus station. I have never witnessed anything like it, it looked like Ningbo was being evacuated. The scene of people pushing and running to the station looked like something out of a film. We arrived in Shanghai at 10.15pm and arrived in our hotel soon after. The hotel had been booked by Tong Tong and seemed very nice. Whilst we were checking in I clocked two dodgy Chinese men both in yellow tops. They pushed past us to reach the lift, very rude.  After receiving our keys we went up to our rooms for a quick refresh before going for a quick walk. Only to be disturbed by some screaming and shouting from the room opposite in the hall. It was like nothing I’ve ever heard before. I could hear a woman screaming and crying whilst being thrown around their room. I was sharing with Tong Tong and the others had heard too and came to speak to us. I said I bet it’s those men in yellow. And guess what…it was. So ironic I could tell their attitude stunk when they walked in. According to the others the argument had started over the fact the poor lady couldn’t find the room key.

The argument was horrific, and I’m not going to dwell on it too much. The culture in China is to stay out of the argument. We phoned reception and they sent the guard to their room, who might I say did F all. Ridiculous! After having a chat with Tong Tong she explained women have little rights here and the police would often not get involved because its something that should stay between husband and wife. Jeremy’s explained that although this is true if a woman did want to prosecute her husband for domestic violence there are laws that are in place, however, like in England, woman often stay silent as there are often children involved and things aren’t always black and white.

A drink was definitely in order to calm our anger. We walked along the bund and found a little bar called Copper Bund, the place looked really nice and it seemed like there was a Salsa night on. We grabbed a table and a beer. Tong Tong was quite shocked at their dancing and said she did not like the way their hips moved. Hilarious. We didn’t stay out late, as we needed to get up early for a busy day ahead.