I arrived in Shanghai and went through the rigorous immigration process. Due to the swine flu, entry into China is an arduous affair. They screen every incoming person with infrared cameras, to detect anyone with a fever. You have to fill out extra paperwork, for health screening. If the authorities think you "may" have the virus, they will quarantine you, at their discretion. You will be confined to a hotel room, or other location for days or weeks. Bottom line, is that they're trying to prevent the spread of this virus.
After an hour and a half in immigration and customs, I took the MagLev train from the airport to downtown Shanghai. What's a MagLev, you might ask? Basically, it's a long train that is suspended above a track using magnetic levitation. This means there are no wheels at all. The speed on this thing is unbelievable. The following video will show you what I'm talking about. A couple of things to remember, while watching this. 1) The train is moving at more than 400 km/h. This is roughly 270 miles/hour, or about the speed that my sister Heidi drives every day ; ) 2) Watch for the cars that you'll see off to the side. These cars are moving at a normal 60 to 70 mph. They look like they're moving in slow-motion as this train blows past them (after clicking on the link, hit the triangle "play" button):
There is a grocery store near my hotel. I love walking through stores in foreign countries, as I get to learn a little about the culture. As anyone who knows can tell you - I worked at a produce market through high school. This means that I always start in the produce section. Here's your tour of interesting items in the China produce section:
Durian
Dragon Fruit
Golden Honey Melon, Jia Shi Gua, and watermelon
Balsam Pear (I don't think this is really fruit...more like a cucumber?)
Honey Pomelo. Check out the sample...like mutant grapefruit
And now, a quick little trip through the vegetable area of the store....
These are what I like to call "Funky Green Beans" - or "Rope Beans" ; )
Shroom Town. There were like 15 kinds of mushrooms!
But wait...it gets better. The meat & fish section was quite...illuminating. I saved you from pictures of the chicken, pigs and bovine parts. Hower, the fish area was fun. Here's a little video clip to prove it:
I found a few other items that were interesting, in other parts of the store. I didn't have time to go down every aisle - but these caught my eye:
There are lots of American brands here. They even have chocolate & strawberry Oreos
They had mango-flavored, banana-flavored - the list goes on. I'm really tempted to try this. It may be a travesty of nature...or the best idea anyone has ever had...ever. I guess we'll have to find out. This last item was the most interesting:
When you come home from a hard day at work, there's nothing like a little smoked and spiced duck gizzard! Yum yum.
For lunch, I walked by the local KFC. They had a real doozy on the menu:
Some sort of crispy-grilled shrimp sandwich
Near the store, there was a little play area for kids. I saw the cutest little pond, where they let tiny kids play in paddle boats:
Well, so much for the first day. Tomorrow, the conference starts...I actually have to work while I'm here ; )
1 comment:
So exciting!
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