Buying a ticket for the trains and subways is amazingly easy in Shanghai. Getting some much younger person to give up their seat for a decrepit old woman with the gray showing, is not. From what I've experienced, this just is not part of the Asian culture. At one time I was sitting and my son was standing on a train. The young man sitting beside me voluntarily surrendered his seat so Zach could sit with me. Renegade Asian? No. American. There are a lot of things wrong with the western world. That's not one of them.
The Pandas were, of course, adorable. So were the hordes of Chinese children who screamed at every movement. There is an animal called Lesser Panda which isn't in the bear family at all but is a raccoon. They aren't as majestic as the Panda but had beautiful coloring just the same.
I saw a sign pointing in one direction that said pets and thought maybe it was a place where pets could be left upon entering the zoo. What did I find? A whole section of the zoo with fully bred dogs on cages with country originated, breed, and purpose!! There were just many people viewing them as the chimpanzee. As a dog lover, you can imagine my horror. That would be like putting my brother in a cage. On second thought...... I was rather pleased that the sign in front of the Pomeranians said their purpose was as guard dogs. At least that part was right.
Later that evening I hailed a taxi to go to the Shanghai Railway. There was some controversy with my bags. Apparently the train ticket did not include bringing my bags because I went no further without giving them the equivalency of $24 more. One of the men there, who spoke no English, was running ahead with my backpack and suitcase and actually stayed with me for the hour and a half until the train came I was grateful since none of the instructions were in English. He got me to my cabin and I tried to tip him which he refused. But he didn't leave. He pointed to his watch and kept saying time. Finally it occurred to me he was wanting more money than I was offering. He was worth it but you can see from the picture he slept on the job.
There were 2 upper berths and two lower berths in the room and as the train left Shanghai, I found myself alone. That is, until two more stops. I was hoping I wouldn't be sharing with some with a crying baby or a child who wanted to run up and down the corridor. The door finally opened. There before me was a lone Chinese man. Named Dong. Only me. ONLY me. At least I can say I slept with a Chinese man on my vacation.
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