We spent 5 days in Shanghai. I’ll give a more detailed description here, since Shanghai is the focus of our projects.
Day 1
Our flight landed late at night. We took the subway to our hotel and had a very late-night meal at a Mongolian hot-pot place, before returning to Shelby’s hotel to view the Shanghai skyline at about 2 in the morning.
I was quite impressed by Nanjing Road and the many people who were rushing up and down it even late at night. I was surprised (and somewhat scared) by the bad drivers in Shanghai and the different customs followed for pedestrian right-of-way.
I did not learn much related to my project the first night, except that we did encounter some government workers (according to my prior research, most likely migrants) who greeted us enthusiastically at the entrance to Nanjing Road.
Day 2
We visited the Urban Planning Museum, walked around the Marriage Market, and spent the afternoon on a walking tour that spanned the Pudong skyline, a famous garden, an alleyway that sold antiques, and a fancy shopping district based on the old French Concession. Then we walked home. I was so tired at that point that I accidentally walked into a pole on the journey home.
I was impressed, both by the Pudong skyline and by the haze of pollution surrounding it. Today, Shelby let us know that the air pollution level was around 180 – dangerous for all personnel. However, we did not bother with masks since we were only going to be there for a few days. I will say that the pollution seems like a much more urgent problem when you are actually breathing it than it does when you’re on the other side of the world.
Relevant to my research: on the way to the fancy shopping district, we passed by some buildings that were actually part of the old French Concession – they were crumbling, however, and were set to be demolished to make way for new high rises. It was startling how close these poor neighborhoods were to the skyscrapers and wealthy areas – the geographical separation between migrants and non-migrants is in some cases extremely small.
Day 3
We visited the headquarters of a wine company to talk to a Rice alum who worked there, and we learned much about different types of wine that came from Australia. We were then treated to a lunch of good old American food. Later on, the Rice alum’s wife, who was proficient in Chinese, took us around areas that were relevant to our research, including hospitals and an antique market in an alleyway. At dinnertime, I split from the group and grabbed dinner at a nearby Yoshinoya before getting some much-needed rest in my hotel room.
I was surprised by how similar to each other all the shops were! I understand now why bargaining is so prevalent – if a shopkeeper offers you a distasteful price, you could easily buy the exact same product at another shop.
Relevant to my research: in the antique market, we spoke to one of the shopkeepers, who was both a minority and had migrated from a rural area. We learned that she made decent business selling goods that were worth much more in Shanghai, but she was worried about her kids’ education, as they would not be able to apply to colleges in Shanghai and must go back to their home region, where their educational prospects would not be nearly as good.
Day 4
In the morning, we went to the US consulate and asked some questions pertaining to our research. I learned that rural residents could obtain a Shanghai hukou if the city expanded to encompass them. Also, even those who held Shanghai hukou could be poor, as of course not all residents of Shanghai were middle or upper class. Later we visited a temple – I was impressed because many of the visitors at the temple seemed to be devotees, not tourists. We went to eat supper at Grumpy Pig, were we spoke to two Rice alums who worked as a teacher and a chef there. Apparently, migrants who were also foreigners (at least those with white skin) have an easier time getting certain types of jobs, such as teaching at fancy schools.
Day 5
I woke up early and took a solo walk to a convenience store to buy some Yakult. It was nice walking around by myself, as I got to take my time and observe some more of the world around me. I was surprised to actually find people practicing Tai Chi on the street, even on the cosmopolitan Nanjing Road! I was also impressed by the impromptu badminton court that someone had set up.
We went to a large park in Pudong and rolled around on strange 4-person bicycles. We had a lunch meeting, with another Rice grad who worked in Shanghai at a clothing company. Then we spoke to a professor at NYU who had spent around a year living in a Shanghai lilong, or row-houses surrounding an alleyway. I was quite impressed with the professor’s knowledge and zeal for his work. He explained that migrants would often stay in lilongs because of their geographical convenience, often with 7 or 8 people living in the same small room. They could, however, afford bottled water, and heaters in the winter. Many migrant workers lived a few hours outside the city and commuted several hours each day for work, because living was slightly cheaper that way.
