Things are starting to settle into a routine here on the other side of the world. I go to the gym several times per week (it's in my building complex, which is great, despite the fact that the facilities themselves leave plenty to be desired). I go shopping for food, which I then use to prepare lunches or cook for dinner. My roommates don't wash their dishes, but Serge does clean the kitchen once per week. I go to work every day. I get pissed at Chinese people on the Metro - some get pissed back, and some just gawk at me. Waking up on Monday mornings is still no fun. I hung up one of Franco's (my roommate) tapestries on my bedroom wall so it feels slightly less barren in here. I'm taking my first vacation next week - to Nanjing and Beijing. My toilet doesn't flush properly. I speak Chinese as regularly as I can, with varying levels of success. And despite spending a good deal of time on my own, and despite still being primarily reliant on my roommates for company, I'm starting to enjoy the beginnings of a real social life. I even found a friend who wants to play Settlers of Catan with me later this week. What more could I ask for?
In other words, the things, both good and bad (but for the most part good), that make up the humdrum of everyday life are starting to fall into place here. One of these daily reminders that I actually live here is my daily commute. After a week of experimenting with different streets and Metro lines, I've settled on the best way to get to and from work. It happens to be the most efficient route, but I also like it for one particular street. Fahuazhen Road is quickly becoming my favorite street in Shanghai, and it makes up the majority of my walk from my home on Dingxi Road to the Metro on West Yan'an Road. I posted this picture of it in an earlier post, but it's worth replicating it here just to give a basic feel of the street:
It's a windy, tree-lined street. What I like most about it is its varied window into the 'real' Shanghai - the city of my tale of two that I'm perhaps slightly more interested in. There is only one shop (out of dozens) on the stretch of Fahuazhen that I traverse daily that has English lettering on it. Everything is in Chinese, without any recognition of the Western influences that pervade the surrounding city. The other day, I nearly had a heart attack when a Chinese wedding party pulled up along the side of the street in several black cars, got out of the cars, and started setting off firecrackers in celebration. I thought I was being shot at.
The coolest thing about it is its randomness. There are restaurants, florists, grocery stores, residential buildings, run down remnants of stores with people sorting through the rubble, and so on and so forth. I spend maybe 10 minutes on Fahuazhen Road every day, and I feel like I catch glimpses into the lives of the people who live here, many of whom have likely never left.
Here are a few images of Fahuazhen Road:
A few of the various street food peddlers. The stuff they cook here isn't particularly appetizing, at least to me, though I did try some dumplings from the guy on the right. They were okay.
This guy's just chopping some vegetables into a bowl on the street.
This picture doesn't quite capture it, because I only managed to get him after he passed, but this is one of my lasting images from China from the last time I was here in 2008. People load up their bikes and trucks with crap, and hurtle down the street at speeds that would be dangerous without all of the cargo. I'm not entirely sure where he's going or why.
I think that's sheet wood, but I'm not really sure what he's doing there.
One stretch of the road has a bunch of these little friezes. Kinda random.
No, that's not a pigeon. That's a chicken I saw on Fahuazhen a few days ago. I would bet it is no longer alive :(
It took me a while to remember why I took this picture, but it's because of the guy sitting down. Fahuazhen is full of people just sitting in front of their homes outside, doing anything from playing music or cards, to cooking, to washing clothes, to just reading a good book like this dude.
Anyway, it's a random, small part of my routine, but I have found myself looking forward to those few minutes every morning and evening on Fahuazhen Road. It's home, in a strange way, about as far away from home as you can get.
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