Soaking in the Shanghai Summer, part II

The air was damp and heavy, soaking my lungs with each breath as I forced my way through the ocean of pedestrians streaming along Shanghai's crowded sidewalks during rush hour.

This summer, I was given the opportunity to travel halfway around the world to Shanghai, China and visit with my uncle Patrick Klepcyk, a UT alumnus and associate director for business development for GlaxoSmithKline.

As I navigated through the masses, I followed my uncle's advice and quickly freed myself of any manners or polite courtesies and adopted the brutally determined pace of the city's 20 million residents.

Like battle cries, the horns of motorists played impatient tunes in the frantic rush of traffic while the pedestrian-filled sidewalks seemed to move as a single massive being rather than millions of individuals with their own agendas.

But maneuvering through the bustling foot traffic on the sidewalks was a breeze compared to the massive system of metro lines that flooded with people whenever the slightest drop of rain fell from the gray haze that seemed to permanently blanket the city.

Rapidly shuffling my feet, I bounced between the back of the person before me and the chest of the person riding my heels. I struggled through the tunnels and down the stair cases to reach the metro track where I muscled my way past young, old and anyone in between to secure a cramped ride home.

Personal space was non-existent, and I was soon forced to accept the fact my bubble had been popped the second I set foot in Shanghai.

Underground in the overcrowded metro, I tried to hold my breath amidst the coughing and sneezing. On the city's sidewalks, I dodged phlegm that flwew freely from the lips of both men and women. I maneuvered around piles of feces and streams of urine left by children who carelessly relieved themselves under the reassuring eyes of the parents who casually kept watch.

For four weeks, I was a hand sanitizer junky, loading up after each metro excursion or rest room break and before each meal. While the public displays of defecation and relaxed method of clearing unwanted saliva was alarming at first, I understood it was culturally acceptable and a normative action among the Shanghai locals. By the end of my trip, I was no longer fazed by the sight of such actions, and I was comfortable among the crowded metro that I originally saw as a death trap waiting to infect me with sickness.

The culture shock of being in China's largest city was personally evident, but not overwhelming. Unsettling situations were few and fleeting amidst the excitement of exploring the massive city streets and winding alleyways. The peaceful act of people watching from a bench in one of the many parks scattered throughout the urban landscape offered me a time to reflect on this opportunity.

Throughout my time in Shanghai, I realized nothing was what it seemed. Spiraling red and white poles that should signify a barber shop were actually signage for the local whore house, while Red Bull tasted more like un-carbonated sugar water. What I believed to be a harmless request from a Chinese college student to tour an art gallery was actually a scam to lure tourists into a small room with cheap paintings and force them to buy something before they could leave.

Fortunately, my uncle briefed me on situations to avoid before I ventured out into the city alone.

After a relaxing stroll through People's Square in Puxi I, ventured down to board the metro and soon found myself lost for over an hour in an elaborate maze of stores. Everyone asking me to "come-a-looky" as I frantically searched for an exit. Throughout my entire walk in the park above, I was completely unaware of the massive shopping district functioning under my feet.

As the sun set on the city, I would rally with my uncle and explore the finer sides of dining and entertainment that Shanghai's night life had to offer. I still salivate at the thought of soup-filled pork dumplings delivered piping hot and fresh from the kitchen, biting a small hole into the dumpling first and then sipping out the delicious soup before tossing back the pork.

After a lengthy dinner, I was off to one of Shanghai's swanky bars for cocktails. High atop the Shanghai World Financial Center with gin and tonic in hand, I sat frozen in pure elation as the lounge singer welcomed me to the top of the world before the band began its set. From the high-altitude night life to the modest lifestyles of the locals streets below, I was amazed at Shanghai's great contrasts.

In addition to taking in the sights and sounds of Shanghai, my uncle and I traveled to Beijing for a weekend adventure that took us through the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. While Shanghai remains an international business hub with a large expatriate community, China's capital city had a noticeably different vibe. The culture shock associated with being in Communist China had not fully hit me until I set foot in Tiananmen Square. I hadn't truly felt the country's deep the history until I climbed the stone stairs of the Great Wall and gazed out over the rolling green hillsides stretching into the distance as far as I could see.