Monday April 2nd

Shanghai again, and I don't like it any more the second time around. I think maybe because it's so big, and the weather always seems to be crappy, and I don't have a sense of how the city works. I don't know. Shanghai doesn't make sense to me, and my heart belongs to Beijing. On my way into the city centre, I pass old people doing Tai Chi in a square. So far, so Chinese. Then a group doing what seems to be cheerleading with pom poms, and they are led by the campest Chinese fellow I have ever seen. Then a squad doing an elegant dance with fans, similar to dances I've seen in Thailand and Japan. My favourite though were the fifty or so people, young and old, on the steps of the Oriental Shopping Plaza at 7.30 a.m. doing ballroom dancing. I've learned that since the medical care in China isn't always accessible to the poorest people but free Tai Chi or ballroom dancing is, most people take a 'prevention is better than the cure' attitude to their health. This explains why I see old ladies stretching their muscles, one foot up on the back on the bench on the street, and touching their toes.

I'm nearly out of money but can't change anything until I get my passport back at 12.30. I try showing the bank my receipt from the Russian embassy explaining that they have my passport, or a photocopy of my passport, but they must have the real thing for pointless beaurocratic reasons unspecified. I sulk, drink coffee, and read my book. When I am too wired from all the coffee I go back to sulking. I'm not particularly in the mood today, it's hard work getting around a strange city that either doesn't speak your language or will follow you for six blocks trying to practice it before embarking on an elaborate scam to separate you from your dollars.

Finally I get my passport, my Russian visa is all present and correct and I even got a smile from the girl behind the desk. The day is looking up. I have some nice conversations with people who do just want to practice their English and not steal my money, and speaking of which Shanghai bank is all sweetness and light when I can produce my passport to change some cash. This is good news, because now I can buy a train ticket, catch the train with a whole 4 minutes to spare and get back to Beijing.