Land and Sea Journal 1

Location:
China

Osaka- ferry- Shanghai

By Sam Porter

Land and Sea Journal 1

I used to live in Japan and came to detest the long haul flights back home. I vowed never to do it again, so didn’t. When we (me and my other half) left for good we travelled back by land and sea. It took a month.

Leg 1 took us from the port at Osaka to Shanghai on a two day and two night ferry journey. I got the most subtle kind of sea sickness where I was ok lying down but overcome by the most intense tiredness and urge to burp when up and about. Sitting outside in the whipping winds surrounded by the vast, grey murk of the China sea did little to help.

Being a cheap and long way to travel there were few Japanese people on it and mainly Chinese people. The ferry was very basic and my vegetarian partner only had the choice of rice, tomato salad or rice to eat in a cafeteria that was more like a school canteen than a café or restaurant. They had karaoke on in the evenings in the one and only bar. The rest of the time was spent trying to teach the old grandfather in our cabin French, he was Chinese, me a Brit and we conversed in the pigeon Japanese we both had. His name was Ma and he gave us lots of tea.

We met one man with good English who gave us an insight into the demographic of all the people on the ferry. The many young women in their early twenties worked in Japan to save money to send home to family or for their futures in Shanghai. Apparently Shanghai-ese youth are perceived as having an air of snootiness about them, believing themselves to be more cosmopolitan and sophisticated than those from the rest of China; like the common view of Parisiens and French people. I understood why they would think they were trendy urbanites immediately as I was struck by the vivid view of Shanghai’s skyline as we sauntered into the port very early one sunny but cold morning in November. The buildings were tall, imposing, impressive and somewhat space age, such a contrast to the arrivals hall of the port or the bus we took into town where old men would hawk and cough and spit onto the floor - of the bus! Yes, amongst the older people spitting was still very common, but not, as our friend told us, as common as it used to be; the panic during the time of SARS led to some being beaten up if caught spitting on the street. We had all had our temperatures checked as we disembarked from the ferry, so we knew we had not been exposed on this occasion.

By day we wandered around older parts around the local markets and through streets lined with unsafe and un-sturdy looking bamboo scaffolding. We enjoyed the cheapness and quantity of the food and sipped tea in trendy cafes.

At night we visited the Bund, the place where westerners first exerted their influence seen in the grand, old clock towers and huge, domineering banks that lined the water’s edge. It was well lit and beautiful and filled with locals and visitors alike, wandering and enjoying the views and being approached by people selling Rolexes. The people were warm, curious and unreserved and like to laugh and enjoy themselves. We would later discover that people in Beijing are very curious and even more unreserved about approaching strangers possessing no such quality such as standoffishness, but this is a story from the next instalment – leg 2, from Shanghai to Beijing and the departure for Mongolia, the start of a long train journey that would take us to Siberia and through central Russia.

Further Information

Other helpful information: Beware of people who are very persistent when trying to sell you things or ask you for money.

Must see/do at this place: Go for a drink at the tallest hotel in Shanghai. The views from the bar on the top floor are worth the dizzyness and vertigo.