SubwaysOn Monday it was raining, and having been warned that the Subways are a zoo, we decided to take a cab to the EMC office. You cannot expect the taxi drivers to speak English, but I had the a card with the address of the EMC building on it, written in Chinese. I got a little nervous when the doorman and the taxi driver spent quite some time discussing the destination. The building is on a major street on the other side of the Huangpu river. It shouldn't be so hard to find. Eventually the doorman explain that the card says "Xinmei Square" or "Union Square" in English, which is the new name for the location and that confused the taxi driver. Its not so surprising. So much seems new in Shanghai. Almost every street corner has a crane, or a home in the ground where they are digging for a new subway line, or an excavator about to demolish what pretty much look likes slums. Shanghai does not lack skyscapers, but in between are often some very old looking housing. My guess is that by next year there will be twice as many skyscrapers and twice as many malls. The ride was uneventful. I'll discuss the day of teaching later, so I can stick to transportation issues here.
Tuesday morning, I'd like to say a bright sunny day, but it seems like everyday here starts with a layer of fog, or perhaps smog. Visibility is lousy. But it wasn't raining, and so it seemed like a day for at least a little adventure. We found our way back to the subway entrance, and used the automated fare machine to buy one way tickets to Dongcheng Lu Station. 3 Yaun (40 cents). Where we stood, having not passed the turnstiles, the subway station was empty, but on the other side of the turnstiles there was a mass of people coming up the escallator and making the connection from line 2 to line 1. We passed through the turnstiles and stood at the top of a two escallators and a wide stairway and wondered how were to get down to the platform. People just kept coming up the steps. More people and more people. The funny thing was there was only one other person around. He was also standing at the top looking either like he was trying to meet somebody, or waiting to find a way to get down. He was Chinese, so we assumed he MUST know what he is doing. Finally, the crowds disappeared and we walked down stairs. In a few seconds a train appeared, and we hopped on. No big deal. I've taken the Green line train past Fenway on game days, and I can say that there is no comparison. So I was left wondering, whats the big deal.
Well, Wednesday morning came, and it started the same way, except when we got to the platform, there was a crowd of people. Brian got half on the train and the doors started closing. He jumped out. I hadn't even tried to get on. We'd been told by Gus, that in China it is okay to push, in fact expected, and there is no need to say "excuse me". So when the next train arrived only a couple minutes later, it was time to push and make sure we got on that train. Its exactly what everybody else was doing, and the car was pretty damn packed.
Nobody seemed to bother holding the poles and bars because you couldn't fall one way or the other.Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday, though we did get a little advice about where to stand on the platform from our EMC colleagues, and that helped a little. By now, I'm feeling pretty comfortable taking the subway.
The subway stations are full of advertisements including some for the Apple iPod.
Taxi Rides
I've read a little taxis in China, and mostly what I've heard is that they honk incessantly, and that the ride will be an experience. So, while in most of my rides I haven't heard my driver honk, it is true that in general there is a lot of honking in Shanghai. We are doing the training on the 23rd floor of a building, in a room that faces "Union Square", thus not the main street (Pudong Lu). Often when it is quiet for a minute you hear constant honking from below. So no doubt the horn is used a lot here in Shanghai. At least for the first few rides, I can also say that the taxi drivers seemed pretty normal. Then on Wednesday, we took a cab to the Augmentum office. (Augmentum is the outsourcing company that has hired 11 of the 15 employees working on our project). We were on a large 4 lane wide road (2 in each direction), and we were stuck behind a slow moving car. Clearly our driver was not happy, and before you know it he entirely crossed the double yellow line and started riding on the wrong side of the street. Much to my relief about a block ahead he took a left turn, and so it wasn't too long that I felt like my life was in danger. I haven't taken a cab since.
