PTR:David's EPIC Asia trip! TPR China +Japan, Korea, Taiwan!

[David H]

I think the Chinese are still getting the hang of the whole "how to run a theme park" thing.

 

Yeah, Happy Valley have only been doing it for 16 years now.

 

Give them time!

 

But you're right. And with no major competition until lately, there was really no reason for them to improve.

[kailisun98]

I think the Chinese are still getting the hang of the whole "how to run a theme park" thing.

 

Yeah, Happy Valley have only been doing it for 16 years now.

 

Give them time!

 

But you're right. And with no major competition until lately, there was really no reason for them to improve.

Also, Happy Valley does not update its rides at all. There hasn't been a new ride at Happy Valley Shanghai in 4 years.

[David H]

Day 22, part 2: Wuhan Peace Park and Wuhan Zhongshan Park.

 

This update will be shorter than most, at least in the words department (well, for me at least!), because I probably used up my quota of words on the last update! Seriously, though, we visited two small parks in Wuhan to get a bunch of credits, and by this point in the trip, all of these small parks started to blend together. So, there aren’t that many interesting stories to tell about them. Both city parks were actually quite nice, with ponds and art and decorations. But there wasn’t anything special about the amusement parks in those city parks. Both parks seemed somewhat old and falling apart. The sad thing is that most of the rides were less than 10 years old.

 

First up was Wuhan Peace Park, although the tour guide seemed to think it was called Paradise Park at Heping Park. Probably the most eventful thing that happened at this part of the day was getting to our first coaster – a kiddie oval -- and finding it a rusting mess, overrun with plants! The train was sitting out on the track with giant ferns that had grown through the track and were blocking the train! We obviously didn’t get the credit (though I think some of us held out hope!), but honestly, seeing the ride like that was probably more entertaining than riding it! Eventually, we found the park’s Jungle Mouse, called Jungle Flying Squirrel, which was actually pretty decent, better than most of them on the trip. We also rode the powered Gliding Dragon, but nothing else really.

 

From there we headed to Wuhan Zhongshan Park. There are actually a whole bunch of parks named Zhongshan Park. In fact, we’d be visiting two more in Shanghai and Shenzhen, although this one had Wuhan in the name, while the others were just Zhongshan Park. Unlike most city amusement parks, this one actually had a full sized adult looping coaster, even if it was just a Chinese knockoff of an Arrow double loopscrew by a company we’d never heard of (Hebei Zhongye Metallurgical Equipment Manufacturing Co., according to RCDB.) Then we rode the park’s Golden Horse crazy mouse called In the Woods Flying Mouse. Finally, we rode the park’s Flying Saucer spinning mouse. Others had ridden one on the pre-trip add-on day, but I missed it. I actually thought it was a decent ride, though I may have been saying that to help justify skipping more rides on Dauling Dragons! Since the park was bigger than the other, we spent a bit of time here, though I don’t think I rode anything other than the trashy dark ride. Several of the rides here were closed and rusted and didn’t look like they’d run in years.

 

Ultimately, I enjoyed these parks more than I expected to, but again I may have just been thinking that to help justify my decision not to stay at Happy Valley Wuhan. If I go back some day, I’d definitely stay there and skip the credit whoring. But it was my choice, and it worked out ok.

A bridge we crossed to get to and from Happy Valley. Wuhan isn't as big as some Chinese cities, but it has a nice skyline.

Walking through the first park.

Does this count as theming?

This doesn't look good....

Not at all....

No, I don't htink we'll be riding this!

Still, it made for unique, funny coaster pictures! Well, maybe not so unique in China!

Now, THIS looks like an active amusement park!

Hooray! An OPERATING coaster!

Bill highlights the parks extensive safety protocols, by eating the seat belt.

Gee, a powered dragon knockoff. We haven't seen any of these before!

If I'd counted these, I'd have gotten a ton more credits on this trip!

Now we're in the second park. I like this little police kart!

There's construction everywhere in China, as people move from the farmlands and small villages into the cities.

Culture!

Ooh, I see ride track!

An Arrow loopscrew knockoff is about as good as it gets for Chinese city park amusement parks!

But it's Cheryl's #900!

Um, you're supposed to change when you get out of the hospital. Or are these just his PJ's and he thinks the bracelet is fashionable?

Arrow knockoff goodness!

Damn! Missed the train going through the loop!

If this hunk of rust were open, would you ride it?

Pay very careful attention to the safety instructions!

More jungle mouse action.

I appreciated their attempts at theming.

Robb doing his thing.

It's a pretty neat design for a spinning mouse car.

I'm thinking the coaster wasn't THAT exciting...

Gay monkey voguing?

What's up with this weird monkey on the kiddie ride?!?

Wuhan has some neon, but not as much as Chengdu.

Cool building.

Our hotel.

Our hotel.

People in China, particularly women, often do complicated group dance routines in public places for exercise. I guess it's cheaper than the gym! I'd later join in one night in Shanghai!

Cool building.

Ditto.

[cfc]

As I recall, that Flying Saucer Coaster was located next to the smelliest bathroom in China; seriously, a buzzard wouldn't have roosted on that public toilet.

[kailisun98]

As I recall, that Flying Saucer Coaster was located next to the smelliest bathroom in China; seriously, a buzzard wouldn't have roosted on that public toilet.

You haven't smelled half of it yet. Last year, me and some friends climbed Mt.Hua and the toilets up there stink so badly that you could smell it a couple hundred feet away.

Me on Mt.Hua

[cfc]

^Allow me to rephrase: the smelliest Chinese toilet on a TPR Trip.

 

I would hate to think that I'm slighting any other unsightly, highly aromatic commodes.

[kailisun98]

^Yeah. I hate Chinese bathrooms too. Especially the nasty squat down toilets.

[David H]

I tried to avoid public toilets in China whenever possible, especially in the smaller parks. In the bigger parks, one big trick many of us (particularly the women) learned was to look for handicapped bathrooms. They almost always had regular toilets, rather than the dreaded squat toilets. After all, can you imagine a person in a wheelchair trying to use a squat toilet?

 

This may sound odd, but I actually find discussions like this to be really interesting. Travel is so much more than just the coasters you ride or the touristy sites you see. It's these weird little things that make it all so interesting -- if occasionally disgusting. But they give us great stories to tell when we get back! The subject of bathrooms will come up again in this PTR several times! I have a particularly funny story to tell when we get to Fisherman Wharf in two trip days.

 

For some reason, I'm now trying to imagine what it would be like trying to toilet train a small child on a squat toilet....

[Moose]

At least some don't. They let them go on the ground outside the bathroom like we saw at Windows on The World.

[Nrthwnd]

I think there was another toilet within a mass market

of street vendors... and a mad mouse for us to ride.

 

Betty and I headed for the same building, and apparently she

nearly threw up, in the women's. I myself couldn't stand the

stench in men's any more, when I tried to take a photo of how

awful it all looked.

 

This one I feel was much worse than any previously mentioned toilets, lol

 

Oh and

 

Bill highlights the parks extensive safety protocols, by eating the seat belt.

 

It was tasty, too!

Edited September 21, 2013 by Nrthwnd

[David H]

So, with this last update, I'm more or less at the halfway point of my epic Asia trip, and the epic Asia Photo Trip Report! (Well, technically, one more day would make halfway, but this is a better place to celebrate it, since it's the end of the first leg of the TPR Best of China tour.) Yes, believe it or not, this is only the halfway point! Is this the longest Photo TR in TPR history?!

 

Coming soon: we fly to Shanghai, for the second half of the China trip. The next day is all culture -- with one bonus coaster credit high up in a tower. The culture fans should enjoy the next few updates, since Shanghai is a gorgeous city, with a spectacular skyline. And we got to admire it from two different tall towers (day and night views) and a wonderful night river cruise. Plus, some ancient temples, a Korean Fun House (in China!), a urinal with a view, a major touristy shopping street, a walk along the river's bund and so much more! And some credit whoring, too, for the coaster fans. And believe it or not, a really good Vekoma Deja Vu clone! Plus another mega-lite! And a coaster so rough that riders had to wear rubber boxing/wrestling helmets! And the awesome Gravity Group Fireball woodie.

 

Then we visit the park with all (VERY well done) the World of Warcraft ripoff theming (and an AMAZING B&M flying coaster!), Dinoconda! (an S&S 4D), and Knight Valley's amazing GCI Wood Coaster on the side of a mountain at a park with spectacular views. Disaster strikes as our last flight of the day gets cancelled and we find later ourselves on a spooky farm in the middle of nowhere at night! But we survive and eventually cross the border into Hong Kong, where the amazing Ocean Park and the city's Disneyland awaits us, along with spectacular views from Victoria Peak, a sampan ride on the water and the city's laser night show.

 

From there, the TPR China trip is over, but I'm not done. I stay in Hong Kong an extra couple of days and take the cable car up to the world's tallest outdoor Bhudda, go back to Ocean Park for its awesome world class Halloween event, and jump off a huge tower in Macau, home to casinos even more grand and lavish than those in Vegas. Then it's on to Taiwan, where I see a bunch of temples and crazy night markets, ride the Vekoma Tilt Coaster that everyone's now talking about and visit some very well themed parks. And disaster strikes again, as I miss the last train of the night, with my hotel hundreds of miles away and my phone's battery almost empty, in a city where almost no one speaks English! Finally, I save the best for last, going back to Japan. I visit Osaka's awesome Aquarium and Universal's first full Halloween Horror Nights, which is the busiest I've ever seen any park in my life (3-4 hour queues!) Then it's on to one of my very favorite coasters, the powerful B&M inverted Pyrenees, and a quick stop at Nagashima Spaland to finally get rides on Steel Dragon 2000. But I saved the VERY best for last, with Tokyo Disney's two amazing parks -- during their Halloween celebration!

 

And of course, there will be toilet stories! And an absolutely hilarious run-in between three gay guys and a middle aged hooker!

 

So, there's plenty still to come! Stick with me for this epic journey!

Edited September 27, 2013 by David H

[Nrthwnd]

^ Ooooooo, and TPR-less!

 

Looking forward to seeing what you did,

where you did it, and what you found, David.

 

[David H]

^ Traversing Asia on my own was a big challenge. But over the years, I've become pretty self-reliant on overseas trips, unlike my first Japan trip in '05, where I was totally intimidated, and didn't explore much outside of the organized trip.

 

Trip planning for Asia was definitely a much bigger challenge than it has been for anywhere else I've been. The language barrier is the hardest part, since online translating doesn't help on webpage buttons (which of the 7 Chinese menu buttons and 5 sub-menus for each will get me the schedule or directions?!?) or on graphics. And a lot of parks have their public transportation directions in graphics. Luckily, I got help from some enthusiasts who had been to these countries before (including Elissa for Japan), which helped tremendously. And Candice from Roller Coaster Dream China helped with some of the Taiwanese park pages. Taxis being cheap in Korea, Taiwan and China helped a LOT.

 

Taiwan was definitely the most challenging leg. And it didn't help that I was a little burnt out of travel by that point. Luckily, I managed pretty well, with only one major problem. Although missing the last train of the night, with my hotel hundreds of miles away and my phone down to 4% battery was a pretty big problem! But I survived it, as you'll see.

[David H]

Day 23, part 1: Shanghai Sightseeing. Yu Garden

 

Today was a sad day, because we’d be losing some of the people of on the tour, but also a happy one, because we’d be gaining some new people. The Beijing first leg of the TPR Best of China trip was ending today, but the Shanghai second leg was starting. A few people opted for extra days, so there was some staggering in the leaving, but today was the main day for goodbyes. It was also a day for sightseeing. There were several days of typical touristy sightseeing on this trip, which some of us really appreciated. Personally, if I’m visiting China, I want to see more than just the parks and coasters. I want to see some of China! And we did lots of that today! And we even got a bonus credit!

 

After we checked out of our Wuhan hotel, we flew to Shanghai. The first thing our new tour guide Tom did was take us to our hotel to quickly check in so that we could drop off our bags. Then we headed for the Yu Garden, also known as the Yuyuan Garden, which was part of the old city of Shanghai. The Garden, which has been around since the 16th century, encompasses a large area which includes many temples, gardens, ancient halls, ponds, rock gardens and more. To get there, you first have to walk by the City God Temple and through the Yuyuan Tourist Mart, which is full of tourists and vendors trying to sell all sorts of souvenirs to them. We were free to explore on our own, but most of us stayed with Tom, because the grounds were large and confusing! But I was really glad we visited, because it was really cool, with lots of sights to take pictures of. If you couldn’t find him, just look for the stuffed panda on a stick!

 

Afterwards, most of us did a little shopping for souvenirs and got to experience the art of haggling! Well, those of us who were smart did, at least. We had been warned by Elissa that other than in big stores, people are expected to haggle in China. The vendors, particularly in touristy areas, will drastically mark up their prices so that they still make a good profit when you haggle with them. The Chinese always haggle. but most tourists don’t know to, so they usually make out quite well! So, if you don’t haggle, you’re paying more than you should have! They’ll often pretend that they can’t go any lower, but when you start to walk away, they’ll usually give in. And by haggling, I don’t mean trying to get 10-20% off, as a few people did, thinking that they were getting a good deal. You could often haggle down to less than half price, and on some items, much less than that. I bought some dragon souvenir and paid around half of the marked price.

 

Day 23 continues on the next page with the Oriental Pearl tower and the world's only maglev train open to the public. Then dinner on a boat docked on the river, a night river cruise, and Nanjing Tourist Road....

At the airport at the Generic Shop.

Driving around Shanghai, enjoying the modern architecture.

With a touch of old school still hanging around.

The inside of our hotel, where we quickly checked in.

At the Yuyuan Market

That building in the lower left corner is our hotel.

In the Yu Graden.

I love that the "China Time-honored Brand" is right next to the Starbucks!

Nice place for an antique store!

Hungry fish!

Wherever you turned, Josh could be seen posing with -- and flirting with -- the local ladies!

Back at the market.

You can see how close our hotel was. It was easy to find from pretty much anywhere in downtown, thanks to it's unique flower-shaped top.

Goodbye to Wuhan. And soon, goodbye to David and few others on the trip....

Edited September 30, 2013 by David H

[Nrthwnd]

I loved the Yu Garden, and wished we could have stayed a few minutes more.

So much was packed into that area, and yet it was spread out so beautifully.

[kailisun98]

Did anyone try the stinky tofu? It tooke me a year in Shanghai before I dared to try it. ( and I only ate it because my friend tricked me) It reeks but it doesnt taste that bad actually

[David H]

^ I know I didn't! I'm not the most adventurous of eaters anyways, but I'd heard of it, and considered trying a tiny taste. But I don't think I could eat something that I thought smelled bad. At the Korean night market, I bought some sausage that was darker than what we're used to and took it back to the hotel. When I got back to the hotel, I heated it and another dish up. And the microwave STANK. I threw the whole plate out and never tried a bite.

 

I don't think I actually ran into any stinky tofu in China. Did anyone else? I did see it at the night markets in Taiwan, but passed on it.

[David H]

Day 23, part 2: Shanghai Sightseeing. Oriental Pearl Tower, Maglev Train, plus a bonus credit in the tower!

 

From there we headed to lunch and then to the Oriental Pearl Tower, which was the tallest structure in China until it was surpassed by the nearby Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center (often called the “Bottle Opener”, because a big hole in the top makes it look like one), which you’ll see in some of my pictures, and which many of us would visit on our own in the coming days. (Stay tuned!) They were also building an even taller Shanghai Tower nearby, which is now taller than the Bottle Opener, and still isn’t finished. You’d probably think that it’s a big waste of money to build a “tallest tower in Shanghai” if there’s just going to be a taller one few years later, right? Especially with three of them adjacent to each other, and all three very close to the original Oriental Pearl Tower! At least it makes for a gorgeous skyline!

 

The Oriental Pearl tower is very distinctive looking, since it has three spheres that are lit up at night in varying colors with LED’s at night. Several people called it the anal beads building! But the best part? The bottom sphere has a roller coaster in it! Luckily, we had to go up to the second sphere to get to the first one. We didn’t go up to the top sphere (called the Space Module), but most of us would visit the taller Bottle Opener in the coming days anyways. The second sphere had a glass floor along the outside where we all wanted pictures, even if it was fairly creepy standing over what seemed like nothing. Soon, we headed down to the first sphere to get our coaster credit, Space Switchback, which was in a section named Space City, with some somewhat spacey theming. It was an indoor Vekoma coaster with a bit of space theming inside. The only thing really memorable about it was that it was in a tower and was 90 meters (almost 300 feet) high. But it might have been a good idea to have some windows to emphasize the ride’s height. More pictures followed, and we soon left.

 

The next stop on our tour was the Shanghai Maglev Train, the only commercial maglev train in the world open to the public. We took the train to the airport and back, which is the entire route. The train can reach top speeds of 431 km/h (268 mph), but it only does so during very limited hours – 1.75 hours in the morning and .75 hours in the afternoon. With our flight that morning, that would have meant basically allowing a lot of rescheduling and taking extra time to be sure to make the very lmited afternoon window. And it only hits that top speed briefly, with the trip taking 7:20 minutes, rather than 8:10 minutes at the “slower” speed – if you can call 301 km/h (187 mph) slow! You don’t even really feel the speed, since it builds up and loses speed gradually. You can definitely tell you’re going fast from the speed of objects whizzing by – especially when you pass a train going in the other direction, which passes so quickly and with a loud noise that if you’re not watching carefully for it coming, you won’t even know what happened until the other train is long gone! After all, you’re passing the other train at 374 mph! Several people jumped in surprise! One nice feature of the train was that they had digital readouts of the train’s speed so that you could take pictures under the sign. Because you can’t really get a sense of speed from just a blurry picture!

Not me, though!

The Oriental Pearl Tower. With a roller coaster in the lower sphere!

I don't know why anyone would call it the anal bead tower!

There's the Bottle Opener in the back.

The cool elevator.

A great view of Shanghai!

The Bottle opener in the Back, with the Jin Mao Tower in front of it. They're still building the Shanghai Tower, but it's now taller than all of the others.

I just love Shanghai's modern architecture.

The glass floor had some people really creeped out.

OK, so where's the roller coaster?

Can anyone find the roller coaster?

Ah, there it is!

Some cool anime statues in the tower's mini theme park.

Some of the windows are tinted pink, which makes for some weird pictures!

That's better!

I love this elevated pedestrian way. We'd be down there tomorrow night.

Early in the trip, Josh and I started copying the locals (particularly the girls) who love taking pictures with the peace sign. It's a trend we've seen in our travels across Asia. We soon got lots of people doing it!

Hey, we're back at the Great Wall!

I think these statues were made out of the rinds that hold soda cans together.

A really cool looking underground Apple store, for the fanboys!

Driving in China!

I'm not even sure what this is, but it's cool;!

Ooh! time for the maglev train!

We're sitting in the ordinary section!

The different train routes from this station.

Odd souvenirs.

301 km/h, baby!

Kieth's laughing at George.

But the joke's on him!

Um, where did the driver go?

The blur is the best way to show the train's speed in a picture.

Train porn, for the fanboys.

Eew! I don't want to know what that was!

A cool bridge along the way to our next stop.

Edited September 30, 2013 by David H

[David H]

Day 23, part 3: Shanghai Sightseeing. Dinner on the water, a night riverboat cruise and Nanjing Road.

 

After our ride, we headed to dinner, which was in a really cool docked boat restaurant. The boat/restaurant was shaped like a dragon and lit up really nicely. After dinner, the day was officially over, but we had the option to pay extra to take a real riverboat cruise, which I think just about all of us took, besides Robb and Elissa, who’d done it before and had TPR and trip work to catch up on. When we got off the bus at the boat, we were ATTACKED by street salespeople using the opportunity to try to sell souvenirs to all the foreigners taking the tourist boat cruises! Talk about aggressive! If you even looked at them, they’d follow you. Heck, they’d often follow you even if you didn’t!

 

The riverboat cruise was awesome! It was nighttime by now, so all of the city’s many lights were on. Shanghai has such a gorgeous skyline that all I wanted to do was take picture after picture – and I pretty much did! But it was also a chance to socialize and get to know our newcomers a bit, too. And to try some Chinese beer, for those who like beer. It was a nice long cruise, but was over before we knew it. On the way back to the bus, we got accosted by souvenir sellers again. Larry showed us the true art of haggling, getting the man following him to drop the price on a laser pointer from over 120 yuan down to 20 – or about $3! I actually kind of wish I’d gotten one at that price!

 

When we got back to the hotel, some of us made our regular first stop – to try to find some beverages for the room. We didn’t trust the water in China. After all, do you really want to be at an amusement park or on a roller coaster while you’re having some digestive issues? But for the first time on the trip, the corner store had real vodka – not just some really crappy Chinese liquor! So, I got some for the hell of it. And drank a bit in the room, before heading out with Keith and Leonard to explore the city a bit. I also brought some mixed with orange juice, and shared it with the boys.

 

We saw a McDonalds and decided to stop in for a quick bite. But when we tried to order, the lady at the counter told us that they were out of --- get this, HAMBURGERS! Yes, McDonalds was out of hamburgers! WTF?!? Yes, it was close to the end of the day, but seriously? They ran out of hamburgers at McDonalds?!? We got various chicken products and left.

 

But wait, it gets much better!

 

We found our way to Nanjing Road, which is a famous pedestrian road with many, many stores, restaurants, fast food places and the like. (Yes, there’s an Apple store here, fanboys!) And many, many more people trying to sell souvenirs to anyone who looks even remotely non-Asian! There were also lots of women offering massages. “Sexy massages”, even! Well, they more often pronounced it “Sexy Massagee,” but we got the drift! I’d later be warned by other tourists not to go with them (as if I would have!) because some of them are a scam to get tourists to go with them or to go back to the hotels with the tourists, at which point they’d be robbed by the ladies’ muscled male friends! Would a tourist actually go to the police?

 

 

Now, I’m going to warn you that this part of the story should probably be rated PG-13, so if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, you might want to skip to the pictures!

 

So, the three of us were walking down Nanjing Road, talking and looking at the sights. And this older lady, maybe mid-50’s or more, came up to us and tried her sales pitch. We weren't even really paying any attention to her, actually, which is the best way to get them to leave you alone, but it wasn’t working with her. First she offered us, “Wallet?” And we said no and tried to ignore her. Then she offered us a “Laser Pointer?” Again, no. Finally, she gave us this conspiratorial look, with a twinkle in her eye, as if she had just the very thing we wanted: “China puss-ah?”

 

Wait, did she actually just say that? We all looked at each other dumbfounded! Yep, they all heard the same thing. Since I had a bit of a vodka buzz going on, I felt the need to repeat it, as she had: “Chiiii-na pooos-ah!” It was really the delivery and the twinkle in her eye and the sureness with which she made her sales pitch that made it so funny. That and her directness when everyone else offered a “sexy massage.” And the fact that she seemed to have a whole catalogue of goods to sell: wallets, laser pointers and “puss-ah!” (Do you get a discount for buying all three?!?) Well, and the fact that this older lady just offered us her “China puss-ah!!!” To three gay men. We just could not stop laughing. And of course, we all kept repeating it over and over again. In fact, it became our catch phrase for the rest of the trip, coming up at the most inappropriate of times! We even had people on the trip who hadn’t been there with us saying it!

 

I’m constantly amazed at how I always seem to manage to find the prostitutes on overseas vacations, no matter where I am. And apparently, when I’m in Asia with Keith, especially, since we’d had a particularly memorable run-in in Japan seven years prior. But that’s a story for another day, and after a bit more walking around, THIS long day was done.

Our cool restaurant for this night.

In a docked dragon boat!

See anything you'd like for dinner?

It looks even better at night.

TThis was our boat for the river cruise.

Time for beer!

Some of Shanghai's buildings have video ads playing on them.

I love Shanghai's skyline!

Gay rainbow anal bead tower!

Our hotel, and the buildings along the bund.

Some of us called these the pirate ships.

Getting to know some of our newcomers.

This statue is some icon of the city.

The bund side of the river.

Larry was barely interested, and offered him 20 yuan when the guy said 120 yuan for a laser pointer. But the guy followed him all the way from the boat to the bus! He kept making other offers, and Larry kept saying 20. Would he take it.

Apparently, so! Larry with his new pointer -- that cost him a little over $3.

A closer look at our hotel.

Fountains out front.

Nanjing Tourist Road.

If she could move, she'd probably follow us and try to sell us something.

A statue in our hotel lobby counts as culture, right?

[kailisun98]

Amazing bargaining Larry! Great Job. You did even better than I did. I ended up paying 30 for what the vendor wanted 150. Can't wait to see your take on Happy Valley Shanghai's bad operations David!

[David H]

Larry showed us all how it's done! I actually decided that I'd get one if I could get it for 20 yuan. My last night in Shanghai, I was out on the bund and looking for someone selling laser pointers. Suddenly, no one had them! The one woman selling them was insisting that they're 150 (more than almost everyone else was attempting to charge) and called me a liar for saying that a friend had gotten one for 20!

[cfc]

Those Shanghai street vendors were the most aggressive I've ever encountered.

[glucky11801]

Thanks for the great Trip report, David! I was there 3 years ago for an Atlantis cruise, and enjoyed every minute.

As a New Yorker, I am bowled over at the Shanghai skyline, especially the state of the art lighting!

[David H]

^ Yeah, NYC's skyline is nowhere near as awesome as Shanghai's. A few week's ago I took a boat cruise along Manhattan to get to and from the Electric Zoo dance music festival, and was all set to take a ton of pictures of the skyline at night. But after Shanghai, it wasn't all that impressive. And Shanghai's is still growing.

 

^^ Yeah, the street vendors in Shanghai were ridiculous. The trick was not to even look at them. But it was tough when they'd throw things right in front of you, or cut you off when skating. Overall, though, I found them entertaining.

 

I actually admit that I kind of wanted those stupid strap-on roller skates. If I'd thought there was any reasonable chance that they might hold my fat American weight, I might have bought a pair, just for the fun of it, if I could have bargained them down to under $5. But I don't think there was any chance they'd hold my weight for more than a minute or two before breaking.

 

The sellers on Nanjing Road seemed to know each other and didn't seem to fight as much with each other as the ones in other places (like the boat dock) for our business. They were also very friendly with the "sexy massage" ladies. I wonder if they all worked for the same people -- probably organized crime. The fact that the "china puss-ah" lady also offered regular merchandise seems to back that notion up. As does the fact that most of them had the exact same merchandise.

[larrygator]

Larry showed us all how it's done! I actually decided that I'd get one if I could get it for 20 yuan. My last night in Shanghai, I was out on the bund and looking for someone selling laser pointers. Suddenly, no one had them! The one woman selling them was insisting that they're 150 (more than almost everyone else was attempting to charge) and called me a liar for saying that a friend had gotten one for 20!

 

Perfect timing in making this post. I was telling my students this story yesterday and I could not remember how much I paid for the stupid laser pointer. I just remember I was real tired and didn't want or need the laser pointer and just kept saying the same low price and every time he came down a little bit I kept repeating the same number. I really didn't even want the thing. I remember just trying to get it cheaper than for what Dan paid and I though he paid 30 yuan. Turns out he paid much more than me, but I thought I barely got the lower price.

 

After I bought it and realized it only pointed in a Kaliediscope pattern I felt ripped off as if the old bait and switch occured. I started playing around with the laser pointer the other day at school and realized I could unscrew the top and actually get it to work as a laser pointer with the single dot. Ah, Vindication!