The first thing you notice about China that is different from North America is the amount of people. I guess the American was right, there are millions of people walking the streets, and most of them stare at us because we look so different from what they're used to. There are also tons of street vendors selling food, DVDs, fake watches, and all sorts of other junk. They seem to know enough English to do their job, such as "Hello", "Just have a look", and the name of whatever they're selling. We learned how to say "bu shi" pretty quickly, which is a stern "no".
After dropping our bags off at the hostel, Brad and I went exploring the city. The blend of old and new in Shanghai is unbelievable. You can find all the features of a modern western civilization in the city, but it's all together with old men carrying large wicker baskets of vegetables, and small structures made out of bamboo.
We were encountered by more people than we can count, asking us if we were interested in "lady bar" or "massagie". Kind of reminds me of Rappungi (Foreigner District) in Tokyo, but this time the massagie girls don't hold your arm and tell you how much they like you. =)
Brad and I went to a restaurant that looked sort of like a chain. The food was Y28 each ($1 CDN = Y7), which is pretty expensive for China, seriously! [Come back for photos of the food]
Apparently waltzing is popular in Shanghai, and we managed to see a bunch of people doing this in the street with a band playing nearby. The best thing though, was the really old lady dancing to techno by herself with her hands in the air. People nearby were taking photos and cheering her on. We almost pissed our pants laughing at the scene. [Video of this coming soon]
To finish off the night we went to the "Beer Bar" we found while walking around. The place seemed devoid of men, which was alright with us, but a little odd. As we walk in and sit down, it seems like all the girls in the bar either work there, or are associated with the place in some way. Hmmmmm... So after we sit down, one of the girls who seems to know some English asks if she can sit down beside us, and although she totally looks like a prostitute, we don't mind having a little chat. During our conversation I ask the girl what she does, and apparently she just gets patrons to buy her drinks from the bar and she earns a commission. We kind of saw something like this coming, and I don't really fall for it. Seems like a pretty weird job to have. Another girl comes to sit with Brad and play some dice game to keep him busy so the other one can focus on me. Brad and I can see what's happening, so we just finished our beers and took off. There's no such thing as a free lunch, heh.
The rest of the night we just walked around, and found a street toilet that stank very strongly of shit. But not the usual smell, it was really weird. Oh the wonders of Shanghai!