Tag Archives: Shanghai china

Shanghai Disney

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Disney. The happiest place on earth.  With locations in Anaheim, California, Orlando, Florida,  Marne-la-Vallée (near Paris), France, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, China, and Urayasu, Chiba, Japan there is a place close to almost everyone.

And now Disney has made the world even smaller. By opening a new location with an amazing and large park in Shanghai, China. And it’s sure to become the premier park in Asia.

One of the first things you’ll notice as you go through the gate is the lady holding the sign that says please don’t run.  This is something of the norm in China. I have seen signs similar to this when visiting the terra-cotta warriors and the Great Wall of china.

Disney is new to the Chinese. And all though they don’t know all the characters or movies, that’s soon to change.  Frozen is the favorite at Shanghai Disney but they still love the rides. The TRON roller coaster seems to be one of the favorites of the young in China. And they all want to be first every morning.

All of your favorites are here. Including Dumbo, the Snow White and the seven dwarfs roller coaster, Peter Pan, the carousel just to name a few. There are also many new characters, most Notably the cast of Frozen.  This is in the form of a live stage show where all of your favorite songs are acted out and sung…in Chinese.

And, of course, there is what I believe should be everybody’s favorite ride. And that’s Pirates of the Caribbean.  This one is also in Chinese but in my opinion is one of the greatest rides of all time. Also the language difference is not a deterrent as this ride relies on technology.

One of the most interesting part of this Disney land is the locals that are constantly trying to sell non authorized Disney memorabilia.  From the time you stand in line until you go home that night, locals can be found in and out of the park selling these cheap knock offs.  They also offer to be a guide for those that aren’t familiar with the park.  Although I didn’t see any, I’m sure that they offer guides that can translate as well.

 

You can also exit the Disney gate and go into the Disney village.  This offers many restaurants including the Cheesecake Factory.  It also includes many shopping areas including the Disney store. there are bands that play in the center of the village and it keeps the Disney Spirit as well as cleanliness.  I asked but it seems that penny wasn’t working the day we were there.  Maybe she was out selling pharmaceuticals to some of her new clients.

 

So if you’re looking for something. Or if you would like to hear all of your favorite characters speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese or French do your self a favor and go to all the Disney’s located throughout the world.  Each and every one of them are indeed the happiest places on earth.

 

The China Most Foreigners Don’t See

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China has some of the most beautiful buildings in the world.  The government owns most of these buildings and all of the land. Individuals can purchase a home (condo) in these buildings. However, the ownership is a 70-year lease. Even though prices in Shanghai start at one million dollars, no one really knows whats going to happen after the 70-year lease is over.In local tourist areas such as Jingan Temple shown in these two pictures, you can see the building are very well kept and the facades are really amazing. Jingan Temple is in the city of Shanghai.

If you’re lucky enough to own a house in one of these tourist areas, or on a road where government officials or westerners would be traveling, the government spends the money to keep these facades incredible. It’s a way for China to maintain face throughout the world.

So what happens to some of the buildings that aren’t close to tourist areas or the main roads? What happens to the areas the government doesn’t care about, or worse, has decided to tear down but the tenants aren’t willing to leave.

We lived in an area in Shanghai where just such thing was happening,  As I would walk back and forth to work I would notice people were still living in these partially demolished buildings.  I don’t know why I never took pictures of this but I didn’t and for that I am sorry,

I took these pictures in a city called Harbin. It’s a northern city in China close to the Russian border. As you can see the government isn’t keen on these building. They’re in the middle of the city. But, they look like a  small town in the country that’s close to being unlivable.

It’s not uncommon to see chickens or other livestock living in the middle of the city.  In areas like this, you can see chickens and goats living in the confines of the project.

I understand that all countries have ghetto areas.  In a communist country such as China, I find it funny these areas are so run down. Other areas close to them have been are new and remain pristine. I have walked through here a few times now and have seen Audi’s and BMW’s parked out front of the homes.

 

Caitlin

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We were living in Shanghai, China.  Your mother was about 6 or 7 months pregnant when a good friend of mine named Ravi called me.  He was working in Australia and wanted me to come to Perth to join him and work with him. Looking back, it wasn’t the right decision but we got our visa’s and was on a plane to Australia. I honestly believed that you being born in Australia would give you the opportunity to have dual Citizenship to both America and Australia.  Thats not the case. I believe America is the only country in the world that allows citizenship for those born in our country lines.

When we arrived, everything seemed to be going well but it wasn’t long after that the job became a nightmare.  It was costing more to rent a house than the company was paying me and every month. I had to pay, out of my pocket, for the hospital and for us to live. The Australian people were very friendly and treated us very well. They showed us true hospitality that was as good as any southern hospitality. It was very hard on your mother with me working everyday.  The good news is that it was a day job. I was always home in the evenings and was off two days a week. We could go shopping and try to do some things with her being so big and pregnant.

The reason why it was so hard on your mother is because her culture is so much different than western culture.  In China, the women that have babies stay in bed for 30 days. The families take care of the new baby. They also do everything for the new mother so she can rest and get over the trauma of giving birth. Your poor mother got none of that.  She learned very quickly of the western culture of go squat behind a tree have the baby and get back to work in the fields culture.

Your due date was two weeks earlier and the doctor was growing concerned.  We went to the hospital in the early afternoon where they were going to induce labor if she didn’t start labor on her own very quickly. We sat in the hospital for a few hours when they moved us into a room.

The nurse was very kind that came into check on us every hour and so.  She even broke your mothers water trying to get her to go into labor. It mush have worked because soon after that her labor began and they moved us into a birthing room.  Funny thing about a birthing room,  it is always pretty quite  with a nurse checking in on you every once in a while and then all hell breaking loose when the baby is being born.

So the night drug on and your mother became weaker as the labor pains kept coming.  I guess it was around three or four in the morning when the pains got to be really bad. Your mother was such a trooper. I found myself loving her more by the way she handled giving birth to you.  Her English wasn’t as good as it is now and at one point she asked the nurse if she could “cut the cheese”.  The nurse looked at me very surprised and with a smile on her face and assured her that it would be okay if she passed some gas.

As the night drug on the pains were getting worse. Your mother was so tired she honestly felt like she was dying.  Your head finally breached around 5 or 6 in the morning, but it still took a lot of time left before you came out. The told your mother to give one final push and she said. “No thank you, I just can’t anymore”.  All of the nurses must have loved her as well. When their work was over they wanted to stay and watch you be born.

With one last push from your mother you finally ripped your way out.  I think your mother was in shock as she really didn’t know what was going on at that time.  The took you and cleaned you up.  I held you in my arms, rubbing my nose against yours and welcoming you into the world.  I put you on you mothers stomach. She was still delirious form the 18 hours of labor.

It was about 8 or 9 when everything finally settled down and I decided that I would run down to a McDonalds to get us something to eat. I wasn’t gone very long and when I returned they were stitching your mother up.  You had ripped her pretty bad when you came out.  Im not sure how many stitches it took, but it must have taken the girl an hour to finish the procedure.

The next couple of months were not very good for your poor mother either. I’m surprised she forgave me for not having the time to heal that her culture would have given her.  I worked during the day and you cried all day and most of the night when I got home.  You and I would sleep on the couch with me on my cack and your on my chest.  Your mother instead on breast feeding you and Im glad that she did.  But, she wasn’t producing enough milk ti fill your little belly and you cried all the time.  Australia has a mid wife  comes to all new parents homes once a week after delivery.

She was always concerned about your crying but never said anything about giving you formula.  After about a month or two of your mother eating fish and every other home remedy people would give her to make her produce more milk I talked her into getting you a can of formula which seemed to make things better.

Another month later we were on a plane heading back to china. I needed to make some money. It took me three years to pay off all the debt we had incurred.

And that is the story of what happened on the day you were born.