Communist Chinahhhhhhh!

I had a blast with Russian Fritz in China! I arrived at the Shanghai Airport late on March 25th. The Fritzes ordered a company driver to pick me up and drive me to Suzhou. It took about 1.5 hours. R. Fritz and I spent time shopping, getting massages, facials, manicures, haircuts, and we even went to the gym together!

Russian Fritz is a street theater haggler extraordinaire. Her negotiating techniques and dramatized explanations never fail to win the attention and hearts of the Chinese people. Some of her strategies for demanding lower prices include saying "but you and I are friends!" and pointing to a very low price that the salesperson had already denied and saying "thank you! Thank you!" as if the salesperson had already accepted her offer.

With R. Fritz's undeniable talent and with my newfound negotiation knowledge, we took to the streets of Shanghai! When the myriads of street sellers followed us, attempting to sell us their wares, we attempted to sell them our own wares at outrageous prices. Some people were beweirded, but most were amused. Some wanted to by our overpriced hair accessories just for the novelty, others were just calling our bluff.

We had good times on Fanghang street. This is a street that sells a lot of faux antiques. You have period-style imitation Mao clocks, communist propaganda posters, Buddhist statues, etc. R. Fritz and I got cheap imitation communist worker caps and wore them down the street. At first, I feared we were too bold, but the public enjoyed the spectacle. Many snapped photos of us and requested photos with us. It just goes to show how some khaki green cloth and a cheap red star can make you an instant celebrity.

The next morning, we visited an ancient temple complex. The statuary was simply incredible: massive, brilliantly coloured, excessive, intense, filled with smoke and exuberant prayer.

We then went into the Bund, the European part of Shanghai where rich and famous Westerners would hang out in the early 20th century. On the opposite side of the river, lies modern Shanghai, which looks as if it were designed by Michael Jackson. We took a boat tour, gazing at the buildings through a semi-transparent veil of smog.