The Nanjing train station. Got there 45 minutes before departure. Thought "cool" no rush this time! Hmmm. Sea of people. We found a wall to place ourselves and luggage. There must have been easily 3000 people in the waiting room.

       Sea of People, Waiting Room, Nanjing Railway

They called two trains at one time about 10 minutes before scheduled departure. The sea of people became a people river, with everyone funneled into a corridor then down stairs or escalators to the train. The escalator dropped us off at Car 12. We were in Car 2. Started walking towards our car at a pretty good clip when a whistle started blowing indicating the train was leaving. We ran with all of our luggage and made it to the car with about 30 seconds to spare before the train began moving. No rushing! Famous last words, huh? I think this trip should be subtitled, "no waiting".

Train ride was nice, but the amount of pollution in the air was disturbing (and a bit smelly). Once we arrived in Shanghai, the fun began again! There was a long ramp down from our platform (like 45 degrees). We were a people stream leading into a people river (trains arriving from different platforms, feeding into one corridor). Then up another long, long ramp of equal pitch letting us out of the station where there were THOUSANDS of people with lots of luggage waiting to get into the station for their trains. THOUSANDS.

It's the beginning of the Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Years) and most Chinese return to their hometowns for the holiday. 3.2 billion people moving over a period of 40 days (although most are done over one week), the majority by bus and rail. We found Gu's car after feeling like salmon swimming upstream and piled in the luggage. The plan was for Gu and Jenny to take Clare and Lew to their hotel, drop our luggage off at Jenny's then meet us at a restaurant on the other side of the river in Pudong.

Meanwhile, Jo, Fong and Jancy (who also work for Jo and were on the train with us) headed for the metro station at RUSH HOUR. That's right. Steph in the subway during rush hour in Shanghai. I've taken the metro in Shanghai plenty of times, but NEVER at Rush Hour. OMG. Really OMG. They said the traffic was LIGHT because of the start of the festival! PEOPLE RIVERS cramming into moving sardine cans. Shoehorn anyone???

There are arrows and lines painted on the ground where the doors of the train cars open. If you are getting onto the train, you stand behind the lines on the side of where the doors open. People exit through the center, pushing if need be. Apparently it's quite common for people to sleep standing up on the trains and not worry about falling over because there are so many people crammed into any given car. We had to change trains in People's Square, which is HUGE. It's big. Really really big. Kilometers big underground!

                 

                           People's Square Metro Station - NOT at rush hour...

I was quite thankful for the exit and walk outside on the street to the restaurant. And it's substantially warmer here too! YAY! Just cold but not FREEZING.

Silly me thinking I was done with claustrophobic situations. Nope. The elevators at the shopping mall were a whole other experience. I almost took the stairs. It was close. I didn't know you could cram so many people into an elevator and have it still work! After wimping out on entering a few cars (yes I did), we took one of the elevators down, then up. It worked. Not as many people (I think the folks on the main floor forgot to hit the "up" button).

Arrived at a Japanese Restaurant for the InfoSalons Shanghai Office annual Holiday party. There were 17 of us total. The food was great, beer and sake flowed freely, and played 2 games - one of which culminated in Gu having to do a pole dance on using a tree in the middle of the restaurant (he removed his jacket only, but it was hilarious). The second was a drinking game - finishing with Fong and myself doing the hula in the middle of the restaurant. He did well for not ever having hula'd before!!! Strangest thing I ate the restaurant: lettuce leaf tempura. It tasted like, well lettuce - that is to say, nothing. Still shaking my head on that one.

The last challenge of the night was finding a cab. The metros closed early and many taxi drivers went to begin the Spring Holiday partying instead of driving their cabs. We ended up at a hotel and somehow 30 minutes later were in a cab back to Jenny's.

Spent the last day in China relaxing. Took Jo and Jenny for a big breakfast, then a walk up West Nanjing Road. It's THE shopping street in Shanghai. Strangest things we saw: Flowerpots hung from street lamps filled with different types of - Lettuce. That's right. Lettuce. The second wasn't that unusual for China actually. It was a man on a bike hauling two sets of beds (that's two full size mattresses & box springs). Just cruising down the road calmly. With cars.

It's quite common to see people transport things on bikes we normally only see in the backs of pick up trucks or in big trucks. I guess it's a matter of balance...

Last stop was at the Imported Food Market where I picked up provisions (French roll, cheese, chips) for the plane ride home. Before I knew it, said good-bye to Jo and Jenny and was on my way to the airport passing by the site of the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. It's a huge undertaking and the construction of the site is amazing, covering many square kilometers. It was one of those typical, memorable rides - the driver alternating being Speed Racer to looking like he was nodding off - within seconds at times! At last, made it to the airport.

Flew through Beijing on the way to LA. Of course, we land at where else? Terminal 3. And are offloaded outside in the freezing cold to a bus that takes us inside, where we go through immigration. I buy the most expensive bottle of water EVER for the plane ride home, grab a coffee and hang out writing this blog til it's time to board. Hey- we're not really using a JETWAY are we? Whoohoo!

We board. The plane is PACKED. Not one empty seat. 11 of the longest hours of my life - and I sort of slept 7 of them. We love sleeping pills, but not even they cannot compensate for small seats, limited legroom and no  individual air controls. My cheese, bread, chips and trail mix were a great breakfast and lunch.The IPOD was also very helpful to not hear the guy in front of me singing badly for HOURS to his headphones.

We finally land. And are directed to a gate in the middle of nowhere near El Segundo I think (the next city down from LA). Walk onto a Jetway are then crammed into - you guessed it - BUSES and taken to Terminal 2 where we shoehorned through a door into Immigration and Customs. The day is sunny, warm and clear. I'm home. A shower, glass of California Chardonnay and LA traffic never looked so good!