China | Dominik Mayer – Products, Asia, Productivity

Everyone always tries to sell you something. The sellers walk around like anyone else and then attack you. Especially if you’re a foreigner. Do foreigners buy watches and bags every other day? It’s been unpleasant on Nanjing Road but unbearable in and around the City Gold Temple.

At first I countered the permanent “watches, bags, t-shirts, …” touting by showing my watch with a “look, I already have a great watch” but then realized that there has to be a better way to get rid of them. So I bought the card they’re always showing from one of the vendors and the next time someone approached me I did the same with him. Didn’t really work but at least it was great fun.

The tourist guide showed a great image of an empty bridge to Yuyuan Garden. What we found was an overcrowded City God Temple.

“Temple”, an interesting expression. I’d rather call it shopping mall or tourist center. Not the kind of thing I need. I don’t like it when everyone tries to sell me something. I prefer having a look and then talking to someone if I need help. No “here T-Shirt” or “very nice”. And – same thing in the supermarkets – everyone’s always pointing at some random thing as if it was the newest, greatest, best.

Why is there a bridge? You can walk under it but it seems too steep to cross it. Perhaps it’s a fountain? I’ll keep an eye on it.

The restaurant pretended to be Italian but seemed to have mixed up several countries. The music was as french as the pictures on the wall and the pizza seemed American.

Check out the new blog of my classmate Erwin (or Ouwen, 欧文).

you know Chinese are the most clever in Asian

Now I do.

My troubling joints led me to Shanghai East International Medical Center in Pudong. I felt been well looked after although I had thought they’d x-ray or do a sonography. According to the doctor the problems might be caused by a virus and should vanish at most six weeks after they began. Let’s hope so.

Tea that you get for free at most restaurants (if they don’t serve hot water). I’m still unsure whether it’s bottled or tap water. The tea makes it hard to taste the chlorine but I often think they just cook the tap water. That might kill bacteria but not remove the chemicals.

It’s also not so easy to drink only the fluid not the tealeaves. A Chinese friend suggested to blow on the surface. Works. Kind of.

KFC closes at 10 pm. Very strange.