Jean-Guy!'s Blog: Bound For The Bund

On Monday, 04 December 2012, I made my way to The Bund. I decide not to take much money with me because, simply put, I did not want to spend much. My main goal for the day was to find small buns called xiao3long2bao1 (小笼包), and I figured that I might meet with success there. When I first exited the subway station, I saw the following.

AAAAAH! I CAN'T ESCAPE IT!

After wandering around and seeing some interesting things, I was approached by a Chinese person with the English name John. John wanted to chat with me for practising his English and, upon learning that I am a Canadian, to hear about different places and things in Canada. He suggested that we either share a meal or a coffee, so I accompanied him to a gafe. On the way, I started to feel leery of this arrangement, and I told John that I didn't want to go. He immediately said 'This is not a scam! Not a scam!'; his response seemed genuine enough for me to join him, provided that I remain vigilant. When we first arrived at the cafe, he suggested that we look at the menu and, if I be unhappy, we would leave. I looked at the menu, and I saw a drink which I would order. I also noticed that each order included a 10% surcharge. I confirmed with the fu2wu4yuan2 (服务员) that the cost was 43 yuan (and not 39, as advertised), so John ordered two such drinks. Immediately after we were seated, I told John that I had little money on my person and that he should be clear that I would be unable to pay for his drink. I swear, you've never seen anyone scramble so swiftly to cancel his order.

Throughout the course of our conversation, I described some things about Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto. I also told him that I'd recently been in India. He asked me whether I'd had on my person and Indian or Canadian currency, to which I responded 'I brought very little Chinese money with me; I have no other currency'. I learnt from him that the most expensive part of driving in Shanghai is neither fuel nor insurance, but the buying of a licence plate, of which few are available. Many persons apparently go to neighbouring provinces to get licence plates, both because they are more numerous and because they are less expensive to obtain. Apparently the latter are prevented from using some freeways, however, and the reason for this is to regulate traffic. At one point, John asked me about my wife (I have none) and my age (he claims that he thought I was 25). Immediately after that, he complimented me on my 'milky white skin' (I'd been tanning in preparation for my trip to India), which prompted me to try to end the conversation. After a few more minutes, we parted ways and I continued to explore the local shopping district.