Chapter two: Shanghai

Ever since I was younger, I always dreamt of travelling to Asia. So when I made the decision to study in Beijing, I knew it would lead to the opportunity to explore the whole country, and maybe some other parts of Asia as well. As one of my goals is to learn Chinese I decided to follow a one-week course in order to have proper basic skills. And because I want to make the most out of my time here, I did so in Shanghai.

Chinese lessons

Let’s start with the main reason I came to Shanghai: the language lessons. Normally I would have had group lessons, but since I was the only beginner that week I’ve got 30 hours of private lessons, yay! This helped so much. Though the grammar is quite easy, the pronunciation is unbelievably difficult. Having a teacher all to myself improved my pronunciation a lot, but I still have a looooong way to go.

BONUS: my teacher also was a ‘master of tea’, which means she studied the art of tea making. So every day she brought a different Chinese tea to class! :)

Travelling alone

At first, the thought of travelling alone was a bit scary. Would I find my way? Wouldn’t I be lonely? Wouldn’t it be boring? The answers: yes, no and no! Traveling by myself opened a lot of doors: I spoke to so much more people, learnt how to handle myself and most of all: I made some very nice friends along the way!

I had a very nice homestay family: they showed me how to walk to classes, helped me buy a train ticket, took me to some very nice places in the city and cooked me all kinds of traditional Chinese food. Though Joanna and her husband spoke English very well, Joanna’s mother did not. Our solution? WeChat! This amazing app has a built in translator, which could lead to some funny situations: both of us sitting at the table, texting each other instead of talking!

Not only did I meet a lot of new people, I also saw a familiar face. Anthony, a guy from my high school class whom I had not seen for 4 years, is doing an exchange in Shanghai. As he had only just arrived, we met one afternoon to discover some places together.

A short story of some of the new people I met:

Raven helped me find my way when I first arrived, and promised to show me some places a few days later. He kept that promise and so we did a small tour of the city, including the Museum of Art, a spectacular view of the Bund and a very nice restaurant. As a true gentleman, he also brought some Belgian beers to drink together!

I met Haruka in Yu Garden. She asked me to take a picture of her, I asked her if she could do the same for me and we got to talking. She is a Japanese student who travelled to China for a month to learn Chinese. Just before we met, she spent a month in England to learn English! We had a lot of fun exploring the garden, and promised to keep in touch, as that day was already my last day in Shanghai.

Kelly was my fellow roommate at Joanna’s place. Even for a Chinese girl, she is soooo tiny and cute! I felt really tall spending time with her. She liked to take pictures a lot. Of the food, of the room, of Joanna, of me… We even did a small photoshoot with the three of us! A real girlsnight. Afterwards we went to the bar to drink some – of course – Belgian beers!

Delicious food… hmmmmm!

Rice, noodles, meat, hot pot... I love them all!

Exploring Shanghai

Some of the places I visited:
- Oriental Pearl Tower
- Garden Bridge
- Jing’an Temple
- China Art Museum
- Shanghai Museum
- Tianzifang and Xintiandi
- Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre
- Yu garden
- the wonderful skyline of Shanghai from both sides
- …

All were amazing in their own way! The Oriental Pearl Tower offered an amazing 360° view of the city, including the ‘bottle opener’ and Shanghai Tower. Garden bridge is such a dynamic structure. Tianzifang and Xintiandi are small neighborhoods with traditional architecture and touristic atmospheres. The Urban Planning Exhibition Centre had one enormous room dedicated to a model of the city, explained some of the solutions to provide a more green and sustainable environment, showed plans to renew certain districts… I cannot even describe the beauty of Yu Garden and the skyline. WOW! I fell in love with Shanghai.