FAKE BUILDINGS The first long day in Shanghai was long in terms of time, but the more it passed, the more we tended to forget about it, being brought back to reality only by occasional biological reminders: hunger, thirst and the need to go to the toilet. At a certain point, it became obvious that I was not in fact a superhero, but merely human. [ + ]
FAKE BUILDINGS
The first long day in Shanghai was long in terms of time, but the more it passed, the more we tended to forget about it, being brought back to reality only by occasional biological reminders: hunger, thirst and the need to go to the toilet.
At a certain point, it became obvious that I was not in fact a superhero, but merely human. The message my body was sending me was loud and clear: “Hey, it’s time to go to the toilet!” But where? Whom should I ask? How does it even work here?! I panicked.
After seeing my pained face, a friend said to me, “Let’s go together; I’m bursting too.” We decided to go to the building that looked the newest, where we would ask to use the toilet. My friend assured me that “there’ll be a Western toilet there for sure. You know… one with a seat…” We both walked determinedly at a brisk pace.
Then we saw it: a marble building, all clean and shiny, with a blue glazed façade. We were in the centre of Shanghai, after all.
We opened the door, entered the foyer, and… well, there was not much to see.
It was still a rough construction site.
Despite this surprise, we still really needed to go. So we asked the porter. He pointed at a wooden box within this huge, empty building. It turned out there were no Western toilets after all, or indeed anything remotely similar.
Since then, I have stopped trusting façades.
THREE We were walking down – well, it could have been any street in Shanghai, really. Someone offered us a “lucky red envelope”, explaining to us that this envelope would bring us wealth. [ + ]
THREE
We were walking down – well, it could have been any street in Shanghai, really. Someone offered us a “lucky red envelope”, explaining to us that this envelope would bring us wealth. Inside, there was a red card, with the symbol of this year’s animal painted in golden brushstrokes.
My friend looked away, but I was curious and wanted one – two, in fact. I thought it would be a nice present to offer to someone like me, someone superstitious.
He said that he could sell us one envelope each. That would not be a problem. However, if it was just me buying, I could have one or three envelopes, five, even, if I wanted. But he wouldn’t sell me two, or four.
At the time, I didn’t understand the principle, which is in fact very simple: odd numbers are lucky. Chinese tradition dictates that material things should be given to others in odd-numbered quantities. Public holidays, too, last either one or three days. When venerating a statue or an image of an ancestor, you should bow three times, or five times, or once… Seven or nine times would be better still. After nine, though, the golden number is twelve – an even number.
A SHANGHAINESE DAY 2 I imagine what my life would have been like if I had been a native Shanghainese grandmother… Like the others of my generation, we would all speak the same dialect, and take full advantage of our home, Shanghai. I get up at around 4.30 a.m., and meet known and unknown friends in order to exercise: tai chi fan, tai chi, dancing or a martial art. [ + ]
A SHANGHAINESE DAY 2
I imagine what my life would have been like if I had been a native Shanghainese grandmother… Like the others of my generation, we would all speak the same dialect, and take full advantage of our home, Shanghai. I get up at around 4.30 a.m., and meet known and unknown friends in order to exercise: tai chi fan, tai chi, dancing or a martial art. I could go to the park, to the street corner where the lilong and the high-rise compound meet, or to the deserted pedestrian promenade. An hour later, I tidy up my house, carefully say my prayers to my ancestors, with the help of incense that cleanses both the air and the energies in the house. Breakfast should be salty, as we lose lots of water at night. I wake up the only son of my only son, and help him to get ready for school. I go to the market and prepare lunch; and then I sit and talk to my neighbours about the latest news in the lilong – who has moved in, who has moved out, who has got married and who has died. After lunch, I’d better take a nap.
[ - ]COLD MEAT 2 It was a sunny morning, but I seemed to be suffering from stomach problems. I still don’t know if it was because of the excitement, or because of the extravaganza of a dinner I had last night with my Chinese friends. [ + ]
COLD MEAT 2
It was a sunny morning, but I seemed to be suffering from stomach problems. I still don’t know if it was because of the excitement, or because of the extravaganza of a dinner I had last night with my Chinese friends.
I arrived at the piazza in front of Shanghai Railway Station: a huge, bare piazza. I turned my head to the left, and there was a clock; I looked further to the left still, and there was a huge electronic billboard, displaying everything from advertisements for watches to the weather, as well as the departures and arrivals of trains. The rest… was just people – people everywhere – and a selection of their belongings.
I thought I might need water and something to eat for the road. I decided, for the first time in my life, to buy a Coke. My dad always said that in case of stomach troubles, the best solution was to drink some Coke and relax; cola is even good for repairing cars. In the store, I found the Coca-Cola; however, finding something to eat was proving more difficult than I thought. I just couldn’t find something I was able to, or wanted to, eat. In most cases, this was because I simply couldn’t understand what was inside the plastic wrappers containing edible material.
EIGHT “Luck” is probably the best translation of the word for “eight” in Chinese culture. It has many interpretations and can be used in many different ways. For example:Bā sounds like the word for prosperity and wealth. [ + ]
EIGHT
“Luck” is probably the best translation of the word for “eight” in Chinese culture. It has many interpretations and can be used in many different ways. For example:Bā sounds like the word for prosperity and wealth. In different rituals, one can use the power of the number eight in a date to multiply good fortune.
There is also a visual resemblance between the digits “88” and 囍, the shuāng xĭ, meaning “double happiness”. Furthermore, when turned on its side, the number eight resembles the mathematical symbol for infinity. My impression, therefore, is that eight is the number of infinite luck and happiness.
The number eight is viewed as such an auspicious number that even being assigned a number containing several eights is considered very lucky. Chinese people devote a lot of money and effort to having the figure eight in their telephone numbers and car registration numbers.
GLOWING KITES The Qingming Festival is a wonderful time to discover what is, in my humble opinion, one of the pillars of Chinese culture. The rituals that take place as part of this festival, whereby everyone welcomes in the spring , are inextricably linked to one theme : transformation. [ + ]
GLOWING KITES
The Qingming Festival is a wonderful time to discover what is, in my humble opinion, one of the pillars of Chinese culture. The rituals that take place as part of this festival, whereby everyone welcomes in the spring , are inextricably linked to one theme : transformation.
The transformation of paper matter into real objects in the afterlife, for example.
On this day, however, a more subtle transformation is also supposed to take place: the transformation of wishes and fears into real, tangible outcomes in this world and in this life.
It was necessary to find a way of transmitting greetings to those loved ones who are now enjoying another life, in another space. For this reason, it is believed that the Chinese invented kites – especially for this day, in order to commemorate and honour their ancestors, thus fulfilling their duty of filial piety.
Today, kites fly in the daytime and at night. In the evening, so that messages don’t get lost, colourful lanterns are attached to the kite strings, and the kites are then transformed into a “sacred lantern”. Nowadays, the Shanghainese attach LEDs to the strings and cloth of their kites, so that shapes can be discerned in the sky, reminiscent of formations of clouds that look like real objects, recalling memories of past events. However, most of these lights simply enrich the dark evening sky and bring back the lost stars of Shanghai, just for one night, just for this night.