I've been Shanghaied

In Beijing, I got to meet some academics at Peking University. Long story short, one of them liked me enough to give me an invite to a business meeting in Shanghai. The meeting likely has minimal relation to either of our academic interests, but since the meeting is about business opportunities in Canberra, to a Chinese mind, it makes perfect sense for me to go since I'm Australian. It means free food, possibly VIP entry to the World Expo, and an excuse to go to Shanghai, so it makes perfect sense to me too.

I booked my hotel and flights, and paid too much for both. With the expo on, Shanghai is very busy and a good deal can't be found less than a couple of months in advance. I did book at a budget hotel, so it was still fairly cheap. All seemed well until the morning I was leaving Beijing, when the hotel decided to call me and tell me they can't take foreigners. Apparently this was the rule all along (this is the 7 Days chain I stayed at on my Shenyang and Dalian trips) but they only just decided to enforce it today. Most cheap hotels are not technically allowed to house foreigners, but of course, they still all have the requisite paperwork ready (they have to fill out special forms and scan your passport). Anyway, having my hotel cancelled the day I was flying out gave kind of frustration China is really good at generating.


Rage Face helps.

So, I ended up contacting some people at Peking Uni, and after a while, managed to get them to find and book me somewhere to stay. They were very helpful and willing to do everything in their power to help me (which unfortunately didn't include paying). I was calling these people while running around collecting transcripts and certificates as that was the day they're handed out. So, with all these things combined to keep me busy, I finally got to the airport to board my 1:50pm flight... at 1:51pm (yes, really). Fortunately, since I paid a non-discounted fare, they were able to book me on a later flight at no charge. So I had 4 hours to rest.

It takes about 2 hours to fly between Beijing and Shanghai, and I did it on China Eastern, the official airline partner of the World Expo. And so, from the moment I stepped on the plane, to when I got on the subway at the airport (Hongqiao airport, so no maglev, but the subway connects direct to it now), to when I arrived at where I'm staying, Expo slogans and images were rammed down my throat. The Chinese have a particular fervour for this sort of big event - even almost two years on, Beijing still has a fair amount of Olympic mania smouldering away.

I'm staying at Shanghai Jiaotong University, which is in what one might consider the outer suburbs of Shanghai. To go anywhere interesting, I have to take a taxi to a light rail station, then transfer from that to the subway proper. People's Square is about an hour away overall, and the other interesting sights are further away. But I do at least have a place to stay, and since professors from this uni are attending the event, they can give me rides.