Unusually, this trip did not have a pre-dawn start. I left for the airport at 9:30 am. The queues in Dublin were mad, and not helped by a French tour group being led sideways through the lines to get to the ticket counter. Other than that, the trip was smooth with the planes being on time. I changed planes in Paris for the direct flight to Shanghai. It was a comfortable flight on an Air France Boeing 777 complete with personal TV screens. The plane also had a self serve bar in the galley for between meal snacks and drinks. Breakfast included cherry and pear crépes! Due to the direction of the flight we chased the night around the planet. The route took us over Moscow and western Siberia then down to Shanghai. According to the flight information channel we travelled 9250 km (5781 miles) in 13 hours and 15 minutes.
We are the first flight of the day arriving in the new Pudong International Airport, just outside Shanghai in the Pudong district. It was opened in 1999. The place is huge and was deserted except for a few people. But I knew the journey was going too well. Somehow Air France had not been able to get my bags from one terminal to another in Paris. I wasn't the only one - about 30 passengers were affected. I was given a toiletries bag and asked to come back the next day. They could have delivered the bags to me, but I didn't know where I was going to be. In any case the rest of the expedition were arriving the following day, so I could meet them and get my bags at the same time. The toiletries bag was very well equipped with everything from a T-shirt to a toothbrush to a shower cap. Jen was quite pleased to receive the various L'Occitane perfumes, soaps and moisturisers when I arrived home. At least there was somebody to meet me at the airport and I was driven into town. The trip takes about an hour by car or bus. However in a few years' time it will be possible to take the new magnetic levitation train. It will reach the centre of Shanghai in 8 minutes.
I was taken to the East China Normal University, where I was given a room in the International Dormitory. The room came with air conditioning, cable TV and en-suite bath. I must qualify this - the bath was 3 ft long! Another feature found almost everywhere was the pair of 2 litre thermoses filled with hot water. This was instead of a kettle. Tea was provided; however there were only glasses (without handles) in which to make the tea. It made holding the tea a bit difficult.
I was a bit tired so I took a nap for a few hours and then ventured outside to wander around the campus and local community. The campus was very green and well landscaped. It was then time for some dinner. This was not a straightforward matter. Despite the restaurant being in the International Student Exchange Centre none of the staff spoke English and the menus were only in Chinese. Normally I could have coped, but my guide book with the translations was somewhere above Moscow with my bags. There was a friendly American at the next table who had a short list of translations. I ordered what I hoped was some rice and beef, but wasn't really sure what I had ordered. What arrived was a very hot plate onto which was poured chunks of onion, tomato and garlic releasing a cloud of steam. A plate of marinated beef was then piled on top of the vegetables and the whole thing was covered for a few minutes. It was very tasty and went well with the plain steamed rice. All this plus a drink was less than ¤3.
Retreated to my room. I wasn't feeling the jet lag too much so I read and watched TV for a bit. The TV was amusing. There were soap commercials with the Corrs as a backing track, and the Teletubbies dubbed into Chinese. The big change from Dublin was the time of dusk: 1930 hrs instead of 2230 hrs. The similarity was the drizzle.
An early start out to the airport with my host to collect my bags and meet the rest of the party. It is a muggy, grey day though it may be the normal smog. I'm impressed by how the roads are kept in the city. Even the widest highways are landscaped. Roads crews are out weeding and collecting garbage. There are even flower boxes along the edges of overpasses.
As promised my bags arrived at the airport. However one of the group arriving had his bags delayed - Air France again. Once everyone is sorted, we head back to the campus to drop off the bags and have a quick lunch. We then board an air conditioned van for the 6 hour drive to Xuan Cheng to visit an alligator breeding centre. This will be a short visit in the evening as we will return tomorrow. The trip is interesting. The roads deteriorate the further you travel from Shanghai. Main roads tend to have wide bicycle lanes, though they may be used by trucks, motorbikes, tractors, pedestrians, etc. We stayed in a local hotel and had a great dinner. The highlights included snake and fish. I was introduced to the local beers and learned the translation of this very important item: píjiu. After dinner we took a walk around town and ended up at a sidewalk bar drinking beer and eating sunflower seeds.
Though the hotel bathroom is a little grotty, the water is hot and the shower pressure would take a layer of skin off. The room is air conditioned. I'm not sure what I expected but so far China is like many other countries. The bigger cities have great office blocks. The smaller towns remind me a bit of the Balkans both in layout and construction. There is little evidence of the old Chinese architecture that we are familiar with. But it is still early days.
Breakfast consisted of steamed bread, rice gruel, vegetables, cakes and tea. It is then back to the breeding centre for a proper tour.
The purpose of the centre is to breed alligators for eventual release into the wild. The Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis) has only about 115 animals left in the wild. The alligator became endangered due to the conversion of its habitat to agricultural land. This is the largest of the breeding centres with 10,000+ animals. The life span of the alligators is typically about 40 years. They reach maturity at about 8 years of age. The alligators pair bond for the breeding season. The female lays her eggs in a nest. At the centre they remove the eggs to incubators to ensure a high survival rate. The sex of the offspring is determined by the temperature of the egg. Temperatures equal to or greater than 33°C results in males. Temperatures between 26°C and 28°C results in females. In-between temperatures result in either sex, and temperatures below 26°C result in the death of the embryo. The eggs hatch at 60-70 days of age. This breeding centre can produce between 1000 and 2000 alligators per year. The diet of the adults includes ducklings and snails while the young get mixes of fish, eel and chicken. The snails are not used after July due to the use of pesticides in agriculture at that time, as they are collected from local rice fields. From October to April the alligators hibernate. A small number of the animals are harvested each year to provide meat for a selection of restaurants. The meat is usually dried. The fat is rendered into oil and used in face creams.
Before leaving, a 4 year old alligator gets wrapped around my shoulders and the moment is added to the photographic record. After the tour, it is off for another great feast including a delicious chicken soup. The great taste may have come from the fact that the whole carcass was still in the soup.
In the afternoon we travel to a smaller breeding centre with only about 360 animals. A local Chinese television crew shows up to film the visit and the discussions between the centre's staff and the group. This centre keeps a ratio of 1 male for every 5 females to allow the male to select the breeding partner. Despite the low numbers in the breeding population there does not seem to be any medical or genetic problems in the off-spring. One of the rules of populations is that if the population has less than 50 members, it is most at risk of extinction from natural disasters. If there are less than 500 members the greatest risk is from in-breeding. The centre has less than 20% mortality at 1 year of age. Now that the total captive population is reaching 20,000 animals, not only is the species safe but efforts are beginning to release animals into the wild.
After our stop, it is back to Shanghai. We quickly freshen up and then head out for something to eat. We find a nice restaurant and begin the ritual of mis-communication, gesturing, etc that is typical when our hosts are not present to help us. A local with good English offers to help and soon after the food starts to arrive. Another meal of various and delicious items. I'm not going to be able to describe the meals in the way Jen does simply due to the number and variety of dishes at most meals. But let me assure you that I did not have a bad meal during the trip and never had the slightest hint of tummy upset. After dinner we head back to the hotel for a nightcap and then bed. It is very tiring sitting on a bus for most of the day!
Today we leave the alligators behind. After a quick breakfast, we are off to the Shanghai Zoo. The trip to the zoo is an exercise in itself even with local guides. There is a taxi ride to the bus terminal, though the three taxis used seemed to drop us off in different parts of the city. It took us some time to reassemble. It was then onto a bus out to the zoo. At the zoo we were provided with a private bus tour, lunch and a complimentary zoo umbrella. The tour reminded me of Jurassic Park. There were large enclosures for the big herbivores, the big cats, the bears and the foxes. These had large electrified fences and the bus had to drive into a holding cage as the gate behind closed, before the one in front opened. This provides large natural habitats for the animals. We stopped by the neonatal area where the zoo was raising baby tigers. I get to cuddle one that is one and a half months old. There were also red pandas in the incubators. Later, I saw my first live panda bear, but it was sleeping with its back to me. There were areas for aquatic birds, flightless birds (ostrich and emu), reptiles, etc. The small bird aviary was impressive. Essentially it was a huge mesh-covered dome in which the birds could walk and fly freely. We also took in the sea lion performance.
I was in two minds about the zoo after the performance. Though it was providing large natural areas for many species and seemed to be running a good breeding program for endangered animals, there was still an element of performance and cruelty. The sea lion show was amusing and it certainly prevents the sea lions from suffering from boredom. But around the zoo I saw things like a bear on a lead, walking only on its hind legs. There was a display area for other performances as well. But I suppose they must balance the books and performances bring in the crowds.
The trip back to campus was uneventful. By this time I had seen a good bit of Shanghai. It is very cosmopolitan and seems to be in the middle of a construction boom. It would easily pass for any western city. Certainly western brands and stores were readily apparent.
We were off for another banquet, this one hosted by our colleagues from the Chinese university. The dishes just didn't stop coming. They included fish, tofu, beef, beans, pickled eggs, and a type of pastry ball that felt like bubbles in your mouth. There are essentially two ways of eating Chinese food. A family will make one or two dishes and serve these on rice or noodles. Contrary to practice in western Chinese restaurants and take-aways, the last dishes served are traditionally the rice or noodles (not both). It is also improper to eat everything on your plate. To do so indicates that you are still hungry and obliges your host to order more food.
The rain has started again and there is word that a typhoon is coming our way. A good thing perhaps that we are flying out to Chengdu tomorrow to start the trip to the Tibetan plateau.