Blog from Pudong

** Typed in Microsoft Word, Sunday, 7.27.2008**

I don't have Internet right now at the Pudong International Airport, so I'm going to transcribe this blog entry when I get back to the CUC, since Blogger charmingly does not allow me to copy and paste text. It's 4:13 p.m. Sunday in Shanghai. I'm listening to the Muzak version of "My Heart Will Go On" at the eatery Spices, which overlooks the highway and terminals. I'm not extremely hungry, but I didn't want to sit in the middle of the hullabaloo by the China Air check-in. I ordered turtle and ginseng soup in honor of my brother's and my favorite show when we were little, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Whenever Shredder yelled, "I'm going to turn you into turtle soup!", I imagined it would be a generic, lime-green bisque. Not so much – the turtle in my bowl met a much more violent-looking end. But it tastes legit, like a lean chicken soup. I think I ate some shell. I am avoiding the spinal cord.

My flight leaves around 9, so it's too soon to check in. Earlier, I was paranoid I would get lost and not make it here on time. Traci's flight is out of the more centrally located Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, where we arrived from Beijing a few days ago. My flight is out of Pudong, so we had to part ways. I faced a bit of a dilemma. A taxi ride to Pudong would have been about 170 to 200 yuan (about $25 to $30). I only have 200 yuan on me right now, which wouldn't have been that big of an issue, but the subway is going to be closed for the night when I land in Beijing and I wouldn't have any scrilla for a taxi ride back to the university. I wanted to take the floating train anyway; however, that meant I would have to find my way around Shanghai solo to the subway and the maglev. Shanghai, although more Western than Beijing, is definitely more difficult to navigate than China's capital because of all the Olympic preparations. There are many signs, but they're in Chinese characters. Being a broke college grad, however, and too stubborn to find an ATM, I opted to hike through Shanghai after seeing Traci off in her taxi. I got two sets of directions from the front desk ladies at the hostel:

1. "Go up all the way, turn right, go four blocks."

2. "Go this way four blocks and turn right."

I went with the second morsel of advice. It led me to a large, car-less shopping area we visited the first day in Shanghai, but I couldn't find any subway signs. I used my new Mandarin book and asked around, the whole time grumbling, "Ok, Shanghai subway, you could be a little more conspicuous," in my head. A security guard finally directed me past a few stores, and then, hello, the subway station could not have been more conspicuous. It is the biggest subway station I've seen in China so far. It had a Watsom's convenience store and restaurant inside. I ate my words. The green line, in fact, takes passengers directly to the maglev station, which takes passengers directly to the airport, so it would take a dopey foreigner to mess up such an easy trip.

Just like the German men and hostel squatter said, the maglev was awesome. It was so cool, I probably would have taken it to the airport and back even if I didn't have a flight. The train, which looks like it's straight out of the "Jetsons," actually levitates a little above the track. The whole voyage took about six or seven minutes, and we reached 420 kilometers per hour. The cabin tilted and shook as the maglev reached its highest speed. I took a video so I could share the view of how fast the landscape zipped by the window. I may put it up along with others from Shanghai when I figure out how to post things on YouTube. Unfortunately, the best/most stunning part of the trip occurred right after I turned off the camera. I was sitting, like the unabashed super tourist I am, with my face practically pressed against the window when the other maglev passed by. "Passed by" isn't the best description; it startled the bejesus out of me. The entire train roared by the window in less than a second. Math: If two maglevs racing toward each other are each going 1/3 the speed of sound, the impact would be 2/3 the speed of sound, right? I can't call Stephanie my algebra tutor right now to confirm this, but I can assure you it will make you jump if you aren't expecting it. I may or may not have made an audible noise of surprise.

The whole trip from the hostel to the airport took about an hour and cost 54 yuan ($7.90). 

God bless inexpensive, high-tech, entertaining public transit in China.