Honestly am just kidding… it’s a great pun.
But also, weed laws in China are 非常严格 (very strict).
http://www.people.com/article/jaycee-chan-indicted-jackie-chan-drug-charges
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ANYWAYS, let’s get on with this…
I haven’t had much time to post (the Great Firewall of China also attacked my VPN and I couldn’t get onto certain sites for a while). But to make up for lost time I’m going to try and pack as much as I can into a few posts.
Near the end of January, two friends and I had the amazing opportunity to go on an independent travel trip to Shanghai together. I’m not saying we necessarily took advantage of all the cultural activities we could have participated in while we were there, but we did see the Pearl Tower, which I think should count for something.
We mostly walked along the Bund and ate some really good French food, because believe it or not there is a huge French influence in Shanghai. Before the start of the Korean War there was a large area of Shanghai inhabited by the French, otherwise known as the French Concession. There were other countries that had little communities in Shanghai and Beijing as well, but France left more of it’s culture in Shanghai than the other countries when everyone had to leave because of the Nanjing Massacre.
It was extremely interesting to see all of the French influenced architecture and be able to connect what we were learning in our history class with something concrete.
This was my second time visiting Shanghai and though it was a very short second visit, I have to say I think Beijing is a much better place to live in China than Shanghai. Yes, Beijing may be dirtier and more crowded, but it is both Western and Chinese at the same time, whereas Shanghai is much too Western for me to justify living there… I could live in the States or Europe if I wanted a mostly Western culture surrounding me.
However, I would never say no to a trip back!
Baejing 