Shanghai wonderful Shanghai (Marcus)

We love this city, we really do.

Tonight is our last night in China and we are both feeling somewhat apprehensive about what the future might hold for us.

I know that when you go to live in another country that you experience a degree of culture shock - both different stages of initial and then reverse culture shock upon return. I also know that when we get home it will feel like we have never left and we'll both feel various degrees of depression questioning things such as - just what exactly have we achieved with this whole venture?

We are returning home without jobs, without a house, no car(well we can borrow one), barely any savings - nothing, nada, zip! But we also know that through what has turned into a sizeable adventure for us, as a couple we have achieved so much.

China will always have a near and dear place in our hearts and I feel there is no more fitting place to see it out than here in Shanghai. It is such a big, wonderful city. I feel truly sad that we will not have easy access to this place once we return home.

Shanghai is truly the embodiment of East meets West. Here you have the very pinnacle of the Chinese forays into the rest of the world. It is here - much moreso than Beijing(in my opinion) that you truly experience the real China for behind the skyscrapers, around the corners and down the alleys, here you have the local lifeblood of China and man does it beat with a vibrant pulse.


I know for a fact that if i came to live in China again it would be in Shanghai. While Wuxi has it's lovable elements and definitely positives, and while we really liked Beijing, it has been Shanghai that has consistently enthralled us. The place feels great. Everywhere you go are interesting variations of Chinese daily life. The city is so diverse, so sprawling! In Lonely Planet is says that Beijing has a predictable navagational design - seeing the city was specifically built from the middle out, whilst Shanghai is all over the place making it difficult and that I feel is what makes it so wonderful.


You can wander all over it and see different things down different streets. Shanghai's history of Western occupation has created vast quadrants where you can litterally step from France into Britain and back into China again all within the same hour.

I imagine New York is very much like Shanghai but a lot more modern. I'd really like to see it one day to compare.

We have been talking about the things we are and are not going to miss about being here. It's quite lengthy and we'll save it for another post but for now, we have enjoyed our final days in China and know that Australia; particularly Mornington where we will be living for a few months is going to be soooooooo extremely quiet - so boringly quiet compared to this country of millions.

I know now how my best friend Sam would have felt when he returned home from living in Japan for a year; a country that he absolutely loved. I just wish that there was a different means of working here that didn't specifically involve teaching. It would be a fair blast living here and making western wages - it would mean we could actually save a large amount whilst doing all the things we have really enjoyed along the way. And besides, there's still a ton of places here we haven't seen. Maybe next time...