When
you wake up in the morning with a cough and a cold that’s brewing down in your
lungs, it casts a pall over the day. I’ve too much to do to be encumbered. My third or fourth cognizant thought is
the steel rail, never far from the hand’s grab that says: “remember, the first
of the morning is always the most wretched and impactful part of the cold. Push through. It will begin to feel more tolerable.” I was told my grandfather’s adage was
that “if you can get out of bed, your well enough to head to work.”
I had a pocket full of throat lozenges, which I reached for.
That cuts through. Heart beating fast, residue from the
last espresso I’d had yesterday.
Slow it down. Slow it. The cabs don't mind me this
morning. Certainly sir, right this
way. I’m heading out all the way
to Pudong Airport. Sailing along
the elevated high way. Traffic is
noted. For 6:38AM the roads are
already full but at least they aren’t yet jammed. “Homesickness” the tune playing faintly from off the iPhone.
Sister, Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou the Ethiopian nun on the keys here recorded this apropos number between
1969-1975.
Taking a smaller airline today down to Hong Kong. The fare was just too low not to consider. I’ve never really done a bargain air in
China and their marketing departments haven’t managed to pierce my
consciousness yet because I don’t recognize any of the names mentioned. “Spring Air.” OK.
“Juneair.” I see. I missed the memo on this bit of SOE restructuring. We’ll have a look then and report on
just what, if any differences there are.
Shanghai’s weather hasn’t been bad. Warm, wetter than Beijing but pleasant,
really, so far. Given what it
could be its all rather 合情合理[1] We’re well passed the time when
the dread summer heat could arrive.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, I assume will be like a sopping towel of
humidity. I’ll have to shed
this light jacket, but keep it handy for Hong Kong’s aggressively air-conditioned
environments that await.
I usually only deal with Hongqiao Airport and try to keep as
much as I can to Puxi when I’m in town.
I’m usually flying in and out of Shanghai from somewhere else in the
country, not the world. Look at
all these trucks on the road.
There must be as many freight cars, and dump trucks and chemical cars as
there are automobiles along side me.
Thinking about it there must be a port facility out this way. I’ll have to look to see where the
actual mega port that serves the Yangzi
for Shanghai is located. (Looks like it is just south of the airport, which, I hadn't realized was also on the water: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Shanghai )
Uncomfortable suddenly, I’ve asked the cabby to throw on the
aircon. Sometimes in Beijing they
look at you cross-eyed when you make that particular request as if you’ve asked
for something ought not be free.
But down south, with this gent, not an issue. “Yes sir.”
Suddenly two pounds of pressure is off my shoulders and my face and
arms. I can feel a light buoyancy
as my body responds to the water disappearing from the air. Miles of small, riverside houses off to
the right. Someone, somehow
decided that three story buildings would suffice for this vast stretch. They all look reasonably new, they
aren’t particularly fancy and they must have been part of some urban housing
scheme. Who decides where the high-rises
stop and where three story jobs start?
Certainly not the market.
Warehouses now.
Miles of warehouse like constructions. They are also zoned it seems, keeping to two and three stories
in height. My friend has just
stated the obvious: “Wouldn’t it
have been good if they’d actually connected the two airports in this city with
the Maglev.” “Aye, t’would
have.” The super high-speed train
at present only takes you half the way into the city from Pudong at 350
kilometers per hour. Then you need to get a cab the rest of the way. Were you to have the connectivity the
entire way between these two facilities, the nearly two hour drive would be
reduced to some twenty minutes.
The former Shanghai Party secretary Chen Liangyu wanted the
train to do just that. But residents
weren’t having it. One of the
first, well-documented NIMBY movements metastasized. I want to say it was ten years ago. I’ll
look it up. (2008) People insisted it
would ruin their property values and expose them to hazards. They rose up and . . . surprise, they
were listened to. The train’s
progression was halted. Party
Secretary Chen was later taken out for corruption.
I’m arriving now.
While we’re not soaring in at Maglev speed, it was a pretty quick
jaunt. There are some benefits to
early flights like lighter trafffic.
We’re gonna need to find some kinda coffee shop real soon. Once I do, I’ll let you know about the Juneyao,
(which is, to my ears, a homophone for “army desire”) experience.
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