Shanghai! Yeah, I'm Not Worthy 😂😂😂

[Lula Schmidt]

Hello everyone! My friend came to Shanghai for an exhibition called CMEF, which focuses on medical equipment. I’ve never been to Shanghai before, so I decided to tag along and explore the 'City of Magic' (a nickname given to Shanghai since it means “City of Mysteries”).

• For the first four days at the show, my legs felt like they weren’t part of me due to all the walking, until the 11th day when I finally had a chance to wander outside.

• To be honest, I haven’t really been interested in such megacities previously, as they always seemed too pressured for daily life and work. I prefer a more relaxed lifestyle, avoiding stress whenever possible, which we call "lying around peaceably" (enjoying a light-hearted life without much pressure).

• However, after watching the Shanghai exhibition and taking a trip to the Bund (the most famous riverside scenic spot in Shanghai) recently, I suddenly realized that my relationship with Shanghai wasn’t about whether I liked it or not — instead, it was about how badly out of reach living here felt!

  • Warning: Shanghai's prices might shock you!
    • Taxis: We took a taxi from Pudong International Airport (one of Shanghai's major international airports) to a hotel near the exhibition site. Can you guess how much it cost? 251 RMB! I kept exclaiming how huge Shanghai is during the ride. Later on, each ride that was only about 4 to 5 kilometers cost around 40 to 50 RMB.
    • Food expenses:
      • Eaten a few dishes of lobsters just for craving them, two small boxes and it costed almost 400 to 500 RMB.
      • Had one hotpot meal; oh my goodness! Just the soup base was almost 198 RMB! It's my short sightedness.
      • Invited customers out to eat at the conference venue, ordered eight dishes (the taste was not really good), cost 1288 RMB! Only set menus were available with no à la carte options. It seemed like only I felt the prices were sky high. But all local friends of mine thought spending 1,000 RMB on a meal is fine and it is supposed to cost that much.

• Under these "stereotypes", I started to fancy Shanghai a little bit more!

  • Because of this exposure, I saw how life should be: everyone strives, makes progress, pursues dreams and goals.
  • When I saw a cashier lady fluently speaking English with foreigners,
  • When I imagined myself shopping without flipping over the price tags at first,
  • When I pictured myself ordering food without peeking at the prices initially;
  • I was awfully envious! I think I'm the frog at the bottom of the well (a Chinese idiom indicating having a limited perspective).

• Now is the time for me to study hard and work diligently! Let's hope the next time I come back to Shanghai, I'll have the confidence to "march freely on Shanghai’s coastline" (meaning being able to travel and consume confidently here)!

• While I choose not to live here, I hope my abilities will make wherever I go comfortable for me!

Now I have mixed feelings as to whether anyone else feels this way.

[Mr. Jody Bednar]

Were you eating in a tourist trap? Around here, cooked crayfish is only 26 yuan per jin (half a kilo), which I think is pretty reasonable.

[Karen Bruen]

Hong Kuijia (a restaurant name).

[Iris Marquardt]

For 8 people, 1288 yuan comes out to 150 per person. Seems pretty standard, doesn't it?

[Ms. Wanda Kilback]

That was 8 dishes for 5 people.

[Dr. Mandy Walter-Reichert]

Don't out-of-towners use ride-hailing apps? My 14km taxi ride from home to the office doesn't even cost 40 or 50 yuan...