Day #3 in Shanghai was surprisingly un-memorable. In fact, I had completely forgotten there were day 3. I thought this was the day I would be heading back to Guangzhou but according to my phone’s photos, nope, that’s day 4.
The weather had started to turn. As I was getting breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant, I kept glancing out the window while my phone kept notifying me that rain was imminent. When I stepped outside, the mugginess and the humidity hit me like a wall. It was the worst humidity I’ve felt since I arrived in China. Not even 5 minutes had gone by and my skin had felt like someone had coated it in sticky liquid.
Instead of taking a taxi, my mom decided we should take the subway. She decided we would visit the Shanghai Museum that day. At the subway station, after running my bag through the x-ray scanner and passing the explosive test, I tapped my credit card at the entrance and it worked. I haven’t been able to use my own money since I entered mainland China and had been needing to count on my mom and her cousins, so getting to use my own money gave me a sense of freedom that I couldn’t feel in China.
My mom, on the other hand, had opted to buy a paper ticket the old-fashion way. At the inspection station, however, my mom couldn’t come through to re-join us. The x-ray machine had discover a weapon in her backpack, which turned out to be a small pocket knife she was going to use it to peel fruit later. She later told the story that the security wouldn’t confiscate the knife and at first, they wouldn’t let her exit, fear she would be a danger. She wanted to discard the knife but first must find a trash can. Finally convinced them that she was not a danger to society, they let her leave to ditch the knife.
Meanwhile, I remember I was standing on the other side shaking my head.
Eventually, we got onto the subway and got off at Lujiazui. Remember these buildings?
My memories was a little fuzzy after this point. I remember we returned to the subway station to hail a taxi but then we ended up in a park where we stumbled across an event to promote health and wellness. I don’t remember what came first – the taxi or the event.
Anyway, the event seemed a little overkill in my opinion. It was an event meant to bring joy to the employees of a company, kinda like a mental health routine. With games and prizes, you would think these people would be laughing and smiling but looking around, everyone’s mood told me this was an obligation. In the end, I got a health exam by AI and got a can of radish seeds as a prize.
We finally arrived at the museum. Another passport check. Another x-ray scanner. Another check for explosives. We didn’t visit the entire museum (because that would take the whole day). We just saw what my mom had wanted to see. The museum was massive with multiple floors to explore and what made this museum un-memorable was because having visited so many museums on this trip, I’m not only “museum-out” but it also felt like there’s nothing unique about the museums other than the architecture of the museums.
It felt like all the museums were showing the same thing with only a few unique items in the midst of thousands. These statues (in the photo) were my favorite display in this museum. I believe this trio was called the Musicians or was it the Dancers? I thought they were cute and the expressions on the faces made me laugh.
Unfortunately, I can’t remember what happened after the museum. I had no photos to document what happened next. I was probably just too tired and needed a good uninterrupted sleep, having had almost zero sleep on the trip so far.
