Top Ten Things I WON'T Miss About Shanghai

1. Incessant noise – Outside the sanctuary of our apartment, quiet was very hard to come by in Shanghai. Most of the time my ears were inundated with the sounds of honking horns, noisy scooters and lively debate.


2. Aggressive drivers – Pedestrians are the lowest life form on the streets of Shanghai. Even on a green walk sign, it was normal for cars to cut right in front of pedestrians, even honking at them for getting in their way. It wasn’t much more fun to be a passenger - I had quite a few near heart-attacks as we wove our way across lanes of traffic at high speeds with no seatbelts.


3. Lack of green – By the end of the week, I was inevitably climbing the concrete walls, scheming of a green getaway…somewhere I could walk or jog in peace, hear birds chirping and see squirrels scampering.


4. Relentless solicitations – My most frequently uttered Mandarin phrase was ‘Bu Yao’ – translation: “Not want”. The touristy streets by our hotel were full of overzealous vendors of fake goods and shoe-shiners who would go as far as squirting cream on your shoe. Apparently, when I wasn’t around, Jerel received other solicitations as well…


5. Crowds – People, people, everywhere! Whether on the street, in the mall, in the metro, it seemed I was always fighting for personal space. On the streets I had to fight to not be knocked over by other pedestrians who seemed to always expect me to get out of their way instead of vice versa.


6. Language barrier – Despite my rudimentary mandarin, I still suffered occasionally on account of the language barrier, especially with taxi drivers taking me far from the destination that I thought I had clearly pronounced.


7. Tiresome bargaining – A little bargaining can be fun, but it becomes quite tiresome when virtually every purchase involves a long, drawn out exchange. To make matters worse, I often left the exchange feeling that I had probably been taken for a ride, while the vendor was trying to convince me of the opposite!


8. Rigid rules/processes – While the service industry always had the best intentions, it seemed that process often trumped outcome. My best example here is that when we lost our ATM card, we were unable to withdraw money from the bank in person, even with a passport. We could, however, fill in a form for a new card to be ready in a week!


9. Unpleasant odours – Sometimes, walking down the street, an innocent inhale could turn into a very unpleasant olfactory experience. I’m sure that this is not unique to unique to Shanghai but it’s nonetheless something I don’t/won’t miss!


10. Feeling huge – I was told matter-of-factly more than once that I was “too big” or that large would not do, I would need extra large!