Published by Swiss James on 30 Jan 2008 at 12:00 pm
Snowbund
The snow is getting beyond a joke recently in the city of lights and spit. I was eating at a restaurant on the Bund Monday night and they’d built (real) snowmen on their terrace. It all looked very pretty from inside the restaurant, so after finishing the meal (and a couple of beers) I went out to take a few photos.
A shiny new penny for anyone who can spot the Pearl Tower in the background
Disaster. My shoes were that posh type with a flat leather sole- difficult to walk in at first, but once they’d been coated in a layer of ice it was unbelievable- like a hilarious scene from “Home Alone” (or, to a far lesser extent “Home Alone 3“). Flat on my back, flailing like a turtle, a passing Japanese guy tried to rescue me- and he ended up going A over T too.
Then of course when you get outside, you can’t get a cab, because apparently Shanghai taxis dissolve in the snow.
At least you could see the Aurora building through the fog
Humph. Anyway enjoy the photos, they nearly killed me.
If that were Canada you wouldn’t be able to even see the sky. Meh. Snow. No biggie. Don’t miss it at all.
Pfft! I came back from Harebin and went outside in shorts and a t-shirt and luxuriated in the weather!
Of course, my apartment actually reached zero degrees on my heater thermomter today, so it is COLDER inside than outside. So I ‘ve got that going for me. Stupid Shanghai non-insulated apartments.
Lovely working practices here mean that our school is closed to students for the week ‘cos of the snow and, more recently, ice. (No biggie for canucks, but that ain’t heard of gritters here)
However, us teachers are expected to be there. Doing what .. not quite sure. Playing Scrabulous mostly …
Yeah it was fun the first 25 days or so but now I am getting sick of the Shanghai snow and Shanghai’s uncanny impersonation of Beijing. And yes, colder IN the home than out - I think Shanghai is the only place on the planet where that happens.
I can see it! Please make the cheque for 1p payable to Mr CP.
Bloody Southerners* complaining about the cold. Come up to Beijing where it’s much colder (plus we’ve got heating ha ha)
*As a Londoner, I never thought I’d be able to say that.
i think it’s funny that the “guy” snowman is holding a broom, while the “girl” snow(wo?)man is holding a spatula . . .
it’s been cold here, too. like 25C or something - it’s ridiculous.
Where is it?Captain hostel?
Ray- it’s New Heights at 3 On The Bund (if I was paying, it would’ve been Captain’s Hostel).
CP- you never know, I might take you up on that at CNY and deliver the penny in person.
Pfft! I am in Beijing now on a business trip. It is 1. Around about the same temperature 2. SUNNY 3. Dry and 4. Beijing buildings are well insulated.
So 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 means that Beijing is SO MUCH MORE FREAKING COMFORTABLE than Shanghai. At least right now.
Blinking heck.
Right now, Harbin seems attractive compared to Shanghai. My heat fortress - where I consume enough electricity per hour to light an entire village for a year - isn’t enough. Thank God Spring Festival is just around the corner …. I need hot sun!