First Excursion: The Subway & First CCP Meeting Site

Today I took the students on their first excursion. I know your thinking, "Wow, how exciting, the students must be excited about going to see new places in Shanghai." Well they were less than thrilled to go today because it has been pouring all day long. I explained to the students that this was the 'rainy season' and they'd better get used to doing things in the rain, otherwise we wouldn't see much of anything if we didn't venture out in the rain! Our excursion was to the site of the first National Congress of the Communist Party.

So we set off to first learn how to use the subway. The subway here in Shanghai is very clean, very safe and very easy to use. First you have to buy a ticket (much like the new T system, or the Metro in DC) and depending on how far you are traveling, the price will vary. The trip we were taking was only 2 metro stops away, so it was ¥3, which is about 45¢. Down by the stop it is impossible for you to get hurt or fall on the tracks as the whole area between the platform and the tracks have a glass wall with doors. The train doors line up with the glass doors to open and let you on and off the train.

Once off the train we walked 3 blocks to the building and got tickets (its free!) and went over to the entrance. The entrance had a security check which caused quite a stir as we were caught off guard by this. No one had a bag or backpack to put through the x-ray machine, but we all had all of our stuff crammed into every little pocket in between all of our layers of clothing. So needless to say it took quite sometime to figure out if we'd emptied everything out of every pockets, and we each still set off the metal detector! Finally we got that all sorted out and were on to the museum. The museum was small but interesting. It had all sorts of - propaganda - pamphlets and booklets and letters and magazines from late 1800s to early 1900s and then more pamphlets and booklets and letters but also some clothing and weaponry of that time too. And of course pictures. The most interesting thing in the museum (from my point of view) was this huge life size diorama of the 13 members. It showed them sitting around a table talking, I assume about what the Communist Party will stand for, with Mao strategically placed at the center of attention, prophet like. Once through the museum section we went to the actual room where the delegates met. This room was in the house of one of the delegates and the house has been restored to its original state. The room was small, and I can only imagine how small the other rooms were in the house - as we were not allowed through the rest of the restored house.

Once through the museum we worked our way back to the subway and eventually back to the school. As it was rainy, cold and wet and the students and myself were ready to collapse from walking, we treated ourselves to bubble tea. Bubble tea (photographed above) is a delicious blend of milk, tea and large tapioca 'pearls.' They sit on the bottom of the tea and as you sip the tea the tapioca bits float up the straw.

Overall the excursion was successful. The students thought it was interesting (I think) and they got to see some new areas of the city.