A Trip
My friend and I went to visit the sea yesterday. It was a clear day. There were
only a few wisps of cloud lazily floating half way in the sky. Given that it was
a long trip, we decided to carry lots of water possible, compass, and map with
us, apart from our roller skates and knee pads.
Taking light railway to Pudong area for dodging high traffic on the roads was a
start. There, putting on skates, we headed all the way to the east along the brand new roads. Because Pudong is still under development, there were scanty people on the roads, and even bicycles and motorcycles were not that common. All you
could see was only cars whooshing by with far less frequency than in the city.
My friend and I were happy with that, since the less the roads were peopled with
pedestrians and cyclers, the better it was for us. It was amazing to see how this city is sprawling and how diverse this city is constructed to be. You could randomly see European villas among the shade of bamboo woods, Spanish houses situated along the roads, and Gothic styled gate grandly sat at the sub-crossroad, serving as the entrance to another huge area of western-style looking high-rises.
It was strange that most of the houses were empty though. But even just skating
by, you might imagine that what those places would look like for only a few years to come. Though not peopled with residents yet, you could still feel the pulseof those buildings. They situated there with confidence and calmness. They knew
popularity would come for sure eventually. For a moment, I was wholly in bewilderment. I was bewildered to see how strong, adjustable, and crafty human beings
could actually be.
Anyway, as we skated further along, those newly-built high rises were gradually
replaced by weather-beaten looking factories. Those factories covered a huge area between the sea and downtown area. You hardly saw people among the roads there
, except for grass mowers and road cleaners. When being asked where to find a restaurant, they unanimously replied that there wasn’t any. Yes, that’s what a factory-packed area looked like: no restaurants, no shops, or any services available.
Luckily after about two-hour skating, we finally left those tatty factories behind, and skated into countryside. There we had hand-pulled noodles, and appetizing drinks. The food was extremely cheap but yummy. The owner of the restaurant was extremely hospitable. If possible, she might have served all the dishes that we liked with eagerness and solicitude. We were quite impressed by the contrast between the drab looking place and the artless service it rendered.
Another thing worth mentioning was the watermelon peddlers that we saw on the way later on. They might be just peasants around I guess. Sitting in the scolding
sun, and expecting swift passing cars would stop to buy their watermelons made me somewhat feel awkward and guilty. I couldn’t imagine how much they could earn
in a day, or rather maybe I should say I couldn’t imagine how little they could earn, given there were honestly plenty of them sitting there and waiting to be
noticed. Sincerely I hoped their life would become better soon.
All in all, it was an eye-opening trip. I told my friend I was pretty satisfied,
even though the sea, to our disappointment, turned out to be so drab, grey, and
smelly. But the trip was itself an experience: To be able to see as far as your
eyes may see was a reward, since in the city there are always areas of high-rises blocking your horizon; to come near miles and miles evergreen orchards was rewarding too, as wide-covered greens have become rarer and rarer these days. So,
in this sense, I guess the destination itself was not that important any more.