Before we left on our trip, I read a blog written by a couple who had traveled to China recently.  They told about some of the cultural differences they had observed and one in particular they named “besmirchment”.  I filed it away in my mind but forgot to tell John about it.  Well, wouldn’t you know he learned about it personally at the conference yesterday but didn’t understand what it was until I told him the blog story.

John had been standing in a crowded area next to a low table with a wine glass full of napkins stuffed into it.  Someone bumped into him and the the glass was knocked to the floor where it smashed into smithereens.  Not wanting anyone to get hurt, John kept signaling for the waitress to come over.  When she finally arrived, he could see she was peeved, and asked John if he would pay for it.  He tried  to explain to her that it was an accident but he thought she just wasn’t understanding him.  She walked away extremely irritated.

When he relayed the story to me I explained to him that over here if you “besmirch” something in a restaurant, hotel, or business, it is up to you to pay compensation for the item.  We verified that fact with our local friends; it is definitely the custom.  Doesn’t  do much to build future customer relations!

Rui and I arrived at the entrance to the underground metro station about 8:30 AM and saw a steady stream of people exiting and entering the doors. Rush hour, we realized, but we forged ahead steered by the crowd already pressing behind us. Tickets are purchased via machine, and even though there is an English option, it is quite confusing. You must first successfully read the map and figure out which metro line you will be taking, and if you need to transfer to more than one line. Only specific stops are “interchanges”. Once you determine your exact route and destination, you calculate the price of your fare and feed the machine the necessary coins. In our case, this was three yuan because we would need to transfer to line 2 at People’s Square. Carefully choosing the correct coins, I got my ticket. With card in hand, I headed toward the turnstile for (metro) line 2. You place your card onto a round “reader” and rub it back and forth until a light appears which indicates you may proceed. One at a time, each traveler passes through the turnstile and emerges into a surging crowd coming from all directions.

There are signs everywhere directing people where to go but few are in English. There are several both up and down escalators to choose, and you must work your way through the streaming crowds to the correct one. We had to walk several minutes through the station blending in with the thousands of people moving like widgets down a factory assembly line: first going down a level, then across a vast hall, and finally up another escalator before we arrived at the spot where the metro line 2 train stops. Many walk along reading the morning newspaper — somehow sensing which way to go without actually looking up — not missing a step. On the platform we had to determine which direction we needed to head — there were two tracks running in opposite ways. Overhead there is a subway map which must be carefully studied. Reading the Chinese characters and asking several people, Rui got us to the right side, and we joined the growing throng queueing up on the platform.

Within a few minutes a train arrived and the pulsing crowd behind us began to push and jockey their way closer, some inching ahead of us. When the train doors opened, so many people poured out. I could hardly believe that many had been inside that one car! We weren’t that far back in the crowd (it was not a line but a mass) but we didn’t make it onto the train before it was full. Eventually we made our way onto the third train that stopped although I didn’t think I’d be able to squeeze in far enough to avoid being caught in the closing door. Then to my absolute shock, I counted as TEN more people squeezed in behind us. I was wedged in so tightly I could hardly raise my arm enough to hold onto the pole nearby as the train lurched forward. Some people weren’t able to hold on to anything at all, but we were pressed so tightly against each other than no one actually fell over. (Picture Crayolas lined up in a box). We were jostled continually as the train bumped along; I kept being thrown into the man in the 3-piece suit next to me but he didn’t seem to be surprised about it. When we arrived at our stop, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to squeeze by the people in front of me to get out the door and onto the platform. But like a mouse squeezing through a tiny hole, somehow I managed and emerged just in time to avoid my backpack from being closed in the door. Now we had to change to metro line 1. We averted a wrong decision in the nick of time, and hopped onto the down escalator instead of the up one. We made our way to the platform and confidently now surged onto the arriving train. We only had to ride to the next stop, and we expertly alighted through a hole in the throng and made our way across the huge area to the exit turnstile. I put my card/ticket into the machine but the turnstile wouldn’t budge. The card had popped back out. It was rejected repeatedly and a line of people was quickly bunching up behind me. Rui turned to see me stuck on the wrong side and pointed to the information kiosk. We both made our way there, she on one side of the fence and I on the other. (I thought of the old song about “Charlie” who rode forever on the streets of Boston because he couldn’t get off the MTA). No one in the station speaks English so I handed Rui my card so she could try to find out why it wouldn’t let me exit. As she waited in line, she looked at the card and realized I had been using my hotel room card which was exactly the same size and color. So then using the correct one, I was able to exit and we found our way out to the street and emerged into the sunlight.

We were now on the other side of the Huangpu River in the Puxi district of the city. Armed with Rui’s GPS loaded phone, my guide book, and a city map written totally in Chinese characters, we were ready for our day’s adventure. Although it felt at that moment like we had already had it, we had seven or eight hours ahead of us before we’d be meeting John and Tongan after their day’s conference activities.