Shang hai: the (very) good, the bad and the ugly

Shang hai was a real mixed-bag experience for Rob and I. It has probably been the only place so far where we were definitely ready to leave. This probably should not reflect on the city itself and more on some unfortunate happenings and frustrations that could have happened anywhere.

The (very) good

A highlight of our time in Shanghai was easily our viewing of the CircusWorld: ERA performance. Everyone we knew who had visited Shanghai had recommended this to us. It was very entertaining and the performers were extremely skilled. I could not fathom how they achieved many elements of the show! I was impressed with the artistic integration of live performance and video, as well as the effective use of space. My favourite performance involved a man using the crook of his ankle to lop several bowls onto his head, all this while balancing on several layers of wood planks with glasses wobbling in-between. (Oh and this was in a boat.) Rob most enjoyed an acrobatic ribbon dance that saw a couple flying round the stage, held up by the ribbons and each other.

Circus night

We also really enjoyed the contrast of old and new in Shanghai, the flowers and gardens, some fabulous dumplings, scrumptious pancakes and the waitress that spontaneously stroked Rob’s arm to touch his hair!

The new!

Enjoying a garden break

Spring: a nice time to visit Shanghai

The bad

Shanghai promised to be the place we would finally, after much hard work on an application initiated in 2014, receive our visa’s to Russia. The backbone of our trip and a part of both our travel dreams was to across Russia on the Trans-Mongolian route. It was how we described our trip before we left. However, as we found out in Shanghai, it was not to be. More details here.

Our attempts to doing anything on the internet in Shanghai were continually hampered by the Great Firewall of China. I had no idea it would be this hard. We had set-up a VPN before entering- it did not work. The biggest problem was not being able to reliably access gmail and use google maps to organise our onward travel. I now truly understand how much command Google has over us and a multitude of websites!

The ugly

A day after our visa disappointment, we met some con artists. I like to think our experience with the well-known* tea ceremony scam is further evidence that anyone is susceptible to the work of such people. (I have done a little bit of research in the psychology of sales.) All the signs were there (distraction: check, “you’re like us”: check, reciprocity effect: check, likeability: check, etc, etc.) but somehow we kept going. I think we felt defeated after our visa let down and wanted someone to be friendly to us. We also hadn’t found too many people to hold a conversation with in awhile. All that said, and despite the fact I know that this is what these people do for living and that they are good at it, we still felt stupid afterwards. And though this could have happened anywhere in the world, it has left an impression on us that we will always somewhat associate with Shanghai. On the positive side, we did see short tea ceremony, have a conversation that day and it didn’t leave too much of a hole in our pockets.

*Well known but well…we didn’t know!

Not a parade: manning the crossings on a busy Shang Hai night. We (maybe) needed one of these guys in our tea "party"

Such tourists! 

We still enjoyed much of our time in Shanghai but it probably not somewhere I will hurry back to.

SHANG HAI TIPS:

* Go to ERA performance: you will not be disappointed. 

* Shang hai is beautiful in Spring.

* There are friendly people in the world but some that appear friendly in Shang hai will be the infamous tea ceremony scammers-  be on alert!

The War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City

Can't imagine what it would have been like to see these Hueys coming at you 

The War Remnants Museum exhibits the horrors of war in Vietnam's recent past with a message to never to forget the long lasting and devastating impact of war. The Vietnam War (as we refer to it) is known more locally as the American War, and really was a continuation of hostilities of the First Indochina War that the Northern Vietnamese saw as a colonial war, originally resisting French occupation and trying to reunify Vietnam as a communist state.

Kat spent a short amount of time in Ho Chi Minh in 2008 and the War Remnants Museum was the standout experience of her time. It is a powerful museum that exhibits some of the horror of the war and the continuing impacts it has on those involved. Most people know that as technology had improved, the horrors of this conflict was better documented than prior to this time. However, for us, nothing really compared to the photographs and stories shared in this museum. Two particular things stood out.  

From French photographer Huet

Requiem exhibit

On the top floor there was an exhibit called "Requiem" (Tim Page and Horst Faas brought it together and have a book of the same name, and we should credit the book itself here). This description from the exhibition itself puts it better than we could summarise:  

"....Between the height of the French Indochina War in the fifties and the fall of Phnom Penh and Saigon in 1975, 135 photographers from all sides of the conflict were recorded as missing or dead. This exhibition is a memorial to those men and women, and in many cases it includes the last photographs they took...."

Not just the last photographs they took, but ones they took moments before their own death, the words "last roll of film" give an extra definition to the full stop at the end of the caption.  

Capa stepped on a landmine after this "last frame"

This was truly a moving exhibit because it focused less on "we this..." and "we that..." but really just allowed you to see people and their experiences with a journalistic and artistic eye.

It's hard to pick a favourite (even the term doesn't fit), but some punched harder than others.  This image from Eddie Adams is of a South Vietnamese colonel threatening a Vietcong prisoner.  He would have only had seconds to take this photo, and didn't know until after it was developed what significance it had.  If you actually want to know what happened next, the photographer talks about it in this Youtube video.  

Eddie Adams' photograph of South Vietnamese colonel and a Vietcong prisoner

It has been a little harder to find online copies of North Vietnamese photographers.

Shadows of war (Dinh)

We don't want to diminish the other parts of the museum, for they too have a very significant and important message, and leave one feeling quite worn out, horrified, sick and generally disgusted that we as humans continue to do this to each other. An interesting element of the exhibitions was the use of language to show perspectives of history. In several places "American War" was used or "Vietnam War" (with apostrophes) to intimate how many view the atrocities that occurred here. It actually used to be called the "Museum of American War Crimes" among other names, which gives you an idea of the tone of the place.

Self-immolation as protest

The long-lasting impacts of Agent Orange

The other major element of the museum that stood out was the section dedicated to the horrific "Agent Orange".  Rob knew very little about the use of dioxin during the war or its devastating impact on land, crops and people generations later. Kat's knowledge was based on her last visit however the depth of information actually makes a second visit worthwhile. Dioxin can cause debilitating disability for millions of children and families, even now.  The vestiges of this insidious weapon are still felt in the Vietnamese (and to a smaller extent American) communities today, and there are still sites that have not been cleaned or treated since the anti-communist presence in the 70's. Particularly striking was the below letter to President Obama written in 2009 which shows how the devastating impact continues in second generation victims. This letter was exhibited after hundreds of photos of adults, children and babies affected by dioxin and asks if the President could spare some time trying to address this “forgotten problem”.

Letter from a second generation victim of Agent Orange to President Obama

Questions of accountability for actions of war and responsibility for the consequences loomed large during our visit. This article provides information on how 40 years post-war the U.S. has begun decontamination of the worst affected areas in Vietnam. This marks the countries first direct involvement in decontamination and is expected to take four years.

Parts of the exhibition showed the incredible skill that people with disabilities due to exposure to war chemicals have developed. For example, one story told of a man who could write with his feet. Seeing such stories and photos, especially those that involved children, Kat considered what impacts of war would she see when she began volunteering at an orphanage in the next few days.

The displays also made us think about what supports are there for victims of dioxin and how these differ between countries. For example, the article mentioned earlier compares the compensation which American veterans exposed to Agent Orange receive ($1,500 a month) to Vietnamese families with disabled children (just over $5 a month). Court cases and pleas to both the US government and chemical companies from Vietnamese victims have not been successful, whereas U.S. veterans' cases have. 

The direct and indirect effects of dioxin will continue to be felt by many Vietnamese now and in the future. It is obvious that a huge undertaking is needed to improve the lives of those with disability in Vietnam by providing better supports. Whilst the decontamination project is significant, if long overdue, it is only really part of the picture.