October 11 - Happily Suspicious of "Shanghaiing"

I've often said that the most reported upon events of any trip are not the days of wonderful sights, great food and pleasant encounters -- but the few moments when the sights weren't so wonderful, the food was awful and the encounters were a little off.  A good example occurred on my 2010 China trip with my daughters when, keeping true to my mantra "when traveling, keep pushing your food comfort zone," I chose one restaurant where the food was truly awful.  We've laughed and talked more about that one bad meal, among weeks of great ones.

Simarly, one short encounter today may be among the "most told" stories of this trip:   Allow me to introduce you to a very nice couple who were accompanied by a similar friendly looking "cousin" when they asked if I would take their photo in front of this monument in Shanghai's People's Square:

It's a common request among tourists.  And it has also been common in my experiences in China to have some Chinese want to continue conversations just so they could practice their English. And after some friendly conversation during which I learned the woman was a English teacher on holiday with her boyfriend and his cousin -- I asked the cousin to take the above photo.  Further conversation led to them inviting me to accompany them on a nearby "more authentic" street away from the shopper's paradise, touristy shopping district near the People's Square park. The fun conversation continued for a bit -- but my suspicious nature and something I had read in the "Crime" section on page 992 of the Lonely Planet Guide began to emerge from my memory:

"Well-dressed girls flock along Shanghai's East Nanjing Rd....asking single men to photograph them on their mobile phones before dragging them to expensive cafes or Chinese teahouses, leaving them to foot the monstrous bills."

My initial assessment was that my new "friends" didn't seem to fit the warning but I was proceeding cautiously, even asking how this "teacher" had a weekday off especially this close to the national week long holiday last week -- for which I got an answer about job-sharing.  I also thought it a little strange that the "husband" was leading the way rather than hanging back with the "cousin" and "his wife" to participate in the conversation.  After a couple of blocks, they guided the way to the entrance of a rather obscure "tea house" and my Lonely Planet reading -- and suspicious nature -- served me well as I stopped short of the entrance and told them that I wasn't ready for tea as the day was young and I had much to see. There was no pressure, no mean words by them or me -- just a casual type exchange -- "it was nice to meet and talk with you."

As I rounded the corner away from their "tea house" -- I enjoyed that pleasant satisfaction of knowing that today I hadn't been caught in their scam and that once again my Lonely Planet Guide had been valuable.  I continued through People's Square, where I had left off -- and when I exited the park at a different section I was again approached by a similar looking couple for another photo.  This time it was more apparent it was a scam because the two who approached me had been talking with a group of 4 or 5 -- and I immediately knew that they could have asked one of those friends to take their photo.  I just said "no thanks" and kept walking.

So, only time will tell whether this attempt to Shanghai me will be among the most told stories of the trip.

Now -- straight from Wikipedia: "The verb "to shanghai" joined the lexicon with "crimping" and "sailor thieves" in the 1850s.^[17] The most widely accepted theory of the word's origin is that it comes from the Chinese city of Shanghai, a common destination of the ships with abducted crews.^[1][17] The term has since expanded to mean "kidnapped" or "induced to do something by means of fraud."  If you read the entire Wikipedia entry here, you'll learn that it was widespread and common in Portland in the mid-19th century.