Servus in Shanghai

…we were greeted by an Austrian airline pilot, speaking semi-broken English and German—broken in that distinct Austrian way. After a 10-hour flight from Vienna, we landed successfully in what is arguably one of the most modern cities in the world. Immigration, luggage, subway station, 3-day ticket. The city is clean, quiet, and highly automated, with cutting-edge technology integrated into everyday life. We came prepared: we set up Alipay and WeChat with Weixin Pay, and identified ourselves with all the necessary financial providers. Many Western practices don’t work here the way we’re used to. You don’t just swipe your card or phone—here, you scan a QR code, or the merchant scans yours. The payment shows up instantly in your app and is processed within seconds. The subway system covers a vast area. On the platform, you’ll find not only essential and practical information about the next train, but also quotes from Marx and Engels, along with commentary on how their manifestos were interpreted and implemented in China.

We visited the Aurora Museum, a place dedicated to ancient Chinese art—pottery, porcelain, bronze, and jade. Here are some interesting photos of the museum.

In the afternoon we walk around the modern syscrapers of Pudong and when it bacame too windy and cold we escaped to have some unagi dinner in a mall.