MOMA and more

China remains a blur of cities. Small nine million people sized cities and large cities like Beijing and Shanghai all blend together to form my view of this strange, vibrant, loud country.

Xian reminds me of Tacoma. In this “home” of a city we stay in a fairly large hotel that overlooks the drum tower used in the time of he cities birth. This tower is beautiful and traditional in its structure and colors. The view from my window is vast with old and new. At night the city is bright with lights and during the day children fly strings of kites in the square. We go out to explore the city with cameras and dreams of new clothes. We find a wonderful market and buy chocolate, fruits and whiskey and cokes pre-made in tiny glass bottles. The highlight of our visit is a trip to the terracotta soldiers. We take a bus to the grounds and walk along wet paths until we emerge in front of huge buildings housing the find. We learn of the farmers who discovered the first detachable soldier head as they dug a well. We walk all around the huge plot of land that has become the museum. It begins to rain as we walk from building to building seeing all the rows of heads, bodies, horses, and bronze works. My camera surprises me and carefully captures the scene even and mood.

The overnight train leads us to Shanghai and we find that Shanghai is big beyond words. It is loud, crowded and so pleasantly comfortable that I fall right into the pace and structure of the city. There is the comfort of starbucks and a hotel with internet. I begin to plan for all the art I will see here. I make a list of 5 museums and galleries that I must see. I notice the vast size of the city upon planning this and our group outing to the TV tower and various temples reiterate this the concept of “vast” as I have never known it.

What I love best is standing on the bank of the Bund. I stand on the English side and stare out towards the Pudong side. This side has so many new buildings that a panoramic inspection of the scene would be confusing. New vs. old is highlighted with extreme color. The new area of Shanghai intrigues me so much that I almost jump with excitement when I discover that The Shanghai Zendai Modern Art Museum (the MOMA) is located on the other side of the Bund from us. I convince Todd and Rachel to come with me (it was’t too hard really) and on our free day we venture to the subway and begin our adventure. It is relatively flawless and after a short ride, some walking and lunch at a greek restaurant (who knew!?) we are in the MOMA (on free admission day no less… this means we get avigato’s later!!) enjoying a show called E-arts Shanghai. This exhibit is a city ide exhibit all about electronic arts. The show is wonderful, exciting, and interesting. I begin to feel inspired and wish that I was home with all Tacoma to support my habit. Instead I buy a book and we head home. That evening Jeff, Rachel and I go to an underground bar and have a few drinks. On the way we find a chocolate mouse tart and drink Chamay white beer. We are pleased beyond words as we enter the cute tiny bar of which we have sought. We relax and enjoy each others company in the warmth of the tiny hidden bar.

The next day we find ourselves packed and ready for the new tastes of Japan.