Final Day - And Thoughts - On Shanghai and First Impressions of Changchun

When we woke up this morning something was different in the city. There were people. And cars. And noise. And smells. Shanghai was back - the real Shanghai, not the Shanghai we had been seeing for the past 48 hours. The holiday was over and the city was returning to itself - it's rhythm and pulse had returned.

We went to SCMC once again, but to the heart institute to meet with Drs. Xu, Lu, and Du. These 3 generous, kind, and talented individuals are all cardiac surgeons a the Children's Heart Center. The Children's Heart Center at SCMC is the most advanced and well respected in the country. It is an impressive, modern facility that helps to train many of the doctors and nurses across all of Western China. They have a proud history of creating their own pumps and instruments in the time before China was opened to the West and hold nearly all of the pediatric cardiology firsts. They are so proud - and have so much to be proud of - that they have a museum dedicated to their history and accomplishments in their building. Below is a picture of Estelle with the Drs. in their museum.

The are quite wordly, too. Dr. Lu trained in Boston and DC. Dr. Xu has traveled and spoken in the US several times. hey have all gone to Israel for training. All 3 spoke wonderful English (far better than my Mandarin...) And when I let them know I could not eat pork or shellfish, they didn't hesitate a second before letting the chef know and my ending up with a special meal.

Shanghai is the gleaming new China and I loved it. But it is a crowded, growing city. 3 things illustrated that well:

• First, as you walk through the obnoxiously crowded streets you notice that people stick together. 2 men, 2 women, a couple (whether or not they are a "couple") stay very close, hold hands, link arms. Personal space is non existent and people cling to the familiar.
• Second, Dr. Xu told us a story. The hospital is in a very crowded and new part of Shanghai - Pudong Province. It is busy, crowded, filled with skyscrapers, and very shiny. 10 years ago they built the new heart clinic. At that time the hospital was surrounded by farmland. It was inconceivable to me! We were in the middle of a bustling metropolitan - not the edge or outskirts, but smack in the middle!
• Finally, on our way out of the hospital Dr. Xu told us that he had visited Washington, D.C. several times over the last 20 years and didn't like it. Why? Because every time he went it was exactly the same. This is perspective and familiar in a nutshell - the Chinese are living in a world where everything is changing all the time. So much so that a "normal" American city and experience is boring.

From there it was off to the airport, a 2.5 flight to Changchun, a 45 minute drive to the hotel, assorted adventures and mix ups, a hotel room swap, and blogging. Fortunately, a friend of Children HeartLink's in China who works for Medtronic - Li - has joined us to help translate. As he said, Changchun is "underdeveloped" which is a euphemism for behind the times. Mind you, this is a city of 3 million people. But all I could think as we drove through it was that it reminded me of Ukraine. In many ways, this is old China - communist China - where buildings all have a certain, similar look. People have a certain, closed, mindset. We couldn't use a credit card because we didn't know our pin (and credit cards don't have pins...), the taxi ride cost us 5rmb (less than a dollar), we couldn't find anyone who spoke English so had to call our host at his home to order dinner. (BTW - the local beer is the lightest and least flavorful I have found yet...)

EDIT: Okay, looking back at my comments now, and having spent a day or two with the residents, while there are a LOT of similarities to Ukraine and there is a communist feel to the city, the people, at least the ones we interacted with at length, are warm, kind, intelligent, working to make a better life for themselves and others, and seriously consider the issues impacting their work, their profession, their country, and the world.