Manchester United 4:4 Aston Villa

 Due to the late hour, I did not listen to the radio commentary on this match, so I saw the Youtube highlights, what a game!  Love or hate the red devils, every United game has been very entertaining for the neutral fan this season. Looks like Michael Carrick has won another stay of execution. 

Site of the first CPC Congress, Shanghai

 After the Metro museum, I still had time to fit in one museum or historic site.  I chose the 'site of the first CPC National congress in Xintiandi district, which ironically was part of the former French concession.

To get there I took the metro to 'site of the first CPC National congress, xintiandi' station.  What a great and informative station name!  After walking past some fantastic restored art deco style buildings, I arrived at the site, had my bags searched, then stored it in a cloakroom that was a separate building no less.  

On seeing the big queue waiting to enter the actual congress building, I went in the adjacent museum of the CPC first.  The museum is about the history of the CPC and contains many spots for a big group photo.  Unlike the other Shanghai museums I’ve been in, this one was packed, with a mixture of tourists(foreign and domestic), school groups and tour groups from foreign political organisations. 

The display started off with the derisory domestic and international position of China from the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Xinhai revolution bringing down the Qing dynasty, the republic and the birth of the CPC and it’s growth.  The civil war and the communist victory was covered in great detail. 

Next it was time to visit the actual site of the first congress, the CPC first met in a non-descript Chinese style house opposite the museum.  The interior and decoration was restored to what it would have been like when Mao and others met to discuss how to put the world to rights. 

After a while, it was time to leave and I headed to Shanghai railway station for my train back home.

Room where congress took place

I wonder what happened here

Unlocking Zaxxon part 2

I have finally unlocked the bonus game, Astro Blaster, on my journey to unlocking Super Zaxxon on Sega Genesis Collection for the Sony PSP.  As mentioned I had to complete the first episode of the rather dark Comix Zone adventure game. Due to my impatience and the difficulty of the game, I had to resort to cheat codes that I found online, in order complete the said episode.  I used the cheat code to grant invincibility, but my character still died falling from great heights.  Therefore it took me several attempts even with being invincible. 

The unlocked game, Astro Blaster, is itself a very interesting arcade shoot’em up from the early 1980s.  I missed it first time around, and it uses voice synthesizer to tell you that you are running out of fuel, amongst other things. An unusual challenge is that after a few levels you have to dock with the mother ship.  The use of a warp power to slow the oncoming enemy ships and bullets is another interesting feature.  I’m glad it’s a bonus game on this compilation.

My next challenge is to acquire the Chaos Emerald on Sonic the hedgehog, in order to unlock Congo Bongo or Tip Top.

Shanghai Metro museum

 On my final day in Shanghai, I decided to do some more sightseeing before taking my overnight train back to Hong Kong.  Being a train nerd the Shanghai Metro museum caught my eye, dedicated to Shanghai’s rail transit system, and I made my way to its Pudong venue after breakfast. 

It was thirty renminbi for an adult ticket and for Chinese museums it was a much smaller than usual.  Exhibits included former metro rail carriages and driver compartments.  Interestingly in the historical background display the museum acknowledges the work of British rail engineers, the UK is the birthplace of railways after all.  

There were some interactive displays aimed at the children, but the the most interesting exhibit for me was the tunnelling shield, which was used to drill the tunnels.  This was based on a machine going all the way back to the early nineteenth century that was developed by Marc Brunel, father of Islambard.  It was the first time I had seen such a machine. 

One of the more interesting interactive displays was the points machine where you controlled the rail points to redirect the trains and hopefully avoid collisions. The children there that day enjoyed playing with that.   Another interactive that children enjoyed was the driver simulator.

Although not a very big museum it was a good museum for both nerd and rest of the family.

tunnelling shield

Interactive points exhibit

Driver's cab simulator

China Art museum, Shanghai

On my third day in Shanghai, I decided on art appreciation, so I went to the China Art Museum.  Just like with other modern Chinese infrastructure, it was an impressive looking building with an distinct and unmissable red roof.

Admission was free and there was free cloakroom to leave my bag.  I started on the ground floor and noticed there were helpful lit arrows on the floor to guide you to the various rooms in the correct sequence.

Naturally the exhibition spaces focused on modern Chinese artists. It seems incredible that in even during the turbulent years of modern China, Chinese artists were still able to produce thought provoking work.  Like all exhibitions some of the pieces were videos and were played in small dark rooms with a bench for the viewer.

The entrances of the individual exhibitions did have an English introduction but English did not appear often with the actual artworks.  Anyway I focus on the art work rather than the description in an art gallery anyway. 

I spent most of my time in the ground floor at the “Beyond the Unexplored” exhibition featuring Fang ZengXian. Not being an modern art buff, I found his work rather dark and unnerving. 

All in all, it was an enjoyable day out, looks like it would merit a repeat visit.

Chelsea 2:0 Manchester United

 As someone who was born in the 1970s I have witnessed many of United's ups and downs. After yesterday's away game at Chelsea, I think this will be it's worst season since the relegation season of 1973/74.

I followed most of the game on the Talksport App, until I ran out of mobile data. The first half, admittedly, was very entertaining.  After the first Chelsea goal, the commentator said "the United defense just evaporated", after seeing the highlights on YouTube, the description sums it up.

The question is how long Michael Carrick can survive?

Shanghai workers' cultural centre (上海市工人文化官）

One of the my main gripes with mainland Chinese cities is the lack of heritage preservation, in nearly all Chinese cities you would not know that the Republic of China era existed let alone the Qing or even Ming dynasties.  This is in contrast to European cities especially in the UK where you know at least the Victorian, Georgian or even medieval eras happened. 

However in China, if you look hard enough you will find exceptions to the rule. After my Shanghai Museum visit I had a look around the surrounding area and found this interesting preserved building, the Shanghai Workers’ cultural centre. 

Built in 1930(Republic of China era) as the Grand Hotel, in art deco style that I have seen many times in Europe. It became a cultural centre for local workers and now it is a free museum.  I had a look inside.

Most of the exhibits were photographs and paintings of prominent workers, along with various art deco period artefacts such as the phonograph below.  The inside has been accurately restored with a wooden spiral staircase.  

As a fan of heritage and preservation I would have loved to see more of this in mainland China, but alas the Chinese value progress rather than preservation.