SHANGHAI MISSION - DAY THREE

On day three of the Mission, our Ngāti Kahu Delegation wake up back in Shanghai feeling rested and raring to go.  However, my iPhone from which I have been livestreaming our daily activities, is not in the same state at all. 

Although the hotel has a wall point that fits its New Zealand charger, the phone is not charging.  Luckily though, my power pack has a full charge. 

The Chinese government can block access to facebook, google and other internet addictions, but only if you’re using a Chinese LAN or wi-fi service.  If, like me, you use your own satellite-dependent data roaming service, then you can pretty much carry on as you would at home.  With that, I message all our whānau and friends who have been following my livestreams: 

“HE HAKAHOU (UPDATE): Aroha mai (sorry) whānau but my phone is struggling to charge and so I’ve got it on the power pack and won’t be able to livestream this morning. Us oldies are holding up well – thank you for asking Kui.  In the meantime, aroha tetahi ki tetahi (love one another).”

NB – Kui is one of our many formidable but loving Ngāti Kahu kuia who keep us all on our toes and are there to pick us up if we trip. 

Our first stop for the day, the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art (SIVA) was established in 2005 as part of Fudan University.  Built by a JV that includes our host Mr Gui’s company Shanghai CRED, in 2013 SIVA became completely independent.  Its faculty is made up of full-time and part-time teachers, as well as visiting and honourary professors from home and abroad; three from New Zealand. Guest lecturers and professors include actor Jackie Chan, Beowulf and Spider-Man movie animator Sing-Chong Foo, and Japanese manga artist Makoto Ogino, the creator of the “Peacock King”.  I record as much as I can of this state of the art facility for upload later.

Thankfully, by the time we reach our second stop of the day, the Guang Fu Lin Cultural Heritage Centre, my phone has enough charge to livestream and we’re able to take our whānau with us through an underground archaeological site that covers 6,000 years of history with models that are so lifelike I have to surreptitiously poke one of them to convince me they are only wax. 

Our whānau are also able to get a taste of what it’s like being in Shanghai during the school holidays with millions of kids everywhere accompanied by nannas and papas.  Imagine Te Papa Tongarewa during our school holidays, then multiply by fifty; and that’s being conservative. 

That night we meet to recap the day’s learnings and observations, and all agree that even in this huge population and ancient culture, our Ngāti Kahu kaiwhakapāoho (broadcasters) and ringatoi (artists) would fit right in at SIVA while our tamariki mokopuna would bug out at both SIVA and the museum. 

To be continued.