Shanghai Mission Day 3
On day three of the Mission our Nga¯ti 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 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 wifi service. If, like me, you use your own satellitedependent data roaming service, then you can pretty much carry on as you would at home. With that, I message all our wha¯ nau and friends who have been following my livestreams:
‘HE HAKAHOU (UPDATE): Aroha mai (sorry) wha¯nau, 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 Nga¯ti 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 fulltime and part-time teachers, as well as visiting and honorary professors from home and abroad; three from New Zealand. Guest lecturers and professors include actor Jackie Chan, Beowulf and SpiderMan 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 wha¯nau with us through an underground archaeological site that covers 6000 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 wha¯nau 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 nanas and papas. Imagine Te Papa Tongarewa during our school holidays, then multiply by 50 — 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 Nga¯ti Kahu kaiwhakapa¯oho (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.
"all agree that even in this huge population and ancient culture, our Nga¯ ti Kahu kaiwhakapa¯ oho (broadcasters) and ringatoi (artists) would fit right in at Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, while our tamariki mokopuna would bug out at both SIVA and the museum."