Shanghai + Hangzhou

My first step out from the Airport's railway station was the view of the huge modern station. From there I could see many extremely tall and identical buildings, public housing units! On my trip on the speed rail, I saw countless of them, all in groups of around 10, with who knows how many residents are capable of being fit into them. This was definitely a culture shock.

• Now, thinking sustainability, at first glance this seems more eco-friendly than the large single family suburban houses and neighborhoods of America. I am curious what I can find out about these buildings in my research.

The Speed Rail station in Hangzhou was an incredible sight and experience. It was like an airport! There were gates for each line, and hundreds of people. It was so clean and organized with a TSA like security system and a large ticketing counter with around 20 counters. It felt really utopian to me, something that I would find in The Giver or Tron.

• At this station, the waste bins included recyclables, trash, compost, and cigarette waste.

The paper towels at my hostel were tiny, they didn't have hand dryers but the towels were like 5x5 inches each, I wonder why this is.

• Also, my sheets came wrapped in plastic, which is hygienic ill give them that(or so we are made to think), but it seems unnecessary compared to hotels or inns which don't wrap their sheets in plastic.

• My hostel also had tiny washing machines that fit around half a standard American load which was adequate for hostel goers I imagine. I brought my own soap, laundry detergent sheets. For drying, they provided clothes racks with wooden and plastic clothes hangars that were atop of the building. This was my first time air drying my clothes, it was a cool experience. With this system comes lots of trust, as they roof is not kept a close eye on, so people could just take others clothes if they felt like it, which I feel like would happen a lot in LA. Another possible negative of air drying is that the colors of our clothing fade over time with exposure to the sun, if people don't mind that then not to fret but if longevity of the things you buy is important that maybe some might not like this.

• On the rooftop, I also saw that the hostel was using a solar water heating system! Thats the first time I've seen one of those in real life! I would also like to research why we don't often use solar water heating in America and its drawbacks. One I can think of might be the absence of the sun at night which could lead to cold water at night time.

There seems to be cigarette smokers everywhere, most prominently in Shanghai, that might add to pollution and bad smell(at least to me as I dislike the smell of cigarette smoke but I know some people like it)

• Cigarette buds and empty cigarette boxes were often amongst the street litter, I assume the buds get washed into every little nook and cranny

Lots of people use plastic bags, which is no surprise

Huge shopping culture, in all of the Asian cites I have traveled to. Gigantic malls all around. With this comes so much fast fashion and all that comes from transactions like paper receipts and paper or plastic bags.

• Speaking of bags, one trend that I have noticed is that higher end retail often uses paper bags over plastic ones, such as luxury retailers or the like. However, these often come colored in the brands branding with dyes and inks that I assume aren't the most sustainable even if they are on a paper bag

• I feel that the majority of people, everywhere in the world that is in the middle of the socioeconomic spectrum, respectively in their economies, tend to over consume. This is definitely something society needs to work on and individuals as well.

• I cant believe how much money people spend in such shopping malls, incredible!

Here in China has so far been the most motor-bike usage I have ever seen in my life! Almost every sidewalk was lined with scooters, such as how the shrubs/trees line the streets in Claremont

The majority of scooters were petrol powered. Due to this, I cannot imagine how much gas is consumed as well as the amount produced by scooters in Shanghai and Hangzhou alone due to their massive populations.

People here seemed to also be in a constant rush like in LA

At the strip that I was staying in in Hangzhou, there were like 20 coffee/drink shops. Imagine all the waste created by all the plastic/paper cups from the so many customers. I went to get a matcha latte because I love those things, and unsweetened, organic, and ceremonial, there actually healthy beverages. Anyways, I had left my Stojo cup in my room, but when I went to the coffee shop that I selected and ordered my latte, the barista just grabbed my hydro flask that I had put on the counter(I always carry my bottle with my anywhere I go because you never know when you'll get thirsty and most people forget to drink the recommended amount for water) but I politely stopped her as I reckon she was going to put my drink that I ordered in there. I then solemnly asked if I could have it in a paper to-go cup. I then checked my receipt and I think she charged me for the paper cup, good for her/the coffee shop. I have to double check with a friend who can read Chinese and ask what my receipt says as this would be the first coffee shop I have been to that charges for to-go cups. I think such practices should be done everywhere, encouraging customers to bring their own cups to not have to spend more. That coffee shop, Manner Coffee, also had a little shelf with items on sale, which included reusable cups like Stojo and others, maybe it is a common trend that consumers bring their own reusable cups here more than in LA.

All the food places that I went to as well served me with reusable table-ware, mind you they werent fancy places at all, but I do know that some places here in LA serve you with single use disposables, even higher end fast food chains.

The cars that I have seen on the roads in Shanghai and Hangzhou have all seemed pretty new and mostly electric

There is trash lying around the streets but it seems like they have more than just garbage. Such as separation bins in more commercial areas, but in public areas mostly just trash and recyclable bins

I have seen workers in orange vests around town w a bucket and a grabbing stick tool who seem to pick up trash. I wonder who employs them, how they employ them, and why they employ them

Seems like traditionally at shops there seems to be bulk sections whether that be for regular legumes or grains as well as tea, I wonder if people bring their own bags or containers or if they mainly use plastic or compostable bags that the store supplies, I was in a rush to go eat as it was way past my lunch time so I wasn't able to go into this local grocery store.

Metro system is hugggeeeee as well as bus system

• In the metro, like the Shanghai Railway Station, there were shops lining the hallways on your way to the trains, thats a first for me to see in a metro station! Expect for of course something like Union Station in LA which is the only exception.

People smoke so much

So many motor-bikes/scooters, I reckon theres way more of those than there are cars

I again say no homeless people, how crazy as someone coming from LA

Tea is a huge thing in Asia, especially China. I visited the China National Tea Museum in Hangzhou for a look into how things were, and are in terms of tea consumption in China. As Mr. Kawaratani said in our interview, 'mass consumption = mass production'. If people are demanding lots of tea, then that leads to a lot of tea that must be produced to meet market demands. With production at such scale, many little factors are magnified, leading to either increased sustainability or increased harm such as the use of pesticides, or different watering techniques...

After the tea museum, I had to use the restroom so I wandered into the Four Seasons because why not right. There restrooms had reusable napkins, that was really cool! But I don't know fi this was due to the fact that one feels more 'bougie' using cloth to dry you hands compared to paper towels, and/or because they are trying to be more sustainable.

• The hotel also had beautiful gardens! I have also noticed that around the world, nature is expensive. Nature and the access to it has become a luxury that not many can afford to see or have for themselves.

At the Hangzhou Airport, they didn't have hand dryers, this is common in Shanghai and Hangzhou, the rule of paper towels over hand dryers. Another cool feature was that they had lights over the bathroom stalls to indicate weather they were occupied or available.