Good Bye Shanghai, Good bye China

On our last morning in Shanghai, we got up early and headed off to the Bund for a walk.  The pedestrian street beside the hotel was teeming with people doing tai chi, but on the Bund, where I expected lots of people, it was almost deserted.  There were a few walkers and the odd old man flying a kite, but that was it.

The city workers were out in full force cleaning the streets and watering the plants.  We even saw one worker using a windex like product on the garbage cans.  Yes, the public areas of Shanghai are very clean.

Big boats were seen heading out to sea, laden with cargo.

When you looked around, there was always something interesting to see.  Like other areas of China, I'm impressed by the gardening in public places.  This flock of seagulls was a fine example in the middle of the boulevard of a busy street.

I finally figured out what this bumpy patch on the sidewalk is.  I guess before whenever we walked down a sidewalk, it was so congested with people that I could never see it in it's entirety.  This morning, without any other people around, I was able to see that this is a path for the visually impaired.  The texture changes as it comes to intersections and there is yet another texture where you should stop.  For a country that does not seem attuned to the disabled at all, it was a pleasant surprise.

We realised that we could walk to the market from where we were on the Bund, so we did.  I also revisited my "Linda Linda" store but, you would be proud Robin, I did not buy anything.  Instead, we walked back to the hotel where we ate, showered and are now getting ready to go to the airport.

We've had a great trip and learnt a lot.  What a wonderful country.  The only thing missing is my family.  I can't wait to get home.

Yu Gardens and Yu Market

We were up and at it this morning before it got too hot and were at the Yu Gardens before the tour crowds started.  This was in the Old City of Shanghai and the entire area was housed in very old buildings that had been renovated.  The gardens once belonged to one person, but they were liberated and are now for the people.  There are a number of buildings in the gardens that are set up to display their original use.  This first one was where the scholar wrote and read.

This was a prime example of the first Lazy Boy chairs, dating back hundreds of years.  Some improvements have been made in the area of comfort since then.

One of the many entries into a different part of the garden.  It was all compartmentalised into small areas that could be easily enjoyed without the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

 A very large bonsai.

Whoops!  I spoke too soon.  Here come the tourists.  The guide is showing them how the coi are trained to come swimming when you clap.

The juxtaposition between old and new.  The old pagoda in front of the tower being build beside the Pearl of the Orient.

 Another peaceful vista.

We found out today why many of the old buildings have such high thresholds.  Some are as high as twelve inches and are like that to keep out the rats!!!  Yuck!  Too much information!

We were eavesdropping on a tour when we found out that no one was supposed to make an image of a dragon, because that was the emperor's image (we knew that already).  But this fellow here, built along a rooftop, was made with three toes and the emperor's dragons all had five so he wasn't exactly the same.  Therefore, when the emperor's inspectors came by, the artist was allowed to keep his head.  And the dragon.

 A sight line to the Pear of the Orient, and all the gazillion cranes in the sky.  Again, I wonder how long these buildings will last before skyscrapers make their way over here.

Some more very uncomfortable furniture, these ones made from Banyan roots.

A girl actually began to feed the coi and they all swam over to her.  It was very interesting to watch as they fought over a few scraps of bread.

The Yu Market is part of the Yu Gardens in the same cluster of buildings.  We left the serenity of the market and ventured out into the wackiness of the market.  Everyone was calling for your attention, offering the best price, or first sale of the morning, even though it was eleven!  It was a little crazy.

This store had my name written all over it.  Oddly enough, it sold lunch box paraphernalia, which is one of my favourite things in the whole wide world.  For the record, I did not go into the store, even though as I write this, I think I have time to go back tomorrow and check it out!

Have I mentioned it's hot here?  It feels like 49 degrees here again today.  By the time we were finished the market, we were finished in many other ways.  We took a cab in search of the best soy sauce in Shanghai . . . and did not find any.  We did get something close, but it's not the hand made artisan stuff that takes years to make.

We were so tired and hot at this point that we found a Starbucks with inviting couches outside beside a huge waterfall (the big white thing in the picture).  The wind was blowing the waterfall to provide us with a fine mist and a cool breeze.  Under the umbrella, it was almost cool.  Okay, maybe 35 degrees, but that's not bad.

 We bought ourselves a cool drink and planted on the couches for over an hour.  Eryl read the tour book to see where else we should go and I had a nap.  We decided that there was nothing that did not involve walking outside that we wanted to see, so we packed up, went back to the hotel, showered, read, rested and cooled off.

By six, we were ready to head out for supper, so we made our way back to our local (the dumpling place) and had the usual (dumplings with soup in them) brought to us by our man (don't know his name, but it was the same server we had the other night and he remembered us).  It was terrific, as usual.

We meandered though the shopping area and found a bar with a patio.  We enjoyed a drink and people watched while the band inside played.  In some ways, it felt like Paris as women in their fancy dresses strolled by

We are now back at the hotel and ready for bed.  My bag is packed and I'm ready to come home to my family.  Boy, I really miss them.  Can't wait for tomorowwwwwwwww (spelled that way because tomorrow is going to be a looooooooooooong day!).

The Pearl of the Orient

We had an incredibly busy day today.  It started by us sleeping about an hour later than we had planned.  I guess we are both comfortably adjusted to Chinese time, just in time to go back to Canada.

We purchased tickets for a Hop On-Hop Off bus tour and completed one entire loop of one line when we got off at the Shanghai Museum.  This was a beautiful national museum that was made even more attractive by the fact that it was free and it was air conditioned!  Have I mentioned it's hot here?  Forty-three degrees here today, but with the humidity it feels like forty-nine.

The museum had an amazing bronze section and an equally amazing ceramics section with a few pieces dating back 8000 years ago.  After a few hours here, we felt we were cultured out and hopped back on our bus, taking a different line.

This line took us to the Pudong section of Shanghai, or as it is also referred to as the financial district.  One of the amazing facts we learnt was that Shanghai is five times as big as New York and the financial district reflects this.  The reason for going to this area was because of the Pearl of the Orient building.  This is the iconic building that is always shown in movies, representing Shanghai.

This picture is to show just how hot it is.  When you purchase a ticket to the Pearl and go through the entry booth, sprayers come on to cool you off.  I wonder if we'll hit fifty here tomorrow?

Eryl had me take this picture for Spider.  I'm guessing maybe Coke sponsors the free stage just outside of the building??

We went up to the second large ball, 163 floors above the city, and got off at the observation floor.  The view was breathtaking.  Buildings as far as the eye could see.

It's interesting that Eryl and I thought the sky was clear today, but from up here, clearly it isn't.

On the windows of the observation floor there were signs pointing to many of the capital cities in China and giving the distance.  Here's Amy's.

Anna's is a little further away.

The view is from the other side of the tower.  Still lots of buildings.

Parts of Old Shanghai, or the original city, still remains.  It is all the low buildings seen in a large circle.  I wonder how long that will last before they are bulldozed and high rises put in?  

Some big building neighbours.  The building going up beside the Pearl will surpass it in height.

 Off in the distance you can see the ocean.

 We found the private parking spot for the neighbourhood yachts.

 At this point, we were so bushed, we decided to go for dinner in the revolving restaurant.  The three balls on the tower are pink, so that's why Eryl looks so rosy.

 Me too.

The fog rolls in at about 7:00.

Yes Robin, I know it's not fog.  Just kidding.

After dinner, we went to the glass floor observation deck.  Oddly enough, Eryl did not want me to take her picture.

The crazy pedestrian/car traffic circles can be seen from up there. The "small" circle in the middle is a roundabout for the five streets that converge.  The large circle is a raised pedestrian roundabout, for the ten sidewalks that line the five streets.  At times, there are more people walking on the top than there are driving down below. 

 When the lights came on, it was incredible.

We finally made our way back down to the main floor where there was another museum awaiting us.  It was the Social History of Shanghai and it was surprisingly well done.  There were many models depicting the city from different time periods, but what really caught my interest was the display of shoes for the wrapped feet the women used to have.  The shoes in front were for those poor women.  There were also photographs documenting the look and shape of the feet and they were gross looking.  I can imagine how painful they were or how those women ever walked anywhere.  Yuck!

We finally left the Pearl around nine and tried to get a cab.  The one we approached was asking for 100 yuan, so we decided to walk back to the hotel instead.

There is a pedestrian tunnel, so we decided to take that.  Unfortunately, it too was 100 yuan for the two of us, but by then we were tired, so we paid up.

The tunnel was nothing short of weird.  We were in a little subway car with about ten others and the ride was all of four minutes.  There were flashing lights and music throughout the entire tunnel.  No point and very strange, but kind of fun.

Our pedestrian street that runs parallel to our hotel was right at the opening of the tunnel, so we just kept on walking with the other million people.  Whew is it crowded here!

We arrived at the hotel around ten and man, were we tired.  I'm not sure what tomorrow holds, but it will probably involve some shopping as it is our last full day.  I can hardly wait to get home and give my girls a big hug.

Good Bye Hangzhou, Hello Shanghai

This morning we packed up, had breakfast and said good bye to Hangzhou.  The train station in Hangzhou was huge, but we found our waiting room with little difficulty.  Our train was on time and we hopped on.  Well, can one really hop with an overweight suitcase in tow?

The bullet train was amazing.  It was much like an air plane, except with more room.  There were even flight (?) attendants offering refreshments for sale.  We were going just short of 200 km per hour and it was so smooth that it didn't really feel like we were moving.  In less than an hour, having made four stops at different stations, we were in Shanghai.

We arrived at our hotel and took an hour or so to get unpacked and figure out our next move.  I found a fantastic dim sum restaurant on Trip Advisor that specialised in little dumplings that were filled with a tasty soup.  They were magical!  After we finished our meal, we actually ordered another round of the dumplings, they were that good.

As we left the restaurant, we found we were in the French Quarter with amazing shops and other restaurants all around, so we took a walk to familiarize ourselves with the area.  It seems to be much cooler here, about 35 degrees, and walking around seems so easy.

 The area seemed to consist of old housing that was turned into quaint shops.  Very neat.

 We made it to the Bund, which is Shanghai's version of a boardwalk (every city on the water seems to have one), just as the sun was setting.  The skyline of Pudong on the other side of the river was amazing.  It seemed quite surreal to be here, especially when it is contrasted with other places we've been on this trip like the Great Wall or the Terra Cotta Warriors.

 Shanghai has a very different feel than any other city I've been in in China.  It is huge and very cosmopolitan.  There are young professionals everywhere and they are all dressed very well and usually in style that would be acceptable in any Western city.  There is every kind of store imaginable and the streets are humming with activity.  This is one exciting city!

 As it continued to get dark, the buildings all began to light up with advertisements or, well, lights.

 This is going to be a fun couple of days.