A little background on Shanghai: It is the MOST populous city in China (which is really an accomplishment!) and has a long history. It was originally a small textile town, but being on the water it became really popular with shipping. It was a port town and with Western trade and colonization in the nineteen hundreds became a major world player. Since then it has remained a important city for trade and finance. Because this city was opened to Westerners it has a wonderful mixed history- which gives the city real character. It really reminds you of a blend of Washington D.C. and New York City with history and modern progress pleasantly blended together.
We stayed at the Captain's Hostel and at $20 a night was a real deal! It was ON THE BUND which is the important financial street. All the architecture is of Western influence and each building was built with distinct personality and style. We spent our first day with a brief nap, and walking the Bund. The Bund offers beautiful view of Pudong which is directly across the river. This is wear in the past 20 years a few dozen sky scrapers have been built. The most distinct space bubble looking one is the Oriental Pearl Building. It is 1535 ft tall…but we'll get back to that later.
We then walked the streets, heading towards Renmin Park. Inside the park is the small but charming Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA.) And the current show was all about Coco Chanel. It had original Haute Couture, personal videos, pictures, news articles, jewelery, fragrances and her incredible art collection. She had TONS of original sketches done by Picasso, Giacometti, and Dali's. She also has some amazing late Renaissance pieces that were great. We went back to our hostel and then headed out to New Heights on the Bund. We get an amazing meal (and paid for it…) then went home and crashed.
We woke up the next morning and were off. Off across the Tourist Tunnel which goes under the river to Pudong. It is like a bad version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride….but worse. But almost so awesomely bad- you love it.
We ate breakfast in the shadow of the Pearl Building and off to the AMAZING aquarium (I have included a picture of the crabs.) It was a great aquarium with many many many exhibits. I was impressed with the number and variety of species they have….including penguins and seals.
We then grabbed lunch at a yummy noodle bar. I got a dish that came with- no joke- two ceramic stoneware cups.
It was then up into the Pearl Building. We bought the 'full experience' which included trips to all the viewing decks, a ticket to the museum, and a ride on the roller coaster.
FOUR HOURS LATER (no joke) we emerged from the Pearl Building and watched the sun set as we walked around taking pictures of the Bund. We grabbed the ferry across and at 2RMB was 1/20th of the cost of the Tourist Tunnel.) We got food at this delicious Indian restaurant over in the French Concession. We tried to go to a bar….and by "try to go" I mean we went and fell asleep in our drinks. So back to the hostel.
Whatever cold/flu I caught last week has lingered on. I have literally taken Dayquil everyday for 7 days now AND antibiotics. I can't seem to kick it and I wake up every morning questioning how I am going to feel. I have to carry large amounts of tissues everywhere with me. It's been pretty miserable. The last day was a pretty rough start. But with ONLY 3 nights in Shanghai we had to press on. We went to the Yu Garden and Bazaar which was not even a 10 minute walk from our hostel. We wandered around all morning into afternoon. Ate some not so good bun/dumplings. Got some Starbucks and powered through to the Shanghai Expo.
We went back to the French Concession and ate at Vegetarian Lifestyle. That was some VERY YUMMY fake Lamb in a curry soup! Yum. Then we did actually manage to go out to a few bars. We mostly drank at a Scottish (for realz) Pub and talked with some other westerners for a long time. We checked out the Apartment which was a scenester bar that was overly crowded and the people there deft thought they were way cooler then they were. Then back to the Bund for Club Rouge which was on the top of another of the Bund buildings. We walked home from there and went to sleep.
The last morning we got some delicious french croissants and pastries. We walked around the neighborhoods and snacked while. We considered purchasing fireworks…decided that they were not approved materials for 'carry-on' and went to the airport.
We flew back in last night: Chinese New Years Eve. It has been a blast and I will update you on that shortly. But there is the quick Shanghai overview. Now- hopefully, I will break down all the different parts of the Shanghai trip- and include MANY more pictures- and MANY more details.
So- Happy Chinese New Year!!!
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