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Published: December 14th 2007
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Subtle reminders
A harmonious society through citizenship, the electronic message slides over the building across from the ZhongShan metro station. *for English readers first...followed by the Mandarin...read in Shanghainese* This blog posting is incredibly, irresponsible late. With that said. Let's see how much I can remember.
Arriving in Shanghai - quite easily - both Dave and I carried minimal carry-ons. *Unlike my usual large backpack - a very limited amount of clothing packed into a small area* We found our way quickly through the Shanghai airport - taking a bus to the MagLev (Magnetic Levitation) train station. In 8 minutes we were whisked away from the outskirts of Shanghai into the heart of the city. For 8 minutes we traveled at speeds up to 340 Km/Hour - the cars appeared to be crawling over the highways.
Eyes wide, we stepped out of the Mag-Lev, exhilarated, and ready to begin our 40 minute subway ride to ZhongShan Station where our hostel was located. The subway system appeared much older and more rickety than Daegu's, but just as speedy, and packed. There was more chatter, less order, less concern for old people on the Shanghai subway. Thankfully though, unlike the Seoul subway system, Shanghai's had permanent plastic tickets, which you had to return in order to leave the transport deck *much more environmentally friendly* Once in ZhongShan, I
Home sweet hostel
Arrived at our home subway station after the 8 minute maglev ride and the half hour spent in a crowded metro car. Less cell phone chatter and text messaging than in the Daegu and Seoul metros, but a similar unspoken rule of quiet and calm. Hushed voices and the occasional infant shriek. was a bit annoyed at the rain that refused to let up. We hobbled our way to Le Tour Shanghai Youth Hostel (Double Private Shared Bathroom - $20.58/night, 136 Bailan Road, Putuo District) - about a two block walk from the station. After settling in, admiring our clean, well-lit yellow front triangular room, we headed out to the French Concession for tapas.
TAPAS: Corizo Fritos (45 Y), Albondigas de Carne (35 Y) Croquetas de Panceta (28 Y) *MY FAVORITE* Alcachofas con Jamon (42 Y). I found the website online, and I can't quite find the information now, but this restaurant was wonderful, and certainly cheered me up from the rain.
Prior to our Tapas adventure, we looked around the French Concession for the Shanghai Conservatory - in an effort to hide from the rain and enjoy beautiful, cheap, orchestral music. But nope, the conservatory was no where to be found, however there was a great deal of construction. We were unwilling to spend any length of time wandering around in the rain, especially without any usable mandarin skills, so we headed directly to the Tapas bar.
After Tapas, we headed to venture around the French Concession. Despite
Bikes wait patiently
At night outside the JinShiang station, bikes appear scattered randomly on the brick square. Each morning, lines of bikes and motorized scooters fill the entire area - at least 75 bikes. If you walk out of the station any time during the day, hoards of taxi-motorcyclists call out to you - sometimes in broken English, "Come, we drive you," "where you go, lady?" the rain, there were many posh looking types wandering around, chatting on cell phones, carrying large paper shopping bags boasting brand names. We searched throughout the streets for a coffee shop, but nope. The best we could do was a Haagen Daaz. The menus were huge, and the prices were preposterous, but the photos of the sundaes prevented any common sense. We ordered two beautiful cascading ice cream fountains and thumbed through our Lonely Planet guide to prepare for the next day.
We woke up, but we were so relaxed by our room, the bed, the quiet of the neighborhood *even being so close to the elevated train tracks, we were never wakened* we didn't get out until 11 AM. We headed for the old Communist headquarters - turned intimidating restaurant - Mei Long Zhen - in the French Concession. We arrived and ordered lunch. There were only a few families with ancient-looking grandparents, and we felt as though we had intruded. Then, the place became a little bit more lively - some children and parents arrived, and then we felt less imposing.
Hmmm, it's getting quite late, and I've done a bit of work on this blog.
Mao was here.
Inside the restaurant, Meilongzhen Jiujia, near the Jing'an Temple and West Nanjing Road. During the 1930s, this building was Shanghai's Communist Party headquarters. I'm going to publish, despite being only a day through our trip, and possibly get Dave to do a bit more of the typing.
Enjoy for now, hopefully the pictures will give you a good idea of the rest of the trip, and I'll come back and fill in more details. Hopefully it'll be in the next few days and not months. But with my track record....*wince*
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Rachel
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Brielle the pictures are beautiful!
As is the woman taking the photos... :) It looks wonderful! I can't wait to hear more. Get in touch! xoxox <3, Rachel