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Published: January 3rd 2009
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future
one of the most futuristic skylines ever
Well I had my first experience of the china train system and i can say I was pleasantly surprised. The train from Hangzhou to Shanghai was a bullet train. These trains are very fast and this one wasn't one that travelled at 218 mph but I will tell you about that in another entry. Once I we had gotten off the train we got to my favourite part of finding a place to stay. we wondered through the underground system looking for an exit, when a guy handing out flyers gave us one called C trip. Becca had used this company to book a trip to hainan so she trusted them to find us a decent hotel. we went in and they sat us down and they found us one that in my opinion was expensive at 220 yuan a night but at the same time I was tired and for 2 of us we would probably pay the same for 2 cheap rooms. So we got the room and it was really nice. the bed was good the bathroom was luxury and we got breakfast included.
That first night we didnt do much as it was late as we
astor house
the first ever hotel to open in shanghai right next door to the broadway mansion
got there but we went to a small restaurant which we like to do as they are usually the cheapest. We have a standard meal of eggplant and sweet and sour pork with rice. So far the cheapest we have got this for is 24 yuan (nanjing) the most is 47 (beijing). It's always fun as it never tastes the same from town to town or even restaurant to restaurant. but we went there and got beef with egg which was probably the best ive had yet.
We went back to the room to plan the next day. When we woke up we headed down for breakfast, It was however not the best thing ive ever tasted as I forget that the chinese concept of eating is they eat when they are hungry and not 3 meals a day. There was a choice of noddles egg (boiled ) dumplings (jiaozi) and steamed buns with meat, veg or rice inside (baozi) and the juice was served warm, this is not a bad thing its just that i'm not accustomed to it. after breakfast we went back upstairs to get our stuff and be gone for the day. Ive never really
the sky at night
igt looks even better lit up travelled with a friend or even my girlfriend before, so I'm not used to waiting around to get out of the door but as she's here right now i'll say it's not a bad thing either :P
Any who once we had got out of the door we made our way to the subway. as luck would have it, our hotel was looking into the subway station and it was not a very long walk. One thing that struck me straight away about Shanghai was the newness of it all everywhere you looked there was a new mall opening up or one that had recently opened and we were staying on the outskirts of the city.
Shanghai is a city once again full of history with lots of British ( english ) , french , and japanese influences on it. in the early 20th centry the british were setting up offices to do with trading and so forth, were as years before the french had taken the city there is an area known as the french concession which still stands today. The japanese which have always had a rocky relationship with the chinese took over the city in
the 2nd world war and used the broadway mansions as there army headquaters.
Our first stop was Peoples square. This was my first view of the sky scrapers that surround this city. Shanghai is like a 80's movies vision of the future but without looking corny. in complete contrast, just out of sight from the skyscrapers is the old town which still stands and like many places now sells pointless toys and cheap knock off clothes. We headed toowards the area known as the bund where the city first started to make its money and the buildings had historic facts behind them. where on the opposite side of the river lies the new financial district with the tallest building in china and one of the worlds most famous skylines. This was a sight to take in like stepping into the future. We walked down the bund and saw the buildings which in there hayday had housed some very interesting people or businesses and now been turned into a small part of a huge corperate wheel.
We then trundled slowly back to the hotel after having a pizza hut dinner. Which brings me to my next point. In the
all to easy
delivery !!!!! city of Shanghai there seems to be no where to eat cheap even the places that should be cheap are still trying to make money so we decided to eat something that was a bit more familliar to us. I do know that travelling is supposed to be about trying new things such as food but I do every chance I get so I dont really care about having a pizza hut or Mc donalds every now and then as it does remind me a bit of the western world and home.
I have noticed in Shanghai the western influences are every where from the food chains such as KFC and even a dunkin donuts, to the clothes stores the way the malls are set up and the things they sell.
The second and last day was spent seeing the totally opposite of the day before, as we went to visit "old town". This area is full of the old buildings you would expect china to have with their rooves kicking out at the edges and the old wooden walls and doors. Unfortunately this area has also succombed to tourism and startend to sell stuff you don't need
proof
just incase you don't beleive we were here !!!! or want. The area itself with out the tourists was very picturesque and you could imagine a time when an emporer or well to do people of the time walking through here.
If I must say so though the tourists ( me included ) did ruin the atmosphere as where there a people who are willing to spend money, there are people who are willing to set up stalls and literally drag you to see what they are selling. Which , in my eyes ruined my experience of the old town.
We started to head back quite early as we had been on our feet all day and just fancied a quiet night in, so we found a kind of food court where the food is already on dishes and you just pick up the plate and take it to the counter. The prices above the food are difficult to understand as they read 4/25 which to me says 4 for 25 Yuan. and you get the plate given to you. What they also do is put 8 on there and you cant take them off so your stuck with dumplings which turned out to taste like i would imagine a dog's testicle to taste like. in fact it could have actually been a dog's testicle but needless to say we spent a lot for something that was'nt very good and I was fairly upset by it as I do like my food.
After that disaster we headed back to the hotel and got ready to pack and to head off to our next stop
............ Nanjing 😊
peace x
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