Zhujiajiao and the Bund at night 6/13 - 6/16

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For the weekend of June 13, we took a group field trip to Zhujiajiao, a water town on the outskirts of Shanghai. Canals, gardens, and stone-cobbled streets are the trademarks of this community. Although unique compared to the bigger cities in China, Zhu Jia Jiao looked like basically a smaller version of Suzhou to me. There’s really nothing else to say about it. Of course, there are temples and historical galleries, but not as impressive as the ones I’ve seen in every other city I’ve visited. I didn’t do much of anything else notable during the weekend, just walked around People’s Square Park and Pudong. I went pretty deep into Pudong, all the way to the Science and Technology Museum metro stop, where I did some knock-off shopping for polo shirts. Outside, the atmosphere is much different in this part of Pudong than in the western part of the city. The streets are a lot less crowded with people, and the traffic is much more orderly.

Then, on Tuesday night, it was pretty clear for once, so a few of us decided to go down to the Bund and get a good view of the lights across the river in Pudong. To our disappointment, we found that the entire Bund is now closed due to construction. But we are engineers, so of course we found a solution to the problem. After walking to the southernmost section of the Bund on the opposite side of the street, we spotted the old river lighthouse which had been used to signal ships back in the late nineteenth century. Apparently, someone had the idea to turn this old brick tower into a restaurant/bar recently. The only problem is that this place is like, right in the middle of a major four lane road. So, we dashed across a few lanes of traffic (not easy in China) and climbed up to the top pavilion of the bar, where we were greeted by a first-class view of not only Pudong, but also of the colonial buildings that line the Bund. To our surprise, there was almost no one else at this place, so we pretty much had the entire viewing platform to ourselves. And of course, an experience like this wouldn’t be complete without some alcoholic beverages, so we ordered a pitcher of beer and relaxed in front of the river.

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Photos

Ringing the Bell at the Top of Some Temple
Zhujiajiao

On the Signal Tower Bar Pavilion
This Could be a Beer Advertisement

In Front of the Bund
Repping GT Swimming and Diving

Cheers
We Like Beer

Outside Science and Technology Museum
Pudong