Blogs from Pudong, Shanghai, China, Asia - page 2

Blog of our trip to China - Paul and Keith from Yorkshire, England A quest for knowledge and enlightenment. Day One - Friday 10th April 2015 Manchester to London Heathrow - British Airways Transfer T3-T5 Heathrow Express London Heathrow - Shanghai - Virgin Atlantic Lift off 1515 LHW but as travelling economy = no sleep. Day Two - Saturday 11th April 2015 Arrive Shanghai a tad jaded 0915 ( 7 hours ahead of UK time ) met by tour guide and transferred to our hotel by coach . We are part of group of 16 - first impressions - well let's hope that's what they are ? During the hour plus transfer our guide introduced himself as Chris a very personable and fluent English speaker. I find it interesting that the chinese are happy to adopt ... read more

In the middle of the night in Shanghai and refusing to pay double the price for our cancelled hotel room booking meant we had to find somewhere nearby to sleep. We were close to East Nanjing Road which is the wide pedestrian mall which leads down to the Bund so I left Jerry with the bags and set off to find a room. Turned away from a couple that were full I eventually found a small room in a very Chinese budget hotel. It was clean, though we had to go through a maze of corridors to get to it, but it gave us a bed for the night. Next morning though we ended up finding a comfortable room in the Jinjiang Hotel in East Nanjing Road. We bought the Jinjiang hotel chain discount card to ... read more

17.4.14 Destination: PINGWANG. Distance: 109.5 Kms Road Condition: good surface Weather: cool, heavy o'cast Time in Saddle: 6 hours Av Speed: 18.25kph Elevation: mostly flat Up at 4.15 after poor sleep, must have been subconsciously thinking about today. Breakfast at 5.00, everyone also up and rearing to go. Departed hotel at 5.50 for The Bund and group photo. Discovered that my camera somehow had been drained of power. Will need to get a photo from elsewhere. Traffic chaotic and early cycle speeds were poor. As said earlier, people and vehicles like ants, wrong way up one way streets, u turns in awkward places, huge traffic intersections with confusing lights. A relief to escape the mayhem unscathed. Everyone arrived without mishap. Last 40 Kms, had good tail wind so averaged about 28 kph. The roads for trucks/cars; ... read more

15.5.14 Today I took the Pudong train shuttle under the HUANGPU R. to Pudong, the financial district and modern China. Similar in size to the financial district of HK. Amazing architecture, soaring towers of glass, one building has curves and must reach over 100 levels. At Pudong I found the Chinese tourists, visiting the Jiabao Communications Tower ( once the world's tallest building), an Aquarium and manicured park. It must also have the world's largest pedestrian round about, over 2 football fields in size. A 9 level shopping mall of exclusive shops, but few customers. Prices seemed greater than home for electrical goods. Apparently there is a sizeable luxury goods tax! Have found navigating the streets and lane ways of downtown Shanghai ok. Hopefully this directional sense won't desert me. Went for a test ride to ... read more

13.5.14: After breakfast headed off to walk the Bund, the riverside ( HUANGPU RIVER) walkway on the City side looks across to the reclaimed land of the Pudong financial district. Some very striking and distinctive architecture. The district is growing at a rapid rate and rivals the city scape of the Central district of Hong Kong with its imposing towers. Shanghai is situated in the Yangtze R delta. Many large rice barge style boats plied the river transporting huge timber logs, coal and containers. It appears that afternoon/ evening markets are popular. All variety of meat, seafood and vegetable. No flies. Huge cucumber style veg, 3 feet long x 1.5 wide. Suspect flavour would be very bland, mostly fibrous. Also huge live toads encased in net bags are popular. Will need to be alert to what ... read more