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Published: September 25th 2005
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Early morning arrival at the slightly depressing glass/concrete monster that is Pudong Int'l. We are being hearded through a long corridor with a big group of travellers. I stop by a lonely ATM and stock up on the ever present big and useless yuan bills (nobody ever has any change). Customs and immigration is as hustle free as ever in China and soon we're faced with finding a map and the transfer services. I immediately want to check out the maglev train, which we find after slowly wandering and exploring our way through another walkway. The staff speak as good as no English but manage to convey the fact that the train service doesn't start until 8.30, and we're a good 1.5 hours early.
Although Kay doesn't mind hanging around I suggest we head for the city coaches. We are intercepted by a single taxi tout at the bus stop who tries to convince us that the bus service doesn't start until 9 am, and offers to take us into town for 140 rmb. It doesn't exactly take any effort to call his bluff, as there is already a local flight attendant waiting at the bus stop. The bus arrives
shortly afterwards. The journey downtown follows below the monorail (which stops far out of downtown) and we're dropped off at a terminal near the Jing'an temple. From there we catch a taxi and arrive at our hotel with minimal hassle.
The Classical Hotel looks great and after seeing the other concrete monsters I feel quite happy with my choice. We're a bit early but the room is already available to us so we go up and crash for some rest. It is not until afternoon that we finally get round to start exploring the neighbourhood. The hotel is situated smack in the middle of the Yu Yuan tourist area, with lots of interesting traditional style buildings and although it is crowded with tourists and shops it is a very nice area. Kay finds the first of many vendors selling tasty meat sticks for a few yuan.
It only takes a few turns to steer clear of the tourists streets and soon the "Antiques lookie lookie sir" and "Rolex, Rolex" calls are a fading memory. We walk along narrow streets full of commerce and trade. Live crabs being sold in buckets of water, a food market, clothes, anything goes.
Having circled the area we meet up with a local friend of Kay's, who takes us in a taxi to Nanjing Lu, the insanely long and premier shopping street of Shanghai fame. International brand boutiques are competing neck to neck in the bottom floors of the high rises. The stream of pedestrians is constantly being interrupted by the horns of small sightseeing trains carrying tired shoppers along the road. A more interesting and slightly bizarre feature is the fact that a number of pretty girls are intercepting and chatting up especially foreign looking men.
Some only want to practise their "Hello!" but the ambitious ones want to know if I "have a friend in Shanghai" and suggest that we should go for tea or eating somewhere. I am not exactly sure what the trade of these women really is, it could basically be anything from freelance gold mining to bar hostesses or even worse. As Nanjing Lu comes to an end we walk past the Renmin Park, a comparatively small green lung of the city. Doug takes us to a favourite spot, the Bi Feng Teng restaurant where we have some excellent Cantonese food.
After dinner we split
Yu Yuan Garden
It sure is a popular place. up with Doug and walk towards Renmin Park again. This is the first time we stumble on the WuJiang Lu, a very charming little street with a very busy food court. Kay is thrilled to find some more meat and squid sticks. We will be coming back to this street again for sure. Back at the park we go to the MRT station and after some language confusion manage to pick up tickets, which are similar to the Octopus value card system used in Hong Kong. We manage to find our way to the eastern end of Nanjing Lu from where we walk to the crowded waterfront, better known as The Bund. You basically need to elbow your way ahead to reach the water and squeeze yourself in to be able to take some pictures.
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