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Published: June 25th 2017
Geo: 31.23, 121.47
What a difference a day makes. From the miserable rain of Xiamen to the giddy metropolis of Shanghai.
Such an early start for holiday makers with the alarm piercing the darkness at 5.45 to ensure we were packed and ready for a quick getaway at 7.30 am. The exit would have been smooth except the checkout team of the hotel wanted to accuse us of pilfering "a little white towel" and an umbrella. Took Mac a little while to convince them that we had not purloined the goodies.
Lucy (in the sky with diamonds) delivered us safely to the security checkin and watched us every step of the way out of Xiamen....like a mother hen shepherding us in the right direction.
Flight was a little late, but true to form, our next "friendly China guide", Miranda, was waiting for us in Shanghai. It was a national holiday in China - Labour Day - and there were so many people travelling and on the roads. Our driver could not get to the airport because a main road was blocked...so we enjoyed a coffee from Starbucks while the driver, Mr Fu, somehow worked his magic to get to the airport.
The first impressions of Shanghai
Hello Shanghai
Usual smog pall but so many MORE peopleincluded thoughts about "modern, western and busy"! And after a checkin and change we made our way towards the shopping mall which was adjacent to Peter's hotel. OMG, this is totally another world. I am not sure I have ever seen so many people in a seething swarm and for 90 minutes we were pushed and moved in a constant ebb and flow of people. If you can visualise a swarm of ants erupting out of the top of a nest...you are close to what we were experiencing in the downtown shopping mall of Nanking Road. No-one was in a hurry or frantic - everyone was just going about their business .... But the people combined with the tourism "trams" travelling up and the down the mall added to a deafening noise of humanity.
We went into No 1 Shanghai Department Store just to see what was going on. There were nine floors to the store. The escalators were full...the aisles were full...the counters were full. Each floor was devoted to a "line". First floor was jewellery, second and third floors ladies and women's fashion, fourth floor men's fashion etc. It appeared as if everyone in the mall had shopping bags
Views from the restaurant
Mac said it was like Southbank...with just a "few" more people
23 million in Shanghai PLUS May 1st visitors as proof of their successful purchases and all the counters were full with prospective buyers. But truly, despite our best efforts...I just couldn't get into the shopping experience...it was just a general assault on the senses...too many people, too many options, too much noise.
We opted out of shopping very quickly! Maybe Hong Kong.
Made our way to meet Peter, Edgar and William for an amazing dinner at "M on The Bund". We were on the 7 th floor overlooking the masses who were swarming to just be on the banks of The Bund for the 1st of May celebrations. The view was spectacular...we had sweeping views up and down the river and a perfect view of the highrise that make up the other side of the river and the new commercial development of Shanghai.
We had doses of Chinese culture and history with dinner, along with fabulous insights into the history and highlights of Shanghai. And it was great to have protracted conversations in English with very witty and humorous hosts. I am still laughing at William who said he could touch up our group photo and make me look forty years younger.....it would just take him a bit of time!
Looking
forward to catching up with Edgar and William when they visit Australia later this year. We owe them a great ride in a Porsche....mmmmm not sure that we ywill be able to produce that...might have to settle for a spin in the Jazz.
Day 1 in Shanghai was done and dusted at 10 pm for us. We left Peter heading out to one of two late night meetings as a start to a very hectic week in China. Glad we are on holidays..will leave the hard work to the younguns!
Miranda had proposed some sensible changes to the itinerary for tomorrow in an effort to avoid some of the crowds. Looking forward to the crush of Shanghai tomorrow.
Pedometer Reading: 6 925
Temperature: Xiamen 22C with rain; Shanghai 25 C and "China" clear
@lyndaR...enjoying lunch for you on The Bund. Celebrating your birthday with LOTS of other people in mayhem of China holiday. Let's do the real thing on our return. Happy Birthday to you. Love Jan
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Von
non-member comment
What an adventure you're having! Am thoroughly enjoying the ride. Home safe and sound from Japan. Can't wait to swap stories. Von xx