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Published: June 29th 2008
Candy - Shanghai style
Made of all sorts of dried fruit and nuts. Sold along streets near The Bund. Never say anywhere else in China. Tasty...sort of like fruit cake..without the cakeFirst of all, Shanghai is huge. Maybe that is stating the obvious (fact: it has twice as many skyscrappers as NYC) but one can ride on a bus for a an awful long time that looks on the map to be quite near. Being so large, it is also very conjested. So much so that I'm not so sure that I actually couldn't have walked to the places I spent several hours busing to.
I stayed in the area they call The Bund. This is where all the European powers in the 19th centruy built their buildings and went about their business of amassing huge fortunes in trade: tea, silk and opium. A city that really came into being as a result of the Western concessions. (History: LP) First, the Chinese tried to stop , particularly the noble British, from shipping in tons of opium into China (how unreasonable). This led to the first Opium War 1840. The Chinese lost and then all the big Western powers came and gained 'concessions' to do business in China - each one with its own settlement in the city - immune from Chinese law. It became the busiest port in Asia and attracted
Pudong - New Shanghai Business District
kFrom Promenade between The Bund and the river the great financiers and traders of the day (including Jardine, Mateson - the huge Hong Kong company that Clavel patterned his books 'Taipan' and 'Noble House' after). To directly quote LP "Shanghai became a byword for exploitation and vice: it's countless opium dens, gambling joints and brothels managed by gangs were at the heart of Shanghai life. Guarding it all were American, French, and Italian marines, British tommmies and Japanese bluejacket." Nothing changed when Chiang Kai Shek took over. But, when they were beaten and fled to Taiwan the communist government 'eradicated the slums, rehabilitated the cities hundreds of thousands of opium addicts and eliminated child and slave labor (also LP) So, you can see we westerners don't have a particularly proud history in this city.
Today, however, the city still has the magnificieint old buildings the Europeans built on the Bund. There is a promenade that has been built between the Bund buildings and the Huangpu River. The first thing I did was walk it from end to (beyond) end....with about 1 million other weekend strollers. The Bund buildings, as a whole, look great (just like the old European buildings in Bombay do - but in the latter,
there is a whole city of them. Here there is just one long row and probably several rows back from the promenade that once compromised the whole area.)
The amazing thing on my stroll was the sight across the river, the area called Pudong. From the promenade it looks like a rising Hong Kong. Not as many new buildings, but a whole new ultra modern city in the making, with a real skyline. I never went over there. Am not sure why. Maybe I'd heard it was mostly a business area - . PLus, they had this 'light & magic??' cheezy people mover tunnel to the other side that wasn't so cheap and everyone who had been on it, when asked, just rolled their eyes.
That first day I walked down beyond the promenade - got lost- well the river was right there, so how lost could that be. I was honestly looking for this chic new shopping center that LP mentioned, with the sole intent of finding a Starbucks. Got way beyond where I thought I was. Finally met up with these two Western women who had also gone astray, like I. Fortunately, they were looking for
the Bund and that I could help with. They told me about this shopping center they had just been to and pointed the way, so I changed plans..and directions and went to this place called Yu Yuan Garden and Bazaar. To be fair it was nicely made, looking like an old Chinese town....though new, new, new. It's purpose was parting you with your money for all sorts of little worthless doo-dads. No big department stores or name designers. More like glorified street market stops... plus, a lot of things to eat. And, ta da....a Starbucks (and Hagen Daz and KFC - I think the latter is taking over this country it has so many outlets).
While I was there a big mob of camera men and TV people were following this lovely Chinese lass who was talking to this middle-aged (plus) white guy. I got some good picture - then found out he was the production manager for the Celine Dion Show that was do in Shanghai that week. Poo, I thought he was some famous old rocker or at least a famous director. I think I deleted those pictures.
That was day one. The hostel I was
staying at was very good and had a restuarant and lounge area so it was easy to snuggle in and not try to figure out where to eat. One thing I don't think I have mentioned is that, as a single traveler, it is not easy to eat Chinese food out in this country. The little 'tucked away' places that we all know about when we live in an area are not part of our knowledge in a strange city. Since getting food that won't make one sick is a constant concern, that means going to more upscale places. Well, Chinese nicer restaurants do not have 'combo's' like we do in the West. So, that means you can only order one thing and some rice. So, you end up with not such balanced meals. I have found myself eating a lot more at the hostels because of this (if they have food, which not all do. Plus, every room in China comes with either an electric hot water kettle or a thermos of hot water, so I have not been too proud to buy boxes of ramein and eaten that for dinner at times.) I don't remember what I did
Advertising on River
Saw quite a lot of use of giant flat-screen advertising - on rivers, in walking tunnels to transportation, on trains, etc. But, not on highways, like they are trying to do (and sounds so dangerous) in the US day 2, but I had to halt everything and arrange some onward train tickets and hostel/hotel room. Maybe that's how that day disappeared.
Shanghai does have a super subway system and I used that to and from the train stations and the Bund. Plus, they have this rather impressive place called 'People's Square' right in the middle of the city. All sorts of museums and other exhibit halls (sort of like a mini-mini Smithsonian). It includes quite a lot of open areas to walk around or just sit and people watch. When I first got there I was trying to keep track of how I got in by remembering the high rises in that direction. Fortuantely, before feeling secure in my ability to get back; so, I turned in a slow circle. Huge buildings in every direction - and all fairly new. It isn't only Pudong that has kept the giant cranes and dozers busy. It is all over the city. It's not just the buildings, it's the amazing cleanliness of it all. Throughout every area I have been in this country there is an army of streetsweepers in day-glo orange vests busily keeping this country unbelievably clean. The
Seniors at Rest - on the Prom
Can you imagine what this generation of Chinese lived through! I think they do deserve as much rest as they can get streets, bus/train stations, hostels, restuarants, shops - everything is spic and span. It has made me think of America - or at least the Northwest. My memory may be faulty but I always think of it as being very clean. Yet we have no army of sweepers. Are we so brainwashed that we simply don't litter, or does my memory have a little 'halo' around it? How is litter picked up in the US...other than the jail inmates getting to clean the freeway medians, I just don't remember people doing this job. Maybe it is all done by machine at night....or maybe the elves do it while we are asleep.
It's not just the cleanliness, it's everything. Not only are they clean, but the the infrastructure is amazing. Great roads, great train and bus systems. Fabulous subway systems. Most parts of China are wired. Even in little towns it's all WiFi (or whatever you call it when you can use your own computer). Also, the countryside looks prosperous, as do most cities I have seen (not always beautiful, but economically healthy). I have been most impressed and am not one bit surprised that China is looking forward to the
Two other tourists and I
Pudong in background. Several friends have mentioned they'd like more pictures of me....well, in Shanhai I only had two, this is one. Olympics to 'strut their stuff'..and dazzle the world. And, trust me, visitors are going to go home from here with a big change in what they might think China is all about. I certainly have and I don't consider myself ignorant of the world; but, it is sure a lot more 1st world than I would ever have imagined.
Well, enough cheerleading. On my last full day I decided to go to this place, Qibao, that is supposed to be an old area of Shanghai...like it used to be. I expected a neighborhood with a few shops. Forget the 'neighorhood' and quadruple the number of shops. Anyway, this was a multiple bus trip...and walking, too. If it hadn't been for friendly Chinese, delighted to be helpful and talk with a foreigner for a while, I'd never have made it. Not that that would have been a huge tragedy. After we got there and I discovered what it was all about....just a lot of narrow streets and the same kitchie little shops selling identical stuff to the new shopping center, Yu Yuan, I had been to several days before...and there was no Starbucks!!. I stayed a half hour - just
Yu Yuan Garden Shopping Center
in middle of Shanghai. Built to look traditional, but brand new. long enough to figure out where to catch the return bus..and left. It did give me a chance to see more of the streets and neighborhoods of Shanghai, though. To be honest, I never did see where the downtown area is. It's supposed to be around Nanjing Road, which was only a 10 minute walk from my hostel and where I caught the subway so I was there probably 4-6 times. It's a big 'walking street' area with some department stores, but not nearly enough to be a downtown for a city the size of Shanghai...and not nearly as exciting as Hong Kong.
In fact, I sort of felt that about the whole city. Perhaps if I were to come back again and see different things, I would have a different feeling. Plus, some sunny skies would have helped. But, then again, maybe I just expected too much. I expected Shanghai to be even more urban, cosmopolitan, glitzy than Hong Kong - and it isn't. At least what I saw. Where Hong Kong dazzles and left me gawking at it all with a big (continuous) smile on my face, Shanghai just seems like a big city, getting bigger. And,
A taste treat
In shopping center. Don't know what this is but it's made like dim-sum (see steamers to right). First you drink whatever is inside, though. Looks so unusual. I wish I had tried it rather than just snapping this photo while it may have twice as many skyscrappers as NYC, other than Pudong, they are all spread out and don't form a nice skyline like we have in North American cities. That is always one thing I have liked about our cities, most have that nice central downtown area that you can view from afar (except LA). When you are approaching, you know you are arriving at something special. Of the Asian cities I've seen, Only Hong Kong and Singapore really look like that. Even my beloved Bombay probably doesn't look so great approached from the airport...it sure works, though, if you arrive by train.
Next, on to some nice canal towns around Shanghai.
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Susie B
non-member comment
Posed Poodle
Thank you, it made me laugh and start my day out right.