Come - Shanghai

I’ve only been in Shanghai for the past 5 hours and I can already say that I love this city. Although Shanghai lacks the culture of Beijing and Xi’an, it is without doubt the financial centre and the symbol of modern China. The traffic is terrible like Beijing but the views from the bus were stunning so I wasn’t even bothered by the rush hour traffic. This city is perfect for a skyscraper enthusiast like myself and I was already able to check out the Jin Mao Tower, Oriental Pearl Tower, and the Shanghai World Financial Center. While on route to the Shanghai Hotel, we also passed by the pavilions under construction for Expo 2010 and the site is incredibly huge. China seems to go all out for any world event and the Expo is certainly no exception. I also caught a glimpse of the PricewaterhouseCoopers tower in Shanghai too, but I wasn’t able to get a photo, so hopefully I will be able to get a shot later on.

Our hotel is nearby Nanjing Road, which is lined with luxury retailers, so the wealth in this city is very apparent. This city has come a long way from Mao’s communist ideology and the Chinese seem to be embracing capitalism and all its glory. Of course I wasn’t able to afford anything since the clothes seem to be more expensive than compared to Calgary. Therefore, I will just window shop for the time being, but I did pick up a pair of sunglasses from Vans.

During our only full day in Shanghai, our tour guide, Hao, took us to visit the Yuyuan Garden in the old French Corridors. The day was scorching hot and unlike Beijing, the sky was completely clear so the sun was beating down hard on us. The garden was built by Pan Yunduan in order to please his parents and required 18 years to complete. However, his parents passed away before it was ever completed, so it is a real shame that they never had a chance to see the carefully manicured trees, the dragon wall, the gold fish ponds, and the massive limestone rocks. We then wandered around the City God Temple and I watched how Xiao Long Bao’s were made, but I didn’t get a chance to try it because the lines were crazy long! Before lunch, we also walked along the Garden Bridge, which is the first iron and metal bridge in Shanghai. The bridge is near the Bund Area and definitely has the best view of the city. I always consider the skyline as a great representation of a city and Shanghai just seems to have one of the best in the world. Not only does it have height, but it also has wonderful density and a beautiful riverfront in the foreground. Asian architecture seems to be more daring and innovative in comparison to North America, so it was a pleasure to see such a refreshing and bold skyline.

In the afternoon, we dropped by the Jade Buddha Temple and checked out two huge Buddha statues carved from a single piece of jade. I have to admit that the sitting Buddha was much more beautiful than the reclining Buddha but both were lovely. Hao also provided lots of information about Buddhism and its historical significance in China, which was very interesting. In addition, he also taught us how to pray properly and I realized I have been doing it wrong my entire life.

Hao had planned to take us to a silk making factory in Shanghai but we had already visited a plant in Beijing, so we decided to skip the trip. Instead, we went to the market and did some shopping. Once again, it was extremely depressing and it makes me sad to haggle with people over 10 RMB since that money probably means a lot more to them than it does to me. Most of the items were also fake so it was slightly disappointing to see them hung along the walls. We did manage to find a suitcase to use as a carry-on because our luggage is getting really heavy and has already exceeded the limit during our flight from Beijing to Xi’an, so the shopping excursion didn’t go completely to waste.

We still had quite a lot of time until dinner, so we walked along Nanjing Road. It’s no wonder that this street is internationally recognized because it is a perfect example of a pedestrian friendly and walkable corridor. It was beautifully landscaped and it seems like there are people constantly walking on this street 24 hours a day, so I really hope Calgary can achieve something similar when it comes to attracting greater pedestrian traffic on Stephen Avenue outside of work hours. Anyways, the shopping was amazing but as I mentioned earlier, it was more a trip for my eyes than it was for my wallet. We then walked back to the hotel instead of taking the Metro and the trip was painfully long and the sun was scorching, so I was extremely happy that we were able to rest before dinner.

We finally tried out the Xiao Long Bao’s for dinner, which is world-renowned. Our tour guide taught us to bite a tiny hole in the skin and then suck out the soup inside of the boa. The broth was absolutely delicious, the pork was tender and the boa was very flavourful overall. After dinner, we attended a Chinese acrobat show at the Ritz Carlton Theatre. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures so I’m unable to share any images. However, if you ever have a chance to visit Shanghai, make sure to attend this show because it was amazing! The show was disturbing, shocking, amusing, breathtaking, and funny all at the same time. The performers were extremely talented and fearless, which helped make a very entertaining show. I was biting my nails during several occasions and I could barely watch some of the acts because you truly worry for their safety. The show went on without a hitch though, so there was nothing to worry about.

After another night of sleep, we toured the Shanghai Museum which already had people lined up before the museum even opened. We only had an hour and a half to spend at the museum because we needed to catch a flight to Guilin that day, so we tried to go through all of the exhibits as fast as possible. The museum was thoughtfully laid out and each person was given a phone that you can dial numbers for more information about specific pieces. My personal favorite exhibits were the bronze, Chinese paintings, and furniture collections. This was a wonderful way to top off my trip in Shanghai, but I leave this city wanting more. I only spent 2 days in Shanghai so I just got a taste of this city and hopefully I will be back to Shanghai in the future.