Whirlwind Days in Shanghai

Shanghai -- by population, the largest city in the world with 23.5 million people for us to rub shoulders with!  We spent Saturday and Sunday exploring, and were were amazingly successful at finding our way and not getting lost in  the crowd.  The center of  Shanghai is everything modern, with exquisite stores and breath taking skyscrapers.The subway seems decades ahead of the Paris metro. Beautiful, fast, clean, and easy for non-Chinese speakers to get around. It's very different than Xiamen, where we still haven't even begun to master the bus system!

We debated whether to go the five-star route for a pricey hotel or risk something a bit more "Chinese." After consulting Trip Advisor and China Tours, we settled on "New Harbor Service Apartments" right in the center of downtown Shanghai, and we were not disappointed. Not five star, but we were pleasantly surprised by the roominess, the cleanliness, the delightful staff, and the fun (but smoggy) view from the 18th floor. But oh how the Chinese LOVE their hard beds! It's pretty much like sleeping on the floor or sleeping on a rock. The majority of tourists in China are Chinese, and that's who hotels cater to, except 5-star hotels that tend to cater to westerners and have soft beds. My solution: I'm want to buy a little air mattress to tuck it in my suitcase!

The skyline, the gardens, the ancient town of Qi Bao right within Shanghai, the Bund. So many favorite moments that I don't want to forget.

We started Saturday morning with a long subway ride to the ancient water town of Qi Bao, which is right on the subway line. This little part of Shanghai is a stark contrast to the very upscale shopping in the center of town. We were delighted to find the same rounded bridges that we'd seen in Zhouzhuang.We loved exploring the streets and waterways.

Lots of street food, and such cute little children enjoying it! FYI for those of you who have given me advice about eating or not eating street food, I had this meat on a stick snack and it was pretty tasty! And the oranges... Selling everywhere for about 40 cents a pound. We've been enjoying them most every day. This outdoor shop has eight kinds of eggs to choose from! Not sure why this lady settled on the eggs in the basket, but she is examining them carefully!

All kinds of fresh looking  veggies spread out on the sidewalk.

Qi Bao also has several museums tucked between the shops. I didn't take pictures in the Cricket Museum, which was full of specimens, but here's a sampling from the textile museum and the shadow box museum.
The museum of small figures  sculpted by a Chinese artist and his daughter was my favorite. They had several fun tea sets, and then miniature models of rooms like this. Made me want to sit down and play Chinese house!

After a day in the ancient part of the city, we spent our evening in modern Shanghai. I think my favorite for all of Shanghai was the skyline by night. It was so not what I expected! Over the past 25 years, Shanghai has beat all records for skyscraper construction. The new financial district is dominated by the Oriental Pearl Tower that is shining so brightly.

Sunday morning, amidst all the modernness, we also enjoyed glimpses into very traditional and very old Chinese culture. We decided on a stroll through the park to Yuan Gardens, and our first fun surprise was these dancers! The woman in red is the teacher, and the best dancer, but I was most impressed by the woman in pink, an older lady whose balance was breath taking to wobbly me!

They loved having us for an audience. Everyone else was just walking through the park, but we were standing in awe. We weren't able to exchange many words, but lots of smiles and clapping. So sweet!







From here we went to the actual Yu Yuan garden. I had no idea what was in store for us! Tucked in between the park and a huge bazaar is a 5-acre garden built in 1577 that features Ming Dynasty pavilions, ponds, rockeries & arched bridges. We explored all the nooks and crannies of the rockery. Some of it seems so restful, and other parts so ornate. We may even be getting a feel for Ming architecture.

From this restful setting we burst into the VERY crowded streets of the bazaar where everyone wanted to bargain! Wanted to charge me$100 for a camera battery that sells for $10 on Amazon. I managed to haggle them down to $15, but then I gave up!  We bought a few other little things, but mostly just looked. Watching the people is the most fun, especially the children.

We opted for lunch at Starbucks, and we all enjoyed wraps and sandwiches for a nice change from Chinese fare. Kynza got what was billed as a "French sandwich," and in some ways it resembled a croque monsieur.  But a few bites in she discovered the sandwich maker had added a bit of soy sauce -- standard ingredient in everything! Full of energy and truly good coffee, we were off to the Bund. 

The Bund is the very long walkway along the river, where hundreds of Sunday afternoon strollers were enjoying the river, the lovely weather, and the gracious walkway. A gusty morning wind had cleared out a lot of the smog, and we enjoyed at least a partially blue sky. On this side of the river, every building is decorated with multiple Chinese flags. They are hard not to notice! I particularly liked the clock tower.

 From the Bund, you look across the river to the Financial District. The tallest building is the new 125-story Shanghai Tower. It's China's tallest building and the world's second tallest skyscraper, at 2,073 feet high. It's still under construction, but scheduled to be finished soon. At 9:00 at night we could see workers up on the top floors. Their blow torches and other equipment looked like fireworks!

By mid afternoon all three of us were on sensory overload... Our little brains had cataloged so many new sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches in three days that the idea of trekking to another park or another museum or even a tea shop was beyond us. We hailed a taxi, and back to the hotel lobby we went to put our feet up until plane time.