Shanghai 12/20/11-12/23/11

Arrived in Shanghai in the morning. It is about a 2 hour flight from Shenzhen. Found the Taxi line and took it to the Qibaozhen. It was 10C so we had to get the house warmed up, then we left to explore the city.

Could we possibly tour Shanghai in 12 hours?

First, we had lunch nearby Cloud 9. It's a Taiwanese cafe/restaurant, and we ordered some decent wonton soup. I preferred my dad's seafood broth than my beef broth. We took a taxi to the nearest subway station. The Shanghai subway system has grown into a huge system that looks like a spider. There are 10 different routes/lines and they are most easily distinguished by the number rather than the color or name of the route.

Our first tourist stop was Pudong. It is the area east of the Huangpu River. It used to be an undeveloped agricultural area, but is now considered the new area of Shanghai. It is the new business district where all the foreign banks and the famous Oriental Pearl Tower (the building that looks like a funky space shuttle) are located. You will see many IFC (International Finance Center) buildings while walking through it. We took the ferry to the Puxi side, the historical side. This takes you to the best view of the city. It is marvelous to look at Pudong and from Puxi (not so much of a view from the Pudong perspective). The promenade or bridge area is called The Bund. It was an especially good day to walk through The Bund because it was rainy and cold. This means that we were experiencing enough space to run in circles and do cartwheel in the usually over-crowded Shanghai. The Bund walk was one of my favorite activities. It has a London meets modern China feel. There are some locations, such as the area near the Penninsula, where you will feel like you are in Europe and makes you forget you are in Shanghai. After taking quite a few pictures we walked into the commercial area a bit more.
  
Navigating through the rain is challenging, but it helps that most people stay out of the street when the weather sucks. Line 1 gets you to People's Square, a large open area for crowds to gather with many shops and restaurants. We took the trolley through this area for 2RMB a person.

We took Line 10 to YuYuan (pronounced ee-yuen) Garden. This is a great spot to check out. They have very ancient Chinese architecture that has been around for years. It looks particularly memorable at night once they have the buildings lit up and there's an orange glow around the whole place. All of Shanghai hot spots are advertised to look amazing at night once the lighting hits the area in all the right ways. Personally, I found it unfortunate that the city comes alive only at night. There is no leisurely feeling during the day anywhere. Everyone looks to be hurrying to get somewhere. The traffic is insane, and it was really hard to get used to being a pedestrian and super scary to cross the street. Even when you're indoors I felt like I was going to get run over by a car. YuYuan is a great place to shop. I got a gorilla pod for 20RMB (originally 85 and offered at 40). You'll also find the best price for quality scarves here. Hopped on Line 10 again to XinTianDi. This is a Western area with newly developed shopping malls and very little Chinese writing in sight. 

I would say we successfully walked through most of Shanghai's hot spots in Day 1.

Day 2

We had a driver for Day 2. It was a welcomed break from having to fight through the crowds and being exposed to the elements. We visited a developing town, Dishui, an hour away. Beautiful city design revolved around a lake that is built into the infrastructure of the city and very peaceful atmosphere. Dad thinks it will be the next vacation spot for Shanghai residents looking to get away. Met with Mr. Gu who treated us to a delicious farm to table lunch. The dishes he ordered were excellent and a wonderful variety: river fish, pumpkin, sweet potato, corn, soup, incredible mushrooms, organic meatballs, tofu like you never had before. Best restaurant meal I had in Asia.

In the evening, we returned to the city and visited my dad's best friend, Uncle Steve. Then, we had dinner with the Gu family at Belgian Brassiere in Hon Mei Lu. They serve good mussels with garlic cream sauce (the leftover soup is unexpectedly good and light enough to drink).

Day 3

On our last morning we got a hairwash and Chinese massage at Hon Mei Lu. The massage at Bamboo 7 is hands down (heavy hands with adequate pressure) one of the best I've had. The staff is legitimately skilled and the price affordable at 180RMB (~$30) for an hour massage.

View my Shanghai photos here.

Panorama View from The Bund