Shanghai: "Paris of the East"

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We only really had one, rainy day in Shanghai, jewel of the Orient, but it was great “dessert” for our trip to China. Shanghai is a very cosmopolitan, international city which was an open trading port and which has many European influences in everything from dining to architecture.

We started out in the Bund (mile-long waterfront area), which also serves as Shanghai or China’s “Wall Street.” The eastern buildings across the river (Pudong) are relatively new, built in the last 20-30 years as the city has expanded into (surprisingly) China’s largest city.

National pride! (check out all the Chinese flags)

Asian "rainbooties"

This Peace Hotel (owned now by Fairmont) is the fanciest hotel in the city, akin to Mumbai’s Taj or Singapore’s Raffles.

  

interior relief

We visited a silk museum where we saw real silkworms at work and I got to help stretch out the bunches of silk as these women made a mattress.

We then enjoyed the splendid (and free) Shanghai Museum, which has tons of traditional Chinese arts on display, from bronzeware from the 11-15^th centuries B.C. to painting and calligraphy. Many other people were also using the museum as shelter from the horrendous rain outside, as they use it (per our tour guide) in summer to benefit from the “free airconditioning” and escape the oppressive heat of the outdoors and their un-airconditioned apartments!

Ox-shaped wine vessel (6th c. B.C.)

Jade

Blade-coins

We visited the YuYuan market and Gardens, which was a private garden dating from 1577.

The gardens had lovely pavillions, greenery, and courtyards, as well a this famous “Jade Rock” (although I don’t think it’s made of jade) from the lakes of southern China, as you can see in the Forbidden City Garden which has 72 holes.

 

200+ year-old Tea house and “nine-turn bridge”

(the toad below the dragon's chin feasts on his saliva)

Banyan-tree furniture

Jade Rock

We ended our day around the French Concession area (which was foreign-controlled land from 1849-1946), now home to many international restaurants.

We left Shanghai on two short metro rides and the bullet Maglev train, which reached a speed of over 300 km/hr and got us to the airport from downtown in a mere 8 min.!!! It was fabulous! Why doesn't the U.S. have these??

We haven't yet been to Paris, but Shanghai (also on a rainy day) was pretty neat.  While I wouldn't call most of China "charming," Shanghai certainly was :).  What a great trip!  I hope you enjoyed the visual tour through China!