So because it always takes me so long to give a a summary of my holidays and trips (they always seem to end up as a blow by blow account) I'm going try and write as I go along. It will mean pictures will have to be added at a later date though (the technology isn't quite that good) and the story telling might be all over the place. It's also written on my phone so there will be lots of typos...
I ended up coming to Shanghai by plane instead of my original plan of train. Purely because the only train ticket I could get was a seat (instead of a bed) for 16 hours. 2 hours in a car and my bum goes numb so I wasn't rating that. There were also no return tickets available to having to ring the school and tell them I was stuck in Shanghai would not have made me popular!
So my late night flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai got in at 12.30am. So naturally I decided to do the classy thing and crash at the airport until the metro started again in the morning. As a nights sleep goes it was surprisingly not the worst I've had. The other 'terminal crashers' around me seemed fairly comfortable as well. It was bloody freezing though - stealing the blanket from the plane was definitely a good call...if only I'd had the courage to take the pillow as well!
Monday 3rd - (Day 1)
I decided to take the frivolous mode of transport from the airport - the Maglev. I'm not entirely sure how it works but its kept on the track by magnets and the top speed when I was on it was 300km/hr...it was a novelty and something to tick off the to-do list if nothing else. It did at least mean I was guaranteed a seat and didn't have to fight with everyone else on the metro. The map of Shanghai I picked up here has also proved a life saver.
As soon as I stepped of the nice cosy metro in the Pudong area of Shanghai I was treated to a weather reality check. My clothing selection was far to optimistic for 18oC (when I'm comfortably used to 28oC + humidity). It has shown me I need to start fashioning myself a winter wardrobe...
In light of my ill-preparedness (not a word I'll be teaching my pupils) my stolen blanket has come into a league of its own in terms of its versatility. It is now doubling as a wrap jacket in the chillier evenings.
So as wonderful as my blanket jacket is, It did mean I started off Monday morning looking a bit like a lost Romanian gypsy (2nd day curly hair and and maxi skirt didn't help). As luck would have it I decided to head to the Pudong area of Shanghai first. The Pudong area is the modern, skyscraper filled side of the river. Which also means at 8am on the first Monday morning of November it is full of smartly dressed business people...and me (looking like a tramp).
After behaving like a tourist for a while (taking lots of pictures and getting lost) I decided to copy Shanghai's hard workers and have breakfast at the Chinese equivalent of McDonald's. And the porridge style thing (it looked like cous-cous grains) I had was much better than anything I've had at McDonald's. Maybe I'll start a western franchise...
The Skyscrapers of Pudong
So after breakfast I continued my wandering around and ended up on the very pretty and peaceful riverside promenade. The sun was out and my lack of sleep and cold feeling drew me to the sunny spot. I also had to find somewhere to sit down and plan my day. I decided on heading to the Bund area first, which was directly across the river from where I was sitting. This area is full of beautiful old buildings and basically where everyone goes to take pictures of the famous Pudong skyline (I was no exception). After walking along to the end of the Bund I found some Cows which are part of the Shanghai cow exhibition (or something like that).
Looking across to the Bund
I also found some Chinese girls (now new wechat friends) who were going to a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and invited me along. I love how friendly Chinese people are. This unexpected surprise in my day was really nice. One of my new Chinese friends translated the whole ceremony for me, and got very excited when I could say words or small phrases in Chinese (ego boost for me). The ceremony involved tasting 6 types of traditonal Chinese tea, each were served using different cups and pouring methods - it's definitely an art-form. Stroking a lucky frog, which had been showered in tea first, was also part of the ceremony. Obviously I just stroked every lucky part of the frog - so fortune, health, love and everything else should be coming my way any day now... The price for good quality tea in China is (I now know) expensive so after the ceremony I parted from my new friends before they bankrupted me entirely! But I've decided to see my investment in tea and the tea ceremony as a unique Chinese cultural experience - one which I've been wanting to see for a while.
For the rest of the afternoon I was following the guidebook. I saw the former British Consulate building, which was very grand looking (as you'd expect). I walked down East Nanjing road, which is a very busy shopping street. I lost count of the amount of times I got people coming up to me listing things I might want to buy from them...
I also went to the Shanghai museum, which is in the People's Square (a big park in the middle of the road). The museum was nice (full of traditional Chinese furniture, jade statues and Chinese paintings) but I have to confess I raced through it - Chinese paintings, whilst pretty, aren't really my thing.
The arrival at the hostel was a welcome break for my feet, as well as a chance for it to get dark so that I could go and see the famous skyline of Shanghai at night.
The bright (and pretty) lights of Shanghai are going to have to be my equivalent to bonfire night fireworks for this year. But I spent ages just looking at the changing lights and the brightly coloured boats going past so I'm quite happy with that exchange.
The 'Blanket Jacket' in it's glory (and the Shanghai skyline)
I can definitely see why people fall in love with Shanghai, the evening atmosphere definitely won me over.
Tuesday 4th (Day 2)
I started off my day with a trip to Qibao old town. This is a traditional little village away from the centre of Shanghai which has been preserved for tourists to explore. I really liked it here, anything that seems traditionally Chinese tends to win my attention quite easily - I think it's because I'm used to living in a city full of shiny, new buildings. There were tourist sites in it the town that you were supposed to go and visit but I got so absorbed in raking about the little shops (which were full of endless gifts to buy - foot-bath anyone?!? - And different street foods to eat) that I forgot to go into any of them. I don't feel I cheated myself, I was having too much fun fighting my way down the narrow alleys with the other tourists.
One of the lovely bridges spanning the canal into the Old town
The newly downloaded guidebook on China has definitely been a good last minute buy - everything I've done has been straight out of it - I lose count of the amount of times I look at it in a day.
I decided to check out the Yuyuan gardens area of Shanghai next. When you get off the metro you walk into a bazaar. There were a disappointing number of Starbucks and department stores stuffed into these old fashioned buildings for me, but it was nice just to wander around - it was a bit difficult to avoid being shoved into the nearest dumpling shop queue but I survived. I got so used to shooing people off who were trying to get me to buy things that I almost ignored a nice group of Chinese people who wanted me to take their photograph. This led to a nice little conversation (in English) about their trip to Shanghai and my trip to Shanghai and what I should go and see whilst I was there. They were quite impressed when I said I'd already done everything they suggested To slightly escape the crowds I went into Yuyuan gardens themselves. They were pretty, Chinese style gardens (I don't have much more to say there).
In trying to cover as many areas of the city as possible, I went to the French concession. It promised lovely rebuilt French buildings and tree lined streets. I wasn't so enamored. It was just reconstructed buildings filled with Starbucks and lots of Western-wannabe restaurants offering afternoon tea. I only lasted 10 minutes. The evening I spent in the hostel languishing on the sofa (I don't have a sofa in my little home), speaking to the other temporary residents and planning the Suzhou part of my trip was definitely more enjoyable. I've decided, apart from the fact that they had sofas, my hostel was great because the street outside the closest metro station was packed lots of good street food - nothing like dumplings and steamed buns for breakfast!
G x
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