Day 18 : First day in Shanghai
Rebecca went out for a run before getting the train to Shanghai. The Chinese are definitely an ealry morning culture. This time, she didn't get lost but there were still a lot of people out by the lake doing theire morning exercises. As she ran, she saw people walking and running. But mostly there were a lot of people doing Tai Chi, Chi Gong and other Chinese exercises. People were alone next to the lake or in groups set back from the path. There was a group of about 20 women all dressed in red pants and white shirts doing dances with red fans. They all opened and closed their fans in unison as they danced. The 20 fans closing at once made a loud snap that seemed to echo a bit on the lake. There was also a woman singing a song as if in a trance as she fed the fish in the lake...
After breakfast, we got the train to Shanghai Melong station which is not the main station. First thing we had to do was negotiate the price of the taxi. As we stepped out of the station, there were half a dozen taxi drivers on us proposing their services. We made the international money sign with our hands (rubbing fingers together) and were offered a very high price. We said no and went to someone else. We eventually got the price down to half of what was initially proposed (knowing we'd beeen swindled anyway) and took off across the elevated roadways that surround and cut through Shanghai. Bo had luckily prepared directions to the hotel for us - through an intermediary at the hotel in Hangzhou - without which we never would have found the new hotel. The funny thing about the taxis in China so far is that they never know the streets or even landmarks so you always have to be ready to help them.
We dropped our stuff off and went looking for the tourist office, which didn't exist at the address we had so we just wandered up the Bund and then into the old town. We ate at a food court just near the shopping street where they claimed we could taste lots of different things - it was a cafeteria where you filled your tray as you walked down the line. There were all sorts of strange things but we settled on razor clams, fried dumplings and a strange basket of mixed things.
Then we tried to find the gardens but just kept walking in circles around the block. We eneded up at the Temple of the City Gods. And just when we decided that the gardens had probably dissapeared like many other things we had listed in our guide books, we stumbled upon the entrance. We were glad to have found it because inside the wall it was like a maze of courts, ponds and paths climbing up rock formations. There were many bridges, all of which zigzagged across the ponds - the zigzagging is a form of protection against evil spirits who can only travel straight.
We went back to the Bund and walked in the heat until we couldn't take it anymore. We looked at the buildings across the river in Pudong and decided that the Pearl of the Orient is a really unattractive structure. But the rest of the skyline was impressive.
For dinner, we took a taxi to the French Concession and ate at a restaurant housed in an old house. The restaurant was chic but traditional. We were put at a table in the tiny back courtyard. Once the drunk people at the table next to us left, we were all alone with our stuffed lotus, "grandma's pot" (sweet pork) and river shrimp fried in spring onion and ginger.
After dinner we found ourselves in the trendiest part of the French Concession, surrounded by pseudo-French cafes and bars. We weren't sure if the buildings around us were recreations or originals but the walk was nice. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at an internet bar and discovered what the young Shanghaiese do with their evenings... As we worked on our blog, people were yelling at each other across the cyber cafe, a rather smoky and noisy place with about 150 computers. Jerome looked around and noticed that many of them were playing World of Warcraft. There must have been dozens of people playing against each other on the same network. Chinese pop music is just as bad as any other pop music and we enjoyed listening to the same songs over and over and over again...but at least we had finally found a good internet connection.
Click here to see the bund !
After breakfast, we got the train to Shanghai Melong station which is not the main station. First thing we had to do was negotiate the price of the taxi. As we stepped out of the station, there were half a dozen taxi drivers on us proposing their services. We made the international money sign with our hands (rubbing fingers together) and were offered a very high price. We said no and went to someone else. We eventually got the price down to half of what was initially proposed (knowing we'd beeen swindled anyway) and took off across the elevated roadways that surround and cut through Shanghai. Bo had luckily prepared directions to the hotel for us - through an intermediary at the hotel in Hangzhou - without which we never would have found the new hotel. The funny thing about the taxis in China so far is that they never know the streets or even landmarks so you always have to be ready to help them.
We dropped our stuff off and went looking for the tourist office, which didn't exist at the address we had so we just wandered up the Bund and then into the old town. We ate at a food court just near the shopping street where they claimed we could taste lots of different things - it was a cafeteria where you filled your tray as you walked down the line. There were all sorts of strange things but we settled on razor clams, fried dumplings and a strange basket of mixed things.
Then we tried to find the gardens but just kept walking in circles around the block. We eneded up at the Temple of the City Gods. And just when we decided that the gardens had probably dissapeared like many other things we had listed in our guide books, we stumbled upon the entrance. We were glad to have found it because inside the wall it was like a maze of courts, ponds and paths climbing up rock formations. There were many bridges, all of which zigzagged across the ponds - the zigzagging is a form of protection against evil spirits who can only travel straight.
We went back to the Bund and walked in the heat until we couldn't take it anymore. We looked at the buildings across the river in Pudong and decided that the Pearl of the Orient is a really unattractive structure. But the rest of the skyline was impressive.
For dinner, we took a taxi to the French Concession and ate at a restaurant housed in an old house. The restaurant was chic but traditional. We were put at a table in the tiny back courtyard. Once the drunk people at the table next to us left, we were all alone with our stuffed lotus, "grandma's pot" (sweet pork) and river shrimp fried in spring onion and ginger.
After dinner we found ourselves in the trendiest part of the French Concession, surrounded by pseudo-French cafes and bars. We weren't sure if the buildings around us were recreations or originals but the walk was nice. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at an internet bar and discovered what the young Shanghaiese do with their evenings... As we worked on our blog, people were yelling at each other across the cyber cafe, a rather smoky and noisy place with about 150 computers. Jerome looked around and noticed that many of them were playing World of Warcraft. There must have been dozens of people playing against each other on the same network. Chinese pop music is just as bad as any other pop music and we enjoyed listening to the same songs over and over and over again...but at least we had finally found a good internet connection.
Click here to see the bund !
posted by Gros Joe at
4:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home