Trevor & Jonathans Cruise & Trip to the Far East and Australia 2016

Day 52 - Thursday June 30th 2016 - Shanghai, China

Another day, another city but thank goodness for lay ins. As we had been so late last night the guide (our low person Laura) had agreed to pick us up at 1100 in the morning to get going. The other guides (Lucia and Randy) had been surprised that we were spending three days in Shanghai implying that there would not be that much to do so starting that late in the day didn’t seem like a problem, finding out if there would be enough to see though well that we would have to wait and find out.

Our hotel is really lovely, probably the best one we have stayed in since being in China, we have a marble bathroom, a sofa and armchair in the room and even a television in the bathroom. It’s not right in the middle of things and we are on the old side of the River Bund but it’s not too bad. There are corner shops and a coffee house around the corner (best coffee we have had in China) so it serves our needs. After waking up and going for breakfast it was time to meet out very short working wife Laura, I think we were both hoping that we would warm to her a bit more today than we had

last night, time would tell.

Our car here in Shanghai is a real bone shaker, one of the older style people carriers with a side sliding door, the driver is called Mr.Hu, well I think that’s what he’s called and how you might spell it. When Laura says his name it sounds like a frogs noise all really throaty and unpronounceable to our western mouth sounds. He does not say much or anything at all so it’s no problem what so ever.

Our first stop of the day was The Bund river walk to look at the skyline of modern new Shanghai and the financial district and Old Shanghai, the old financial district. They both face each other on opposite sides of the river, the younger teasing the older, they could almost be talking to each other about age and experience over brashness and newness.

So let’s talk about the new side first, all the buildings here have been erected over the last 18 years and it shows, it all looks very modern. The architecture is stunning and The Bund also has the tallest building in China, finished fairly recently it looks like a tall glass vase. Probably the most iconic building of them all is the TV tower. It’s a series of balls all connected by columns and it looks like something from another planet. At its feet lays the convention centre, two glass globes of the world one showing China with the other a map of the world. One of the other notable skyscrapers looks like a bottle opener with a big slot in the top and that is what the locals refer to it as.

On the older side sit the buildings from the 1930’s from when China opened up Shanghai as a trading port to other countries. These are buildings that were built as custom houses, financial offices and banks. Today many of them are still banks or insurance companies, probably only keeping them on for their historic value. There are also two five star hotels that are in this section of buildings. One of them has quite a romantic story attached to it about a Chinese man that saw the potential of Shanghai and went ahead and built a luxury hotel before anyone thought that Shanghai would become the city that it did. That hotel is now The Peninsula and has a swimming pool overlooking the bund on the 30th floor.

The walkway that has been built to look over the bund is very new and has a real western feel to it, by that I mean that there is a Starbucks, a Costa coffee and a Subway built into the walkway. Itys kind of like looking over at Manhattan from Brooklyn, something like that anyway but what really makes this place unique is the architecture and mainly that TV tower.

Our trip around the Bund and its promenade was relatively short but we knew that we would be coming back here many times during our stay in Shanghai so it was not a problem at all, for now it was back to our bone shaker of a mini bus with Laura low lady and off to our second port of call……. A silk factory (AKA we sell you something tour).

So we knew when we saw this on the agenda that it was going to be a sell you something thing but we went along with it (well at first anyway) as we understand that the guides get paid for bringing you along to these places and to be honest sometimes they can really surprise you and be quite interesting even if you haven’t got any room in your luggage.

The Silk Museum (as it was called, we will call it the silk duvet shop) was no exception to the rule I’m afraid. We had a very brief explanation about how silk is made and woven which to be honest was really interesting and the museum as they call it put on a great range of practical demonstrations to show how the silk worm develops and weaves its cocoon and how that cocoon is turned into thread and then ultimately cloth.

The catch of all this free interesting information is of course that they want you to buy something and today they wanted us to part with our hard earnt money for duvets, pillows or duvet covers. Of course we couldn’t buy a thing, our luggage is already over weight and these things are quite bulky despite being vacuum packed. Our poor guide kept plugging away at us trying to get us to see that we possibly could not survive without a silk duvet and to be honest her schpeel was good and we actually believed that this was indeed a great product and for Gran Canaria it would actually be great as silk does not absorb water and only stays at your actual body temperature. Where things all went a bit pear shaped though was when we convinced our guide and the Laura the low person that we really were not going to buy a duvet or anything but they still insisted that we go upstairs and look at a range of pyjamas and cushions. Now normally I love a cushion but seriously, we are travelling and still have some way to go so it was not going to happen. We had to say no about four times until that no sounded like a really firm angry no and they got the message. Laura, our guide left us too it for a while whilst she did go and look at the Pyjamas whilst we found our own way to the exit, it was all a little uncomfortable and we still had another 24 hours with Laura low person……oh dear!

We all got back in the mini bus and being nice people we tried to make things a bit light hearted and again explained to Laura that we were not here to shop nor could we because of our luggage weight and we could only hope that she got the message.

Our next stop was the Yu garden but to get there we had to walk through part of the old town of shanghai and the Yuyuan market. It was actually quite nice to see a traditional Chinese market after all the glitz and glass of the Bund. It was just good to know that it was here as well, a real contrast. I’ll come back to the market as we got to walk around that as well but the Yu gardens was what it was all about at first.

The Yu gardens as they are called is actually a private residence (or was before it became owned by the Chinese government). It’s a series of structures built inside a wall with the most amazing gardens. The buildings are not bad either and it had been built as a retirement home for a rich wealthy diplomat some 450 years ago, whom had returned to Shanghai, his home town. The whole complex is vast and a real maze of corridors and bridges over Koi fishponds. The architecture is very traditional Chinese, that fairy tale Chinese that you imagine when you close your eyes. Our guide Laura (the low one) told us that over the generations that younger family members wasted all the money that the father had accumulated so eventually they had no choice but to sell off the gardens to the state. The father must have been seriously rich at some point though as the grounds of the house are indeed stunning and full of many symbols that refer to strength and wealth for the family. The top of the garden wall is an undulating Chinese dragon complete with the most amazing stone carved heads. Rocks become centre pieces for fountains and features to the rear of the ponds. These are just like the rocks we had seen in the emperor’s garden at the forbidden city, all full of holes like elemental cheese. The arches through to different areas of the garden were shapes from Chinese superstitions such as incense burners or circles that denote wealth and strength in family. Some of the trees in the garden had survived the years of neglect of the garden and were also 450 years old and there was an especially beautiful magnolia tree that was planted for the owner’s mother. It’s amazing to think his place is here to be honest with the crazy bustling market just outside the front door. There is even a private theatre in the complex of building with galleried viewing platforms and a large courtyard to watch the famous opera singers that would be summons here to perform. Most of all what the gardens and the building show is the real detail of classical Chinese architecture, something I don’t think they could reproduce today, the skills lost along the years of time.

Outside of the garden wall sits the Yuyuan Market and the place is mobbed with people. We went to a restaurant for our all-inclusive meal, another four course affair although in my opinion the food was nowhere near as good as we had experienced in Xi’an or Beijing. This was more cabbage than meat, more potatoes than anything else and the soup was the faint colour of tomatoes, It didn’t taste bad but it didn’t taste of much at all. Trev actually quite enjoyed it! After lunch we split from the guide for forty minutes to give us some time to explore the market a little and her the time to get some things she needed for her 13 year old son.

He was about to travel to Eastbourne in England on a school exchange programme and with all the questions that Laura had been asking us over the morning sometimes it felt like it was us two being the guide. Now as we have said the market was rammed and you could not walk more than about ten steps without someone coming up to you with a piece of cardboard showing pictures of fake designer watches, handbags or T-shirts. These touts were everywhere and they really didn’t leave you alone. This is the first time in China that we have felt this level of hassle, it wasn’t a problem, most of the time you just shake your head and they move on but there’s an awful lot of them to keep shaking your head to. The market itself is a real mixture of historic teahouses and the most beautiful pond with shops on stilts floating over it and tourist tat. Yes, this is definitely where you come if you want beads or silk knotting charms or fans or chopsticks not forgetting of course the Chinese love of animation figures in bright coloured plastics. All the stores were a multi-coloured feat to the eyes, an Aladdin’s cave of made in China goodies that everyone buys but no one really knew they wanted them. There were also food stalls and household good stalls, a proper market place and it was amazing to think that this too was 450 years old plus.

I should mention here about washing! So on the way from the silk museum to the market we had driven along three and four lane roads with crash barriers and pedestrian bridges and lampposts. What made these different though was washing. Over the crash barriers and tied between the lampposts would be washing lines full of washing, crash barriers covered in duvet covers and rugs all soaking up the smoke and fumes from the passing cars but getting dry at the same time. Laura explained that because everyone lives in such tiny apartments with small balconies they cannot dry their washing out so this solution is something that has been going on for years. I should also point out that it appeared to only be the custom to do this in the old town quarter. When we were later driving around new Shanghai there is no washing to be seen at all but here on the roads around the Yu garden and the market it was a sea of washing lines and laundry covered railings.

Laura turned up late for our rendezvous outside the restaurant we had eaten at. Her little legs could obviously not carry her fast enough. She had been out buying a new phone case for her son for his trip to England, she showed it to us and we weren’t quite sure how we were meant to react to this cheap piece of plastic before us, she seemed very proud though. The other thing about Laura is that she is always, and I really do mean always on her phone. She’s either on the Chinese version of Facebook or some snapchat app that actually speaks to you. It’s never out of her hands and it can get a little off putting when you’re trying to ask her questions about where we are or what happens here. We are not always the focus of her day!

After the market Laura asked us if we would like to go on a river cruise along the Bund as an extra? This meant that we would need to pay for it outside of the pre-paid trip and itinerary but that was fine so we headed back to The Bund boardwalk for an hour’s cruise along the river on probably the strangest looking boat we had ever been on.

It looked more like a glass dome and there was no obvious front or back of this floating thing what’s so ever. Still it was a really nice way of seeing the skyline and the shape of the river. There are actually two rivers that flow through the city but the Bund is by far the most important. The river is a very busy waterway full of tankers and cruise liners and military ships. There is an international cruise terminal here and bridges that cross the river extend for over 6km. The riverside had ben landscaped beautifully and provides the only green space that we had seen in the city so far. The river cruise once again confirmed that Shanghai really is a city of architecture and it’s the skyline that defines this city.

We got off the river cruise around four in the afternoon and it was time to make it to our last stop of the day, The Jin Mao tower and the viewing platform. We crossed under the Bund river via the tunnel and the ram shackle mini bus and were dropped off right outside. Laura went off and did a deal with some young lad for our tickets and we were soon going up in one of the fastest lifts I think we have ever been in, it actually took Trevor’s breath away!

The Jin Mao tower is the eighth tallest building in the world and the third tallest building on mainland China. The other two taller building are just to the left and the right of the tower itself so that should also help you to paint a mental picture of the skyline here in Shanghai.

The tower has 88 floors with half being shops and offices and the other bring a hotel. You can actually look through the centre of the tower down to the 44th floor where the hotels reception area is right from the top and it’s a sure way to feel quite sick if you suffer from vertigo. From up here you really got to see the size and scale of the city with the largest population of any other city in China of some 24.25 million.

The weather had really taken a turn since getting off the river cruise and now it was cloudy and hazy so the views were not the best but it still was great to be on the newer side of The Bund and right up close to the futuristic skyline.

We had done a lot since being picked up at 11:00 this morning and it was now time for a little down time and we headed back to the hotel. We nipped out for a well deserved cup of coffee from a local coffee shop before retuning. It was quite an experience as our hotel is not in the tourist centre so getting them to understand the word latte (even though they have it on their menu) was not straight forward at all.

We were still feeling stuffed from lunch so we weren’t rushing out at all but we knew we still had one more thing to see tonight, and that was the skyline at darkness.

By seven it had started to get dark so we headed out of foot to walk over to the riverside, it would take us about forty minutes on foot, navigating ourselves by the glow of the buildings and the flashing lights. The city at night is absolutely stunning and it comes alive all over again. They must be using the latest technologies when it comes to lighting and led displays here as it is the best we have ever seen, better than city’s that advertise that they have a city light show, something that Shanghai doesn’t.

Our walk there was not without its events especially when we nearly got taken out on the pavement by a silent but deadly electric scooter carrying extra wide plywood sheets! It also makes you see the old and new parts of the city rubbing together, trying to coexists but with such contrast.

We also stumbled across multiple photography shoots of young couples using the city skyline as their backdrop. Beautiful Chinese girls with hair of perfection in stunning ball gowns in Chinese patriotic red with their boyfriends in red velvet blazers or suits. It turns out these are couples that are going to be married and it is a tradition to have portraits taken on their engagements. Seriously thought we passed a good 15 or so sets of couples all asking the people watching the dazzling lights of the city at night to move out of shot.

On the hour the main attraction of the city’s skyline puts on its own light display, of course I am talking about the TV tower. The lights would rapidly shoot from the floor to the top with all the balls of the structure glowing with extra pace and vitality. As I said it had to be one of the best skylines under light we have ever seen.

We ended up having a subway sandwich for dinner, we still were not hungry and it just seemed easier than anything else we had seen along the way to the Bund. The thing is when you have had such a big rice meal lunch you just don’t want it again in the evening, we had felt the same on Beijing and it was not because there was anything wrong with the Chinese food we had eaten so far.

Before making it back to the hotel we bought some beers for a bit of down time from the local corner shop then sat on our sofa for another hour or so before calling it a night. Although we had started late we had seen so much and tomorrow we were to meet Laura at 08:30 so it’s another full on day.

The skyline stole the show today but maybe tomorrow will show up something new and unexpected, who knows.