2 - Shanghai

"I'm sorry sir, your call got lost, some where along Zhongshan Avenue"
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August 11, 2008

Joanna and I, arrived in Shanghai around 10am, Sunday morning. Our train ride into the city, in a first class ‘soft sleeper’ car, was a troublesome; we had a little trouble adjusting to sleeping on moving train and the fact that our train was a high-speed “Z-Class Redball,” only contributed to our motion sickness while trying to doze off. Luckily, the first class cabin itself, with four bunks, was very comfortable; with a personal TV in each bunk, a comfy mattress, and a lockable door, we felt quite well off compared to those stuck sleeping in the seat only sections. When we finally disembarked, we found ourselves in the north- west quarter of Shanghai, and unwilling to walk more than an hour with our luggage, we hailed a cab and headed off to our hotel near the Bund.

Screw you Richey, I drank myself silly for less than it costs for ONE BEER at your bar.

Exploring the streets of the French Concession
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The Jingjiang Inn, a mid-range option (260RMB a night for a double), was our pick and we weren’t disappointed. The room we were given was on the forth floor (though our room key read 8409, since 8 is lucky and 4 is very unlucky), facing away from the noisy street below; we were impressed by the room’s pragmatic use of space and cleanliness. We were also happy to find the shower was also sanitary and modern, especially with the outdoor temperatures peaking around 37⁰C. After unloading our gear and settling into our room, we popped down a couple floors to take advantage of the hotel’s 15RMB breakfast buffet, which turned out to be barely edible, leading me to question who was taking advantage of who.

French Concession Architecture
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After filling up on fake milk, day old sausages, and cardboard flavoured pork buns, we headed out onto the streets of Shanghai in search of some of China’s most grandiose concession era relics. After about 45 minutes of wandering around, a stop here and there, we found ourselves walking along Shanghai’s most famous tourist attraction, the Bund. The Bund is a strip of road along the Huangpu River, flanked by huge 19^th century buildings, built by those who raked in huge sums of money from international trading. Most of the Bund’s structures used to be banks, hotels, and other manner of offices involved with international trade and investment. All the buildings along the Bund, however, are now owned or leased by Chinese corporations and banks. Our walk along the Bund, taking about 2 hours in total, was a wonderful stroll through a district rich with history, a grand museum of sorts. After straying away from the riverfront, Joanna and I found ourselves in what we thought was museum dedicated to the Chinese art of Jade carving; yet, I’d never been in a museum that sells items in its collection for inflated prices before (one of many expensive tourist traps in Shanghai). After slipping out of the Jade “Museum,” we received a call from Joanna’s friend Jane, who had been in China for an overseas internship; Jane invited us to dinner and we definitely didn’t want to pass on a chance to meet up with someone else from Canada. We decided to hit Nanjing Road, Shanghai’s most popular shopping drag, before dinner. Nanjing Road, closed off to motorized traffic turned out to be a churning sea of neon lights, western brand-names, aggressive shoppers, and even more aggressive touts selling a dazzling array of souvenirs and knick-nacks. Though it was such a commercialized environment, I still managed to learn a couple of things from shopping in Shanghai: firstly, if you’re not Chinese, you look like a walking ATM, as I was aggressively pursued by all kinds of characters trying to sell me watches, shoes, and other kinds of designer knock-offs; and secondly, Chinese shoes don’t come in my size.

Busy streets just off the Bund
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After leaving Nanjing Road essentially empty-handed (yet with a surviving wallet), we hopped into a cab with Jane and her co-worker Ronald and sped off across town to the Olde Station Restaurant, an older, upscale fixture in Shanghai’s diverse restaurant scene. While presentation was impressive, the food wasn’t anything too special, odd for a five-star setup. Over dinner, all four of us concluded that a trip to Shanghai simply wouldn’t be complete without a foray into it’s famous nightlife. Jane suggest that we check out a club and “Richey”, a hip-hop joint became our target for the night. However, after getting lost on foot, and finally finding Richey, we found that clubs in Shanghai catered only to a very specific crowd: namely, people who are willing to pay 600RMB for a table and 50RMB for a beer. We choose to leave the club without losing our life savings, and instead, walked down the street to a corner store and bought as much 3RMB bottles of beer as we could carry back to Ron and Jane’s hotel, where a few rounds of cards, University style. Screw you Richey, I drank myself silly for less than it costs for ONE BEER at your bar. The only other note worth mentioning is the cabby that drove Joanna and I home afterwards; never have I seen a cab driver so blatantly try and rip someone off by driving in circles around our hotel, culture shock indeed, Shanghai.

Shanghai street food
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August 12, 2008

Waking up a little later than usual and pursuing a better breakfast, we decided that is was time to explore some of Shanghai’s more rustic charms, even if it meant paying 30RMB to see it. Known as the ‘Old Town,’ built on the site of Shanghai’s original settlement before the western powers moved in and transformed a quiet fishing town into the ‘Wall Street of the East.’ Most of the ‘Old Town,’ we discovered, is street after street of shops aimed at tourists, built in traditional Chinese style architecture (quite tacky). However, once we finally found our way into the center of Old Town, where we got to explore the extensive Yu Gardens, over 400 years old. Probably the most photogenic location we’d yet to visit, my camera literally took a beating. Getting lost in the gardens, we almost forgot that we were in one of China’s most modern cities. Wandering away from the tourist focused section of Old Town, we found ourselves in much narrower quarters, where every possible metre of the streets were lined with street vendors that catered more to the less wealthy locals. Though intimidating at first, I soon began to enjoy my walk through this area, seemingly untouched by tourists, intimidated by the poorer residents; yet I managed to eat a great meal and see local life up close, for only 7RMB. I also saw first hand how the residents of that area buy live, and then slaughter and skin, chickens right in the street. We still love KFC though, sorry PETA.

The Bund, with some construction
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After dodging tacky souvenirs and filling up on local street eats, we wandered towards the river, in hopes of crossing over and checking out the New Pudong area before the day was out. On the way we were shocked to find smart looking, modern office buildings standing right next to crumbling hutong housing blocks; the economic disparities of modern China were never more apparent. An hour or so of walking brought us to a ferry dock and we were delighted to discover that is only cost 0.50RMB to cross, though there was nothing scenic about the quick scoot across, the price was more than enough to keep us happy. As the boat pulled onto the eastern (Pudong) side of the river, thunder rumbled in the distance, motivating us to hurry along the riverfront (much more pleasant on the Pudong side) towards the Pudong core. About halfway to the Oriental Pearl Tower (the iconic if not horrendous poured concrete tripod of a TV tower, that has become a symbol of the modern Shanghai) the rain started to pour and we ran for the nearest shelter we could find, which just so happened to be another Shanghai landmark, Jinmao Tower. Going with the flow, we figured it would be worth our time to wait out the rain checking out the Jinmao’s famous observation deck on the 88^th floor. However, we were deterred by the 70RMB fee require to access the deck. Stumped, we turned to our trusty Lonely Planet guide, which informed us that there was a bar called ‘Cloud 9’ located on the 87^th floor of the tower, and better yet, admission was free! The menu however was rather pricy; a glass of grapefruit juice would set you back 70RMB. I ordered a mojito and Joanna ordered a desert platter that looked like a cheese burger but was in fact made of ice cream (which looks like a beef patty), a thin slice of mango jello (looked exactly like processed cheese) and some mini hamburger buns. The view from the bar was incredible and knowing that we were at Grand Hyatt floors of the Jinmao Tower, the atmosphere made us feel like our 190RMB bill should be nothing more than some pocket change. After paying our tab, we got our heads out of the clouds and took a cab back to our hotel so we could catch our morning train to Suzhou.