Shanghai, China

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We spent only two nights in Shanghai before we left for Wuxi, the first night John was so sick.  He had eaten something in Xi'an which was not agreeing with him, so we went straight to the hotel so he could rest.

Fiona and I walked around the area, found a Macdonalds and the local supermarket.  We bought John some crackers and went back to check on him.  Sightseeing in Shanghai will begin tomorrow.

So our first day sightseeing in Shanghai and Amelia (our guide) was taking us to the Bund. The journey there was over an overpass which had potted plants on either side. Apparently the Mayor was looking for ideas to beautify the City and a young boy suggested that plants might be nice to look at instead of all the grey. The Mayor adopted his idea and its pretty cool looking.

I had no clue what the Bund was by the way, so I looked it up. I appears that the Bund is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai – now I felt foolish. It is on the west shore of the Huangpu River, the most important shipping artery of Shanghai. A note here: although important, this great river is pretty murky. Fiona described it as “green and grimy and did not look very welcoming”. The river runs from the mouth of the Yangtze River in Wusong to the East China Sea (71 miles).

The Bund, is a famous waterfront, made famous mostly by the 52 various buildings of different architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism and the Renaissance. The Bund was the centre of Shanghai's politics, economy and culture hundreds of years ago, consulates of most countries and many banks, businesses and newspaper offices were settled there, and that's why there are these art-like buildings.

We were freezing now – the weather was definitely not cooperating, so Amelia took us to the Jin Mao Tower. Inside and warm. The tower is an 88-story skyscraper. As of 2005, it is the tallest building in the Peoples Republic of China, the fifth tallest in the world by roof height and the seventh tallest by pinnacle height. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, (which we passed on the way) it is a centerpiece of the renowned Shanghai skyline – perhaps more renowned now because it was featured in Mission Impossible III when Tom Cruise jumped from building to building. We went up this skyscraper, but, as I mentioned the weather was horrid, so all we saw was mist – shame.

Lunch and then the Peoples Museum. Now, we have been in enough Museums to be able to gauge how long we are likely to stay – this one was one hour tops! It was pretty interesting in the traditional costume section, but we have seen enough jade carvings to last a lifetime. It was still raining and whilst we were looking through the Museum doors I noticed a fountain. As soon as I turned around to tell Fiona and John it was switched off (it was raining after all) and they didn’t believe me. I made them come out and look but they just pointed to the rain. It was only as we were leaving that the fountain was turned on again – I wasn’t crazy after all (well, maybe a little).

Amelia only had us for two days before we were off again. When we returned, we were happy to see that we had still been assigned Amelia. She had heard that we wanted to see Chinese Acrobats and had arranged it for that night, but we had to cancel as we had arranged to meet our friends Jeff and Emma and their children for dinner in Xin Tien Di before they ran the marathon the next day. Not a problem, it was changed.

We met Emma in, of all places, a Starbucks in Xin Tian Di which is an area of expensive boutique restaurants and shops. Great food, great wine, and wonderful to wander around at night. Emma guided us to the restaurant where there were probably a dozen other adults and maybe ten children, of which Fiona was the eldest. All the men in the group were running the next day. We had a fabulous meal and great conversation, it was nice to meet more folks. We promised to try and catch up with them after the race the next day, but that was not to be. Jeff finished in a respectable time but was exhausted and they headed back to Wuxi that day.

The next morning Amelia sent her friend Lulu as our guide, and Lulu took us to the Yuyuan Garden. The garden was finished in 1577 by a government officer of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) named Pan Yunduan. Yu in Chinese means pleasing and satisfying, and this garden was specially built for Pan's parents as a place for them to enjoy a tranquil and happy time in their old age.

In the 400 years of its existence, Yuyuan Garden had undergone many changes. During the late Ming Dynasty, it became very dilapidated with the decline of Pan's family. In 1760, some rich merchants bought Yuyuan Garden and spent more than 20 years reconstructing the buildings. During the Opium War of the 19th century, Yuyuan Garden was severely damaged. Yuyuan Garden occupies an area of about five acres. There are six main scenic areas in the garden:

The Chinese believe that true treasure of Yuyuan Garden is the Exquisite Jade Rock. This rock is about 10.8 feet high and has 72 holes. What is interesting about this rock is that if you burn a joss stick just below the rock, the smoke will magically float out from all of the holes. Similarly, when you pour water into the rock from top, the water will flow out from each hole creating a spectacular sight to see. Much as we did want to see it, we couldn’t, it was raining (again) but not enough to pour out of the holes, and much as Fiona wanted to light something to see the smoke, we decided that we probably shouldn’t and should just stick to taking pictures.

There is a rockery, called the Great Rockery in this Garden. At 50 feet high, it is the largest as well as the oldest rockery in the southern region of the Yangtze River. For us, the most interesting thing about the rockery was the fact that it was held together with sticky rice. Yep, not mortar or cement, but rice! Clever these Chinese.

This is the place where we had an amazing lunch – Duck with stuffing. Unfortunately, we don’t remember the name of the restaurant, but it overlooks the square behind the Yuyuan Gardens, and President Clinton ate there – if that helps! We were so impressed, that our last day in Shanghai was back to this restaurant again, for more duck. It did help that there were also wonderful little bazaars surrounding this restaurant and it was closing in on Christmas. So we picked up a few things (we can’t say what because they are gifts) as well as a Chinese Chess set for us.

That night we went to see the Chinese Acrobats – I had to hide my eyes on more than one occasion because I was convinced they were going to fall. It was a great night, they are truly talented, and what better than to see them in China.

Next day we were on our own, so we boogied over to Xin Tien Di again and took a look around an example of a Shikumen. I found this house and its history fascinating. Shikumen were typical residences, usually two or three-story townhouses, with the front yard protected by a high brick wall. Each residence was connected and arranged in straight alleys. The entrance to each alley was usually surmounted by a stylistic stone arch. The name "shikumen" literally means "stone storage door", referring to the strong gateway to each house. By World War II, more than 80% of the population in the city lived in these kinds of dwellings. Many of these were hastily built and were akin to slums, while others were of sturdier construction and featured all modern amenities such as the flush toilet. During and after World War II, massive population increases in Shanghai led many shikumen houses to be heavily subdivided. For example, the spacious living room is often divided into three or four rooms, each lent out to a family. Eighty-two years ago, meetings held inside one of the old Shikumen at Xin Tian Di were chaired by the original Chairman, Mao Zedong. Attending were the first comrades. Together, they formed the Communist Party, which transformed all of China.

Somewhere in all of this bopping around, Fiona managed to score a pair of wheels that attach to her shoes and make instant rollerblades. When you see her, ask her about them!

One more day and its packing and running errands. We sent off all of the Christmas gifts and then went and upgraded our tickets to India (it worked out much cheaper to do that, than pay the baggage overweight charge). We had also decided to send our bags on with the driver and take the Maglev train. Let me explain – when we were in Beijing (at the Museum that we dismantled the pagoda in), we saw an example of a magnetic levitation train. Apparently the only one currently running is in Shanghai and goes to the airport – works for us. This train “flew” at 301 mph from the financial district to the airport, about 20 miles away. By taxi the trip takes 55 minutes, but the high-speed line cuts the trip to less than 8 minutes. The fast train employs a system called Magnetic Levitation (or maglev) where its cars literally float above the track. There's no rails or wheels and no on-board motor to weigh it down. Instead, the system uses the attractive forces between electronically controlled magnets to raise the train about six inches above its guideway. The support magnets pull the vehicle up to the guideway from below while the guidance magnets keep it laterally in line. Despite traveling at 300+ mph, the maglev system runs more quietly than a typical commuter train traveling at lower speeds, consumes less energy and is nearly impossible to derail because of the way the train's underside partially wraps around the guideway, like a giant set of arms hugging the train to the elevated platform. It was a perfect end to our China trip.

Fiona started out by saying that this was probably going to be her favorite country, what with her budding interest in science and so on, and all in all (including the dinners she had to sit through) I think she was very pleased with her visit.

We enjoyed China. We were lucky to have guides and drivers on the one hand, and unlucky to have guides and drivers on the other. It was great to be shown around, but it would have been nice to also “see for ourselves”. We will pack away our winter clothes now, off to sunshine and India.