Shanghai

Shanghai

 

We loved Shanghai. When we thought of a Chinese city we imagined it to be dirty, crowded, all sorts of meat hanging outside shop fronts, and a safe diet of McDonalds! It has the highest population of any city in China (and the world too im sure!) at 24.15 million!!!

 

Although the habits of most Chinese is quite gross (on the train the guy sitting opposite me was chewing rather loudly on a chicken leg, feet and all, any remants of bone or fat not edible was spat into his water bottle!!) the streets are very clean and well kept. The train from Fuzhou to Shanghai was 7 hours going at 200km/h but it was comfortable enough. Train system in China is so efficient and very modern so that's always good.

We were lucky with our hostel. Great location, rooftop bar, and a restaurant attached that was cheap and the food was so goooood!!!!!

 

We were advised to visit the Bund which was the financial district that extended along the river. I was adamant we see it at night as it thought it would be at its most impressive so we got a few cans (so irish!!) and walked down towards it! As we came around the corner we were both totally taken away by the beauty of the view in front of us. The buildings and the lights they emmited and then reflected off the river was like nothing wed seen before. It was breathtaking!

 

During the other days we visited local parks, one in particular was the sculpture park which had local artists commissioned for works to be displayed there. You can see the pics below of some of them. They were great! We also visited the 'Botanical Gardens' we took a metro to the last and furthest stop and got off in a neighbourhood. Where we stood out in the city we certainly did here!! We got a delicious omelette-type dish from a lady off a cart on the street for like 2e. The Gardens themselves were still undergoing works so there wasn't much to see but it was still quite beautiful. Loads of elderly men and women out  exercising too which was fantastic! Tai Chi and some martial arts.

 

We also found the mecca of cheap Chinese merchandise. While we were on the equivalent of Grafton Street looking around at shops like Brown Thomas and Cos we were like 'yeh wheres the cheap stuff' so they gave us a map to follow. We came upon these nondescript buildings with plastic sheeting as doors and when we pushed our way in it was another world! Floors and floors of small kiosk like shops selling knock offs and just generally cheaper clothes! We were accosted by all the local traders but we played it cool and shopped around. Haggled great jackets down to dirt cheap was great!

 

Another great spot in Shanghai was the 'French Concession' the Williamsburg to New York! So hip with the coolest looking cafes and art galleries, fresh produce fruit and veg stores loft like apartment blocks, tree lined streets. Just gorgeous. They have a great nightclub there called 'The Shelter' that was used as a bomb shelter. We went on a Wednesday the one night its closed :(

 

We also stumbled upon what I call Millionare Row. Actually it was called 'Times Square' but it no where near resembled the flashy tacky lights of it. No this was for the superstars and millionaries. Huge buildings for a good 2km of  all the best labels. Amazing to walk down and dream a little. Daniel also reckons he saw 'Tevez' who actually plays for the local team, so pretty good chance it was him!

 

 

We took a day trip out to a little town that is like Venice in that its all on the river and use gondolas too. It was beautiful reminded us of Venice/Bruges. Didn't feel like China at all. The small lanes offered free samples of all the local sweets and confectionary so we made our way round maybe twice!

 

Shanghai really surprised us and for a city that has the highest population in the world you would never think it. The traffic is very well managed with plenty of higher level roads to spread it out. Its also illegal to drive in the city unless you have a certain Shanghai Reg. They are sold at auction and can cost up to 11,000e so that also contributes to lowering numbers of cars/vehicles around the city. Lovely to walk around too everything is very accessible, there is a metro but we used to rarely. Food was great we became big fans of Dumplings!! Steamed in the little baskets they are little drops of heaven!