A little Taste of Shanghai

The evening I arrived, it was tipping it down. It looked a lot like Hong Kong, only wetter. I took this photo on my first day, whilst out bravely exploring alone. I say bravely because it felt brave. I'm used to Hong Kong and going out alone rarely phases me but Shanghai, where there is virtually no english spoken, apart from within the walls of big business hotels, I don't mind admitting, it was a whole different story. I did it anyway of course, at least on the first day, when I was open-minded and eager to explore. The weather was unfortunately grey and really much colder than I was expecting it to be, so it was a rather shivery day out, but I took myself to an area called the Bund and strolled the pedestrianised area just soaking up the atmosphere.

On my way back to the hotel...in search of what seemed to me to be a very elusive taxi, I got quite freaked out. Naively I believed that if there was a green man showing on the crossing lights that pedestrians would be safe to cross the road. Not so. Yes, this is when people attempt to cross the road but clearly they take their lives in their hands when they do so. My first attempt resulted in a near miss with a motorbike or two, or maybe three...I remember them coming from different sides, not really sure which way to leap...I think I just stopped still in the middle of the road and they moved around me. Either way, it was fine, I didn't get hit, but that was the first and last time that I trusted that little green man!

We visited the Jade Buddha Temple, a bit too briefly to be honest, because we failed to check the guide book for closing time. We arrived about 20 mins before closing time but of course they just took our money and didn't bother to tell us that. We simply found ourselves getting a very quick guided tour (not requested, but I think that's the way they do it there) which ended up in the gift shop after about 10-15 mins. When we said we just wanted to go and take a final look around before buying anything (yes, it was rather hard sell) we were told it was all closed now and we could always come back tomorrow. Hmmm. I was not impressed. On the plus side though, we did arrive in time to catch the end of a prayer session the monks were holding for the victims of the recent earthquake in China, which was rather beautiful to witness.

We also visited the Old part of town - Shanghai Old Street including Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar. Quite The Experience! There were some beautiful old style buildings which you can just about make out here, but in my opinion the whole area was totally spoiled by filling these buildings with modern day shops...like Starbucks! As much as I enjoy my Starbucks coffee these days, it was just a little disappointing to see. There were also plenty of more local wares for sale on the market stalls of the Bazaar on the other extreme but bartering was a must, and even in our case involved the market stall owner running after us with a better offer in an attempt to sway us. Really not my game but interesting to experience.

Yuyuan Gardens was one of my favourite parts of Shanghai. After escaping the hassling environment of the Bazaar it was like stepping into a sanctuary...a sanctuary full of other people...but a santuary. It was a beautiful Spring day too, which made for very pleasant wandering weather and some good photo opportunities.

Blogger has run out of space for photos on this post now which means no photo of my very favourite part of Shanghai - the French Concession. An area heavily influenced by the french "era" resulting in a trendy, boutiquey area with some great local arts, crafts and clothes stores mixed in with unique little indoor/outdoor cafes set in some very small, old lanes. The mix of old and new is perfect and this time, in my humble opinion, it really works. After all my time in Asia, I finally bought some "souvenirs" - the location was right, the sales tactics were not pushy, just helpful and the products were good quality. Oh and the sun was shining that day too - perfect!

So all in all, a great trip. A good mix of experiences and hopefully I will get to return one day and pop back to some of my favourite places, and indeed, some of the places we didn't have time for....