The entry below highlights my visit to Shanghai - Oct 18 - 19, 2014
October, 18, 2014:
Today I traveled from Beijing to Shanghai. My flight was at 7:35 - I think one of the few options I had since I was using Delta miles on a China Eastern partner.
My alarm went off at 3:40, with me finally getting up at 4:10. My taxi was scheduled for 5 AM. I woke up with a sore throat - not sure if I'm getting sick or if it is related to the strong pollution yesterday in Beijing.
I got dressed, packed and downstairs to check out by 5:05 - very impressed with my speed.
The ride to the airport was still about 30 minutes. Not much traffic, but more than I expected.
I went inside and lots of walking to get to the Domestic, mainland China flights. I found China Eastern, checked in and was on my way to security.
The ease that I've had in security lines ended. The agent told me to pull out out batteries, umbrellas and chargers...that's pretty much all of my backpack. So out came my iPad, camera, converters, all of my charging cables, headphones and everything that I thought could cause any issues. Of course I was wrong. I totally forgot about my small camera that I've only used once during the trip as well as the portable chargers. When they searched my bag, my matches were also thrown out. I had 6 bins of items by the time that they were finished. I had less things left in my backpack than was in the trays. Needless to say, I spent 10+ minutes repacking my bag after the search. Interestingly though, there was never an offer to repack my bag like in the USA and I was allowed to touch everything during the search process to pull out coins, chargers, etc.
Once through, I proceeded on to the SkyTeam Lounge. I stopped at one shop, but didn't buy anything. In the lounge I got a seat and a few food items - a Chicken pastry thing, an Asian sticky bun and a muffin. I was sitting by myself for about 30 minutes when a Chinese guy just sat down at my table without asking...again, something that is common in China. He proceeded to get Congree and slurped the entire bowl. I was a few minutes from just moving...thank goodness he finished the bowl. The drawback of using chopsticks - you have to slurp every liquid item from a bowl.
My flight was announced for boarding. I quickly packed up and headed that way.
Much to my dismay, we were boarding a bus...again! I am so tired of getting on a bus to board a plane. Are they too cheap to pay for a jet bridge?
The flight was very quick - although I fell asleep before we left. Was scheduled to leave at 7:25 and I think we finally lifted off after 8 AM. However, we only landed about 15 minutes late at 10:00 AM. Of course, another bus. I got to baggage claim at exactly 10:20 and thought it would be out very soon. The first bag arrived at 10:40, mine finally came out after 10:50. Several of us were joking that one old man was walking each bag from the plane!
A few pics from the plane as we were approaching the Shanghai Pudong Airport:
I had to show my claim ticket on the way out - the first time the entire trip!
I had decided on the plane that I was going to take the subway. I had heard that traffic in Shanghai can be very bad and I couldn't even find the airport on my close-in map of the city. I found the metro signs quickly from baggage claim, but getting there was a bit more effort. About 15 minutes later, I was near the metro, then in line to buy a ticket, then in line to go through security - throughout China there have been security checks at every subway entrance.
I must admit that I was shocked how long the train took - over 1.5 hours!!! To give a perspective of the timeframe, I stepped off the plane at 10:05, was in baggage claim by 10:20, left baggage claim around 10:50 and got to my hotel for check-in around 1 PM...which included my walk to the train and to the hotel, along with a known transfer. There was an unexpected transfer about halfway from the airport - same train line, just a turn-around of the train...literally I just had to walk across the platform, but lost my seat and my faith in the efficiency of the Chinese trains.
Up to that point, the train had been pretty slow. But after we transferred to the other train, either it was faster or the stops were much closer together. It was about a 12 minute walk from the station near the hotel...and I felt every bump in the sidewalk with my bag.
I checked in with the front desk and the room wasn't ready - it was around 1:15 PM at this point. She told me to go to the Executive Lounge to wait. I got a great room on the 34th floor, with views directly onto the financial and Bund district.
Once I got the key, I stayed in the room for about 30 minutes, but decided that I should explore. I went to the concierge and he suggested the Yuyuan Gardens, so I took a taxi - a 30 minute adventure during which the taxi driver hit another car, we were in a traffic jam for about 18 minutes on top of his complete non-understanding of English...I had to use the card from the hotel that had the location written in Chinese characters.
I walked around the area for while and was sorely disappointed...it was just a huge retail market. I thought it was going to be more historically important. Finally I found the park that dated back to the Chinese Dynasties. I walked through the gardens and they were wonderful, although I didn't sit and enjoy any - no seats, plus very crowded....however I took lots of pictures,
A few cool pics of the floor:
And preserved wood work:
A few more pics as I was leaving:
I had planned to take a taxi back, but after I tried for about 15 minutes at various locations, I just started walking. Luckily I ran into the metro station.
I had to transfer trains after one stop, but that was fine. I was still back to the hotel within about 35 minutes, even with the walk. An interesting view of the elevated roadway as I walked back...lots of traffic and blue lighting!
Back in the hotel, I stopped in the room, but then headed to the lounge. Got an OK table - the lounge was packed! Had appetizers and ultimately dinner in the lounge. Plus the wifi now included FB and other sites that were blocked in Beijing.
Nightime views from my room:
Back to the room and to bed around 11:45 PM.
October 19, 2014:
I woke up before my alarm this morning, but quickly fell back asleep, not getting out of bed until around 9 AM. Then I went back to bed with my iPad - looked at emails, texted with folks, etc.
I casually got ready, checking several things on the internet as I thought about them. Then I looked at the tourist map and got excited about Shanghai - several things to see/do.
I was out the door of the hotel and heading to the nearby temple around 12 Noon.
A cool scuplture and building on my walk to the temple:
The temple was rather small. It was very smokey and smell of incense was quite strong. There was a huge "pot" in the middle of the square and people were throwing coins into it. I decided to join in when a coin landed at my feet...I made it in on my third try. Hopefully that means good luck.
The temple as I approached on the street:
The tall "pot" where I threw in a coin:
Several of the Buddhas inside...can get the relative size from the flower bouquets that are in each pic
I walked around the temple for about 30 minutes.
Outside the temple:
I got on the metro and headed across the river to the Lujiazui Financial District area. Coming out of the metro station - wow...the huge buildings were all very close. I took numerous pictures.
Orient Pearl Tower:
I was getting hungry, so I stopped in Yang's Dumplings restaurant. I had 4 dumplings - two pork, two shrimp. After ordering and paying, then you queue at the kitchen window to get the food. I got to watch a small army of people hand-making all of the dumplings. They were so good. I ate them outside in some shade as I enjoyed the surrounding view.
From here I moved on to the Orient Pearl Tower. There were numerous options of tickets and determining which level of the Tower you went to...I wanted to go to the very top observation deck. The ticket line was very short so I thought that indicated my potential wait to get to the top...oh, how wrong that assumption was. After entering the complex and taking a few pictures, I headed towards the elevator entrance. There were some very cool pictures of the Hong Kong skyline and how it had changed each year since 1990...incredible. The wait just to get to the first elevator was 1.5 hours. A guy entered the line immediately after me and he struck up a conversation and we ended up being wait-line and Tower friends for the next 3 hours.
My new buddy, Mark, is German - from Munich - but living in the USA on a 3-year assignment. He is living in Morristown, TN, which is about 1.5 hours from where I grew up! We talked about East Tennessee, where he has visited in the USA...and still needed to visit, about my trip, his international travel, his lake house in Morristown, going to a UT football game, etc, etc. We had a lot of time together and covered many topics. He had been in NE China at one of his company's production plants for over a week and had stopped in Shanghai for two nights on his way back to Morristown.
We finally got in the first elevator and when we got off...we were in another queue line. The first stop was only the middle observation deck. So we could see this area and bit of the view, but were like caged animals behind the metal queue stands. We couldn't see that there was another elevator for at least 15 minutes...so just assumed that we were waiting to get into the area that we could see. Then we finally got the next elevator and headed off to the top. Once at the top, we had to put cloth covers on our shoes and then walk the last flight of steps.
The windows were so dirty and starched that the view was not great...the view had been better on the lower deck. Most of my pictures have a strange film on them and I was having trouble even taking some since the auto focus was focusing on the starches and spots on the windows. For almost 2 hours of waiting...it was quite disappointing.
These are the only two that were even relatively good.
We then stood in line to go back down to the lower observation deck. The views from here were quite good and I took tons of pictures. Mark and I waited for each other numerous times, sort of having an unspoken agreement that we were going to stay together this tour.
The city is enourmous...goes as far as you can see:
I had seen this exact view in an airline magazine during my trip:
There was still another lower level observation deck and we took the stairs down one level to it. There was an outdoor observation deck here and the outdoor space was ringed with a glass floor. I was a little freaked out...thinking that the glass was going to break.
After walking the entire circumference, then we headed to the exit queue line. This line was the typical Chinese fire drill. People were pushing, shoving, moving ahead, rubbing/touching...I am so over this type of physical contact with everyone around me. There was a kid behind me for a while that was resting his head on my butt as he ate popcorn....and this was perfectly fine.
Finally we got on the elevator and to the bottom. We skipped the museum, but never saw it either...of course you exit into a huge shopping area. Mark wanted to buy chop sticks, so I helped him pick a set.
We took the metro back one stop to the other side of the river to the Nanjing Road area. That had been my next plan for the day and his hotel was on that street. He had not taken the metro before so I felt like an old pro showing him how it worked.
We parted ways outside of the metro station, finally exchanging names...but never e-mail addresses, etc. He was merely my Tower Buddy for 3 hours and some good conversation.
I quickly determined that I actually wanted to go one more stop and walk from People's Square on Nanjing Rd, all the way to the Bund, along what is called China's #1 Street. So I headed back into the metro station and went one stop to People's Square.
I was impressed with the signage to get to the Pedestrian shopping/walking street from the station.
The street was packed and it was around 4:45 as I started walking it. So many shops - according to the guide book over 600 shops within the blocks to the Bund. Within these blocks I was approached so many times for a "Lady Massage" and when I said no, they would say much more bluntly "Sex"...no again. I suppose I was quite a target - a Caucasian male walking alone. I lost exact count at 20 times, but no exaggeration that I was approached at least 35 times - sometimes by females, sometimes by their male pimps. Some with pictures of the potential girls. Some would take my first no or a head shake and stop. Others would follow me for a few feet pleading their case. Still others would follow much too long when I would throw up my hand and yell "NO"...that would always stop them.
I stopped in several department stores, a food hall, etc. When I got to the river, then it was dark and I stopped for many pictures along the viewing platform...looking towards the Lujiazui Financial district and all the fantastic lights. While taking these pictures, the memory card in my camera reached capacity. I had been worried about this happening since Germany, so had bought a back-up SD card, keeping it in my camera case. So a quick change of memory cards and I continued clicking away. The first card made it to 10,487 pictures...all since the start of the trip!
Switch to the new memory card!
My friend Laura had sent me a link about the best places in Shanghai to have cocktails al fresco, with a strong emphasis on roof-top bars in the Bund. I looked across from where I was standing and the name of one place looked very familiar...sure enough it was the second place on the list. So of course I had to go!
The bar was on the roof of the Swatch Arts Peace Hotel. They specialize in martinis, so I had to indulge. I had a Ginger Peach martini and it was yummy. I got one of the four prime high-top tables on a raised platform for better viewing of the skyline. I resisted getting a second martini and headed on for dinner.
From the bar rooftop:
A former co-worker, Amy, who now lives part-time in Shanghai had recommended a restaurant, saying it was one of the hottest places in town. A Jean Georges restaurant - Mercato - and it was just a few blocks from the martini bar. I walked the wrong way due to directions I had looked up earlier - Google said that the restaurant was next to The Peninsula Hotel. When I got to The Peninsula Hotel, it was no where to be found. I went in to the hotel, acting like a guest, and asked the concierge. The restaurant was at the complete opposite end of the Bund area, so about a 10 minute walk.
More offers of lady massages along the way...
Walking along the Bund area:
I arrived and was a little concerned when I was immediately asked for the name on the reservation. I explained that I didn't have a reservation, just wanted to sit at the bar. After some exchange I learned that you can't eat at the bar...only drinks. There is another "bar" that sort of looks into a cooking pit and I was seated there. The seats are arranged in a U shape and surround a wood-burning oven and about 6 chefs preparing food in the center. However, the wall directly in front of you while sitting is too high to really see much. So I could see that activity was happening and that the chefs were busy, but I couldn't see what they were preparing like you typically can at a kitchen seat.
I was holding the camera just above my head to get this shot:
The service was slow at first which annoyed me a bit. However, in the end, the food was fantastic. I started with Tuna Tartare. Next I had Burata cheese which came with small toasts and some amazing lemon rind jelly-type stuff. Lastly I had tagliatelle pasta with fall mushrooms, pancetta and a white wine sauce. I had two glasses of Chinese Cabernet Sauvignon to accompany the meal...and a huge bottle of water. Besides the initial slow service, the other annoying portion was timing of the food. The first two items were served at the same time. I explained that I didn't want the pasta until I had finished both of the first items. Sure enough, the pasta arrived while I was still eating the burata.
I cannot say enough about the burata cheese - it was the highlight of the meal and one of the best things that I've had on my entire trip.
One food pic, just because the burata was so good:
Following dinner I headed out to get a cab. I'm finding that cabs in China are very difficult. I got a few cabs to stop, but when showing them the address, they said $100 CNY...you're crazy I'd say, throw up my hands and walk away. From the hotel card, I knew the route should only be about $20 CNY. Finally a cab said $30, so I said OK. Have I mentioned how much I hate taxi drivers?
Back in the room, I finished the blog for today and off to bed around 11:15 PM.
