Ugh...Shanghai. I loved traveling through China but when ranking all the destinations I visited, there needs to be a last place. And Shanghai...well let's just say it was an easy choice for last place and there is a significant gap between Shanghai and whatever the second to last place would be if I actually followed through on the rankings.
Shaghai is a shiny facade but it there doesn't seem to be too much substance. The city feels a like sixteen year old who's just been given the keys to a Porsche. The city certainly has potential but it feels like the it still needs to grow into being the world city and financial capital status it's received. The city's changes have been recent and dramatic - Shanghai's iconic Pudong Skyline along the east bank of the Huangpu River did not even exist twenty years ago. Everything in the image below is new.
Shaghai is a shiny facade but it there doesn't seem to be too much substance. The city feels a like sixteen year old who's just been given the keys to a Porsche. The city certainly has potential but it feels like the it still needs to grow into being the world city and financial capital status it's received. The city's changes have been recent and dramatic - Shanghai's iconic Pudong Skyline along the east bank of the Huangpu River did not even exist twenty years ago. Everything in the image below is new.
Shanghai's traditional waterfront area, called The Bund, is a collection of French colonial era buildings along a pedestrian walkway - I'll admit this area was cool even with overcast skies.
Click or tap images to enlarge.
Click or tap images to enlarge.
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Shanghai's main commercial thoroughfare is Nanjing Road - the eastern section is a pedestrian shopping street - which connects with The Bund. In addition to all the major Western name brands there are a few cafes and places to eat including the Nanjing Food Hall, a giant department store with nothing but Chinese food. Touts rollerblade along the street offering of all sorts of things for sale.
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Nanjing Road also gets rocking at night. If you pick a hostel in this area you'll be able to see Nanjing Road a couple of times a day as it shifts from senior citizen exercise spot in the morning, to people watching during the day, to entertainment at night.
One of Shanghai's highlights is Yang's Fried Dumplings. Four dumplings costs about 10 RMB - once your order is ready, you use the chopstick to poke a hole in the dumpling to suck out the pork juice before eating. Shanghai does have a few other sites but for the most part I limited my time in the city to eating and coffee drinking.
One of Shanghai's highlights is Yang's Fried Dumplings. Four dumplings costs about 10 RMB - once your order is ready, you use the chopstick to poke a hole in the dumpling to suck out the pork juice before eating. Shanghai does have a few other sites but for the most part I limited my time in the city to eating and coffee drinking.
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Towards the center of Nanjing Road is the People's Park and the Shanghai Museum. The Museum is free and full of Chinese antiquities: bronze cooking pots, food and wine transport/storage vessels, and bells. The size, intricate carvings, and age - some items dated back to 1,000 BC - made an impressive collection. The Museum also contained statues, carvings, and scrolled paintings - these items dated back to 500 AD and generally weren't as impressive as Roman sculptures from the same time period.
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Continuing with the Museum theme, a little further along, just north of Nanjing Road on Beijing Road is the Jing'an Sculpture Park where you can have a coffee at the Red Beacon, the park's cafe, and sit among modern sculptures. When going long distances, you'll want to use the Shanghai Metro, however, I thought the city, for all the congestion and mayhem, was actually very walkable and surprisingly enjoyable to walk. Unlike Beijing, which seemed to have commercial zones with not much in-between major blocks, Shanghai had block after block of commercial activity. The walks between the neighborhoods showed a quieter side to the city. The image below to the right is a typical street scene once the major commercial thoroughfares are left behind.
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Shanghai's increased foreign investment increase the size of the expat community has grown. It seems that most expats have congregated in the French Concession area - an area that simply by it's name has long been the favored spot of expats. The French Concession area is upmarket and has a great feel to it - lots of coffee shops and restaurants - but it doesn't quite feel Chinese. Walking around you see as many Westerners as Chinese. If you sit down at a restaurant you'd have no idea you were in China's largest city but instead think you were in a quiet neighborhood of a major American city.
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Yu Garden is considered one of Shanghai's top attractions. I visited and saw the crowds, saw the Starbucks, and quickly shuffled my way through the attraction.
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Shanghai's rapid growth has not been limited to the Pudong Skyline. If you hop on a metro and head to the city's suburbs you will start to see massive apartment complexes. It feels a bit apocalyptic passing by approximately 500 thirty story buildings that all look exactly the same. I walked around the suburban area and visited a new university but it seemed to lack the usual energy of an American campus. There were huge academic buildings modeled after Florence, Italy churches but very few, if any, student residences.
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That's it for Shanghai.
I think of the potential drawbacks with Shanghai is that since it is a major gateway city and in many cases a visitor's first destination, it can leave a poor first impression of China. I heard numerous people complaining about the crowds, the spitting, the scams, etc. from backpackers who had arrived in China a day or two earlier. Having been in China for a few weeks already, I was accustomed to the crowds and knew how/when to get away from the crowds, and I didn't think the spitting was as bad as it's hyped. The scams though were definitely new. Nanjing Road and The Bund are full of "friendly" locals and it's worth reading up on Shanghai specific scams prior to visiting the city.
One of the positives of the visit was I met a student in the hostel who I was later able to reconnect with in Hong Kong. He provided local commentary on all things China from an almost detached, unbiased perspective. He was a Hong Konger, who didn't like all the rules and surveillance of the Chinese government but he had no intention of joining the umbrella movement in Hong Kong. He understood what they were fighting for but at the same time was resigned to the fact that they are all Chinese.
For additional Shanghai photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
I think of the potential drawbacks with Shanghai is that since it is a major gateway city and in many cases a visitor's first destination, it can leave a poor first impression of China. I heard numerous people complaining about the crowds, the spitting, the scams, etc. from backpackers who had arrived in China a day or two earlier. Having been in China for a few weeks already, I was accustomed to the crowds and knew how/when to get away from the crowds, and I didn't think the spitting was as bad as it's hyped. The scams though were definitely new. Nanjing Road and The Bund are full of "friendly" locals and it's worth reading up on Shanghai specific scams prior to visiting the city.
One of the positives of the visit was I met a student in the hostel who I was later able to reconnect with in Hong Kong. He provided local commentary on all things China from an almost detached, unbiased perspective. He was a Hong Konger, who didn't like all the rules and surveillance of the Chinese government but he had no intention of joining the umbrella movement in Hong Kong. He understood what they were fighting for but at the same time was resigned to the fact that they are all Chinese.
For additional Shanghai photos see FLICKR ALBUM.