The first 3 days in Shanghai can be characterized as a da
y of walking, a day of bike riding and a day of clubbing. But before I continue with those details we have the arrival in Shanghai.
Sunday – October 3. Arrival in Shanghai. Unbeknownst to me, Gilbert decided to make the trip out to the airport to greet Collin and me. He waved a little flag
propped on a chopstick with my name on it, ‘Hoody’, to grab my attention. The first words out of my mouth were ‘What a nice surprise!’ - he had taken those words right out of my mouth as they were clearly written on the back of the flag. Yes – we know each other well. Next up – gather Collin and head for home. I had made up a sign with his name, ‘Koody’, on it so obviously we have been through this airport routine before.
This time, getting home is a Maglev ride and a cab. Probably one of the last Maglev rides (at 430km/hr) for me, as the subway now comes all the way to the airport. We literally dropped our bags at home and headed to ‘Cloud Nine’, a 9 floor shopping complex, for dinner – Teppanyaki (my choice). Over dinner Collin has a chance to quiz Gilbert’s vocabulary of 200 words of Mandarin. I can already tell it’s great to have Collin along to read and speak the language. Then a walk back to the apartment to succumb to jet lag.
Collin had camera ready at hand and captured all the lights and action near Zhongshan Park – new for him while ‘old hat’ for Gilbert and I.
Monday, October 4. A quick visit to enjoy the birds singing in the park.
It is a daily social outing for the birds but the owners will take them home by 9am. Obviously, we have to be ‘early birds’ to catch their melodious singing.
Our day of walking is suppose to begin with a big breakfast at ‘Wagas’. However, everything is opening later than expected since it is National Holiday Week. We have to nix that idea and settle on Starbuck’s. Then Collin and I are off to the subway and the Pearl Tower. On the walk to the subway we see a corner noodle house which is open for the early risers. Collin begins to salivate so I know to take him to the local Chinese take-out tomorrow morning.
Pearl Tower at the waterfront in Pudong.
It is a perfect day for viewing the city from up high. However being National Holiday. there are an estimated 8 million visitors to Shanghai this year. At least 1 million or so have the same idea as we’re told it is a 2 hour wait – from what we can see we’re thinking 2 hours plus. The tallest building in Shanghai is nearby and we walk there in the hopes of viewing the city from their vantage point. The line-up is smaller – less than 1 ½ hours but still too long for our liking. We decide to come back tomorrow and will enjoy the walk along the promenade instead.
As jet lag begins to settle in again, we head back to a Chinese dinner near the apartment and then take a wonderful evening stroll back home.
I am always in my element on my bicycle – weaving in and out of traffic, scooters, bikes and pedestrians. It only takes an hour and Collin is up to speed. We check out a ‘murphy’(public tennis court) along the way to the French Concession as we may decide to hit later.
A quick stop to view the dragon wall at a restaurant and then on to our first destination – The Yong Foo Elite Club. Collin has a reciprocal membership here so yes, membership does have its privileges. Being one of the most expensive restaurants in all of Shanghai, it’s our opportunity to rub elbows with the rich and famous. We are given a tour of the club with its memorabilia dating back to the 1930’s. It is interesting to see but at the prices on the menu we’d be calculating our cost on each bite of food going down. Unfortunately no photo’s are allowed and Collin controls his itch to sneak in a shot or two (and maybe get us kicked out in the process as we are dressed in biking gear).
A short distance on is Taikang Lu – a new ‘hot spot’ for visitors to Shanghai. It is an area touted as the ‘old Shanghai’ with twisting, winding lanes lined with art studios, shops and cafes. We both found it a bit like ‘pete and repeat’ – different shops carrying the same merchandise. It seemed a bit touristy for our liking and after delving a short distance inside, we decided to escape the tourists and head over to the Bird and Insect Market.
Traditional Shanghai – before reaching the market we are rewarded with finding a few streets of what I consider ‘old Shanghai’. It is reminis
cent of what I remember of Shanghai 10 years ago with its woks sizzling, people outside their dwellings socializing, sleeping 
or carrying on with daily life and hawkers vending their wares along the street. Most of all – it is devoid of any signs of a tourist invasion. These neighbourhoods are gradually disappearing and can be more difficult to find in the larger cities as life continues to improve for the residents.
Across the street is an Antique Market. It is about 2 streets long but most of the wares for sale are really just junk. 
Especially if you consider that Collin spied a deck of ‘Lady Gaga’ playing cards. I could have tried my hand at bargaining just for fun but didn’t see anything that interested me in the least bit.
After dinner, Collin and I head back to The Bund for some night light viewing.
It is quite the spectacle to see as buildings on both sides of the river are lit up and often flashing. We are joined by the 8 million visitors so are lucky to see the tourist boats all lit up and cruising the river. A bit of an elbow here and jostling there mixed in with a good dose of patience was all it took.
Wednesday, Oct 6 – Collin and I enjoyed the ‘Life
of Riley’ as we spent the day at the Shanghai Racquet Club. It was not our initial intent to while away the hours here but it just seemed to happen. The club is out on the western reaches of the city in a suburb inhabited by many foreigners. Once inside the grounds, the feel is very ‘western’. Thinking we would just check out the club and maybe play some tennis, we instead ended up going for the ‘full meal deal’. It started with a break
fast, then off to 1 ½ hours of clay court tennis, a dip in the pool (complete with a sandy beach) and hot tub before showering and enjoying lunch. After this experience, Collin has decided to travel only where he has reciprocal member privileges. If I’m lucky, he’ll stow me away in his luggage in the future.
For more pictures of the clubs check out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/sets/72157625773203534/
It began being corralled liked cattle waiting for the gates to open. I think it took us an hour just to make it out of the starting gate and into the grounds. One person in our ‘corral’ passed out just as we were set to go. Fortunately he did not get stampeded.
Once inside, we headed straight for the Spanish Pavilion (only waiting 30 minutes in line) as I was certain Collin would enjoy that one – among its features; Rafael Nadal, Flamenco Dancing and a gigantic robotic baby.
By the time we emerged, the line-ups for Pavilions had significantly grown, many a minimum of 2 hours on up to 6-8 hours for the most popular ones. We decided to stop into the Nederlands as the line-up was shorter and moving quickly (not too much to see) and then used Collin’s ID to jump the queue for the Canadian and Malaysian Pavilions. We were not impressed with how our tax dollars were spent on the Canadian exhibit (I’d like a credit on my income tax filing) but the Malaysian exhibit was extremely interesting as we had just returned from there and recognized many of the exhibits and goods for sale. Using his best Mandarin, Collin tried to get us into the Singaporean Pavilion but they wouldn’t allow him to bring a guest. I forgot to bring my ID or we could have visited the USA, although it was voted the worst of all the Pavilions to see, so I don’t think we missed much.
For more pictures of Expo check out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/sets/72157625633106357/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/sets/72157624888120150/
y of walking, a day of bike riding and a day of clubbing. But before I continue with those details we have the arrival in Shanghai.Sunday – October 3. Arrival in Shanghai. Unbeknownst to me, Gilbert decided to make the trip out to the airport to greet Collin and me. He waved a little flag
propped on a chopstick with my name on it, ‘Hoody’, to grab my attention. The first words out of my mouth were ‘What a nice surprise!’ - he had taken those words right out of my mouth as they were clearly written on the back of the flag. Yes – we know each other well. Next up – gather Collin and head for home. I had made up a sign with his name, ‘Koody’, on it so obviously we have been through this airport routine before.This time, getting home is a Maglev ride and a cab. Probably one of the last Maglev rides (at 430km/hr) for me, as the subway now comes all the way to the airport. We literally dropped our bags at home and headed to ‘Cloud Nine’, a 9 floor shopping complex, for dinner – Teppanyaki (my choice). Over dinner Collin has a chance to quiz Gilbert’s vocabulary of 200 words of Mandarin. I can already tell it’s great to have Collin along to read and speak the language. Then a walk back to the apartment to succumb to jet lag.
Collin had camera ready at hand and captured all the lights and action near Zhongshan Park – new for him while ‘old hat’ for Gilbert and I.Monday, October 4. A quick visit to enjoy the birds singing in the park.
It is a daily social outing for the birds but the owners will take them home by 9am. Obviously, we have to be ‘early birds’ to catch their melodious singing.Our day of walking is suppose to begin with a big breakfast at ‘Wagas’. However, everything is opening later than expected since it is National Holiday Week. We have to nix that idea and settle on Starbuck’s. Then Collin and I are off to the subway and the Pearl Tower. On the walk to the subway we see a corner noodle house which is open for the early risers. Collin begins to salivate so I know to take him to the local Chinese take-out tomorrow morning.
Pearl Tower at the waterfront in Pudong.
It is a perfect day for viewing the city from up high. However being National Holiday. there are an estimated 8 million visitors to Shanghai this year. At least 1 million or so have the same idea as we’re told it is a 2 hour wait – from what we can see we’re thinking 2 hours plus. The tallest building in Shanghai is nearby and we walk there in the hopes of viewing the city from their vantage point. The line-up is smaller – less than 1 ½ hours but still too long for our liking. We decide to come back tomorrow and will enjoy the walk along the promenade instead.Lo and behold we come across the Jin Mao building which offers 360 degree viewing 
from the 88th floor – we decide fate is now in our favour and will view the city from here. It is 88 yuan – 1 yuan/floor and well worth it today. The building also contains a hotel with the claim to fame that it is the highest hotel in the world. Mission accomplished, we head for a quick photo-op with Jackie Chan
before our walk along the promenade.
from the 88th floor – we decide fate is now in our favour and will view the city from here. It is 88 yuan – 1 yuan/floor and well worth it today. The building also contains a hotel with the claim to fame that it is the highest hotel in the world. Mission accomplished, we head for a quick photo-op with Jackie Chan
before our walk along the promenade.We visit The Bund (Puxi side of the river) to view the waterfront and historic district of town. Although the buildings are now accessible to the public, in the past they housed various ethnic clubs so segregation was the norm. Being a’ Lao Wai’ (foreigner) has advantages as we get a personal tour of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. It is being refurbished but the lobby is finished. 
We do get a minute to enjoy the longest bar in Asia – a treat since women and Chinese were once banned from entering this strictly all men’s England club.
We do get a minute to enjoy the longest bar in Asia – a treat since women and Chinese were once banned from entering this strictly all men’s England club.Nearing Old Town we decide to take a late afternoon stroll there. 
It’s really a tourist trap so we are joining the expected enormous crowds – any shopping is out of the question. We visit Yu Yuan Gardens - a bit of a respite from the noise and crowds. It is a traditional Chinese rock-style garden. I remember the gardens being able to block out all city sounds but now the surrounding barriers are virtually non-existent so we cannot completely escape the toots of scooters. A sign that Shanghai continues to tear down the old to make way for the new.
It’s really a tourist trap so we are joining the expected enormous crowds – any shopping is out of the question. We visit Yu Yuan Gardens - a bit of a respite from the noise and crowds. It is a traditional Chinese rock-style garden. I remember the gardens being able to block out all city sounds but now the surrounding barriers are virtually non-existent so we cannot completely escape the toots of scooters. A sign that Shanghai continues to tear down the old to make way for the new. Tuesday, October 5 – we are all set to tackle the city on bikes. 
As promised, our first stop is the local take-out for a breakfast of fried pork dumplings and a coffee at Starbucks. Then it’s ‘wo men zho ba’ (we’re off).
As promised, our first stop is the local take-out for a breakfast of fried pork dumplings and a coffee at Starbucks. Then it’s ‘wo men zho ba’ (we’re off). I am always in my element on my bicycle – weaving in and out of traffic, scooters, bikes and pedestrians. It only takes an hour and Collin is up to speed. We check out a ‘murphy’(public tennis court) along the way to the French Concession as we may decide to hit later.
A quick stop to view the dragon wall at a restaurant and then on to our first destination – The Yong Foo Elite Club. Collin has a reciprocal membership here so yes, membership does have its privileges. Being one of the most expensive restaurants in all of Shanghai, it’s our opportunity to rub elbows with the rich and famous. We are given a tour of the club with its memorabilia dating back to the 1930’s. It is interesting to see but at the prices on the menu we’d be calculating our cost on each bite of food going down. Unfortunately no photo’s are allowed and Collin controls his itch to sneak in a shot or two (and maybe get us kicked out in the process as we are dressed in biking gear).We now cycle along beautiful tree-lined Fuxing Lu until we reach Fu Xing Park – It’s listed in the guide books as a must see but there are other parks equally interesting. 
I’d characterize visiting a local park as a sneak peek into the life of the Chinese. Fuxing Park always has its seniors crowded around tables playing either Maj Jong 
or Big 2. We’d love to surprise them with our knowledge of the games but time is of essence so we won’t linger. There is a heated argument at one of the tables but as it is in Shanghainese, Collin is unable to translate. 
We’re too late for any early morning Tai Chi but we do take a few moments to watch a couple kids, with rented fishing poles, easily catch fish in a stocked gold fish pond. 
Otherwise it is fairly uneventful today.
I’d characterize visiting a local park as a sneak peek into the life of the Chinese. Fuxing Park always has its seniors crowded around tables playing either Maj Jong 
or Big 2. We’d love to surprise them with our knowledge of the games but time is of essence so we won’t linger. There is a heated argument at one of the tables but as it is in Shanghainese, Collin is unable to translate. 
We’re too late for any early morning Tai Chi but we do take a few moments to watch a couple kids, with rented fishing poles, easily catch fish in a stocked gold fish pond. 
Otherwise it is fairly uneventful today. A short distance on is Taikang Lu – a new ‘hot spot’ for visitors to Shanghai. It is an area touted as the ‘old Shanghai’ with twisting, winding lanes lined with art studios, shops and cafes. We both found it a bit like ‘pete and repeat’ – different shops carrying the same merchandise. It seemed a bit touristy for our liking and after delving a short distance inside, we decided to escape the tourists and head over to the Bird and Insect Market.
Traditional Shanghai – before reaching the market we are rewarded with finding a few streets of what I consider ‘old Shanghai’. It is reminis
cent of what I remember of Shanghai 10 years ago with its woks sizzling, people outside their dwellings socializing, sleeping 
or carrying on with daily life and hawkers vending their wares along the street. Most of all – it is devoid of any signs of a tourist invasion. These neighbourhoods are gradually disappearing and can be more difficult to find in the larger cities as life continues to improve for the residents.We now reach the Bird and Insect Market – The noise is always deafening inside with crickets and birds constantly chirping for attention. 
The crickets are individually kept inside a variety of containers – plastic, round clay or newspaper wrapped cardboard tubes. 
Lots of mealworms are also for sale as food for these critters. The birds are in cages stacked in rows 
with a few turtles and cats rounding out the menagerie. Today it is a hive of activity with people buying and examining the crickets so I did hope that one of these insects didn’t decide to latch on to us for a ride to our home in Shanghai.
The crickets are individually kept inside a variety of containers – plastic, round clay or newspaper wrapped cardboard tubes. 
Lots of mealworms are also for sale as food for these critters. The birds are in cages stacked in rows 
with a few turtles and cats rounding out the menagerie. Today it is a hive of activity with people buying and examining the crickets so I did hope that one of these insects didn’t decide to latch on to us for a ride to our home in Shanghai. 
Especially if you consider that Collin spied a deck of ‘Lady Gaga’ playing cards. I could have tried my hand at bargaining just for fun but didn’t see anything that interested me in the least bit.Dinner is spicy Szechuan cuisine that includes a ‘mask’ show. 
We tone down the ‘hot’ just for Collin. Although short in length, the show is an ancient Chinese Art form. For many years, the trick for changing the mask was kept a National secret but now the secret is out. You can view the video we took and see if you can uncover the secret as I’m not telling (and yes I do know how it is accomplished).
For the video of the show check out:
We tone down the ‘hot’ just for Collin. Although short in length, the show is an ancient Chinese Art form. For many years, the trick for changing the mask was kept a National secret but now the secret is out. You can view the video we took and see if you can uncover the secret as I’m not telling (and yes I do know how it is accomplished).For the video of the show check out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/5295087783/in/set-72157625679805934/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/5295722990/in/set-72157625679805934/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/5295722990/in/set-72157625679805934/
After dinner, Collin and I head back to The Bund for some night light viewing.
It is quite the spectacle to see as buildings on both sides of the river are lit up and often flashing. We are joined by the 8 million visitors so are lucky to see the tourist boats all lit up and cruising the river. A bit of an elbow here and jostling there mixed in with a good dose of patience was all it took.Wednesday, Oct 6 – Collin and I enjoyed the ‘Life
of Riley’ as we spent the day at the Shanghai Racquet Club. It was not our initial intent to while away the hours here but it just seemed to happen. The club is out on the western reaches of the city in a suburb inhabited by many foreigners. Once inside the grounds, the feel is very ‘western’. Thinking we would just check out the club and maybe play some tennis, we instead ended up going for the ‘full meal deal’. It started with a break
fast, then off to 1 ½ hours of clay court tennis, a dip in the pool (complete with a sandy beach) and hot tub before showering and enjoying lunch. After this experience, Collin has decided to travel only where he has reciprocal member privileges. If I’m lucky, he’ll stow me away in his luggage in the future.For more pictures of the clubs check out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/sets/72157625773203534/
We took a 2 week hiatus from Shanghai to visit Singapore and Malaysia. Returning, we had 2 more days of sight seeing in Shanghai before heading off to Huang Shan.
Shanghai World Expo – Through Gilbert’s Guanxi (connection), he was abl
e to get us 2 tickets to Expo. Unfortunately, the only day we could attend was a Saturday which meant grinning and bearing it with almost 750,000 Chinese tourists. As it turned out, we ended up being there on one of the 2 busiest days of the entire Expo. Not only that, there was a typhoon off the coast of China. When that happens, Shanghai is deluged with rain and wind. It was at its’ worst on the Saturday so we spent a fair bit of time trying desperately to stay dry and warm. Even then, we maintained a positive demeanor throughout most of the day.
e to get us 2 tickets to Expo. Unfortunately, the only day we could attend was a Saturday which meant grinning and bearing it with almost 750,000 Chinese tourists. As it turned out, we ended up being there on one of the 2 busiest days of the entire Expo. Not only that, there was a typhoon off the coast of China. When that happens, Shanghai is deluged with rain and wind. It was at its’ worst on the Saturday so we spent a fair bit of time trying desperately to stay dry and warm. Even then, we maintained a positive demeanor throughout most of the day. It began being corralled liked cattle waiting for the gates to open. I think it took us an hour just to make it out of the starting gate and into the grounds. One person in our ‘corral’ passed out just as we were set to go. Fortunately he did not get stampeded.
Once inside, we headed straight for the Spanish Pavilion (only waiting 30 minutes in line) as I was certain Collin would enjoy that one – among its features; Rafael Nadal, Flamenco Dancing and a gigantic robotic baby.
By the time we emerged, the line-ups for Pavilions had significantly grown, many a minimum of 2 hours on up to 6-8 hours for the most popular ones. We decided to stop into the Nederlands as the line-up was shorter and moving quickly (not too much to see) and then used Collin’s ID to jump the queue for the Canadian and Malaysian Pavilions. We were not impressed with how our tax dollars were spent on the Canadian exhibit (I’d like a credit on my income tax filing) but the Malaysian exhibit was extremely interesting as we had just returned from there and recognized many of the exhibits and goods for sale. Using his best Mandarin, Collin tried to get us into the Singaporean Pavilion but they wouldn’t allow him to bring a guest. I forgot to bring my ID or we could have visited the USA, although it was voted the worst of all the Pavilions to see, so I don’t think we missed much.Since Expo is spread out on both sides of the Huang Pu River, we ferried to the other 
side and visited the ‘History of the Expo’ Museum. It was not as informative as we had hoped and waiting in line to get in soaked us entirely. Our umbrellas were really no match for the storm. By then it was late in the day and Collin decided to ‘bail’. He had enough of the rain, the crowds and the crappy burger we had for lunch. I really wanted him to see the Pavilions lit up at night but it was not to be. The next day, when I went to take money out of my wallet, the RMB was still soaking wet, so yes I do regret not having brought the ponchos.
side and visited the ‘History of the Expo’ Museum. It was not as informative as we had hoped and waiting in line to get in soaked us entirely. Our umbrellas were really no match for the storm. By then it was late in the day and Collin decided to ‘bail’. He had enough of the rain, the crowds and the crappy burger we had for lunch. I really wanted him to see the Pavilions lit up at night but it was not to be. The next day, when I went to take money out of my wallet, the RMB was still soaking wet, so yes I do regret not having brought the ponchos. For more pictures of Expo check out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/sets/72157625633106357/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/sets/72157624888120150/
Shanghai Museum – Collin and I again enjoyed the benefits of Gilbert’s Guanxi as he arranged a private guided tour for us at the museum. Eden 
is a former student of Gilbert’s and we really appreciated her time in giving us the history of the various historic relics on display. It is obvious that Eden is quite passionate about her work, especially the ceramics section, although she was also very knowledgeable about bronzes, sculptures and jades. I think we spent about 6 hours with her and saw the museum in its entirety. So a special thanks from both of us to Eden.
is a former student of Gilbert’s and we really appreciated her time in giving us the history of the various historic relics on display. It is obvious that Eden is quite passionate about her work, especially the ceramics section, although she was also very knowledgeable about bronzes, sculptures and jades. I think we spent about 6 hours with her and saw the museum in its entirety. So a special thanks from both of us to Eden. For more pictures of Shanghai check out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/sets/72157625679805934/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfick/sets/72157625679805934/
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