Sunday March 13th, 2016 Shanghai, China

We’ve only visited China on one previous occasion; a day trip to Shenzhen from Hong Kong – and so we are really looking forward to visiting Shanghai today. 

We gathered with the rest of our group for the all day shore excursion and at the pointed time, around 7:30am, we proceeded off the ship and through Chinese immigration. Strangely, all those going ashore were issued a photocopy of their passport  - the originals being safely kept onboard.

Our guide for the day, Coco, was soon introducing herself as the bus sped out of the port for the hour-long journey into Shanghai. We learn that since it’s Sunday the traffic should not be too bad and that we may even arrive a bit early. The fire hose of facts starts to flow – really it’s too early in the morning for this, my ability to retain information is proportional to my caffeine intake and I just have not had enough yet. I barely remember that Shanghai has a population of 24 millions. 

Gradually the landscape changes from severely industrial to just plain industrial – the views are not enhanced by the overcast sky and occasional drizzle. High-rises, apartment complexes, train lines, more high-rises this place is vast. 

As we approach the city center we learn that the Shanghai of today owes its existence to “our second chairman, the short one” who opened up China for trade and, based on the input of his Fang-Shui advisor, decreed in 1997 that the city should achieve balance by creating a massive new development on the east side of the river where at the time there was only a swamp. It is staggering to see what was achieved over the next twenty-six years; most of the now iconic Shanghai skyline included three huge towers, three tunnels under the river along with major extensions to the underground train system. The east of the river development would rank as a major world city all by itself.

Our first stop was at the Yu Gardens and market. Coco tells us that the market, or bazaar, caters to both locals and tourists; the stores selling the work of local artisans as well as cheaper trinkets are located in ancient wooden buildings with classic Chinese rooflines. There is a buzz of activity and the streets are packed with people, we’ve been told to keep a close eye on our valuables – I notice a strong police presence, but really compared to some of the places we’ve been it did not feel very threatening. 

We walked over the zigzag bridge and into the Yu Gardens; the atmosphere immediately changes from torrid to serene. The facts continue to flow from Coco, she must be The Google of Chinese culture. The Yu gardens are not like any other gardens I’ve visited; in place of the usual planted beds and well kempt lawns are a series of grotto-like spaces constructed around a small stream. There are also a lot of classic Chinese style wooden buildings that were used for various functions; meeting halls, hangouts for the rich folks and the like. Walkways and small bridges link the various spaces – the overall effect is very pleasant, and upon closer examination I find that most of the plants and trees are in fact labeled with their Latin names reminding me that this really is a proper garden.

The end of the garden walk spilled out back into the market; the sights, sounds and smells are an assault on the sense – but in an exciting and good way. Coco shows us the meeting point and we are given 45 minutes of free time; free in China, who knew? The meeting point is in fact a government-run “Silk World” shop where in exchange for the free use of the clean facilities you get to watch a demonstration of how silk worms produce silk.

We head for what we’ve been told is the best dumpling place in town, this is Shanghai after all – it was easy to find because it was the only place with a huge queue. I did a quick time and motion study and determined that it would take us 93 minutes to reach the hole-in-the-wall serving counter - no dumplings for us today. So we headed over to Starbucks, yes in this quaint centuries-old market there were in fact two of these Seattle-based caffeine dispensaries (we also noticed a McDonalds!).

Shopping was very easy, we used the Chinese currency that we had obtained before we left home – everyone was very nice and spoke very good English. One shop was selling hand painted duck eggs and we bought one for use as a Christmas ornament; the young girl even customized our purchase by writing our names in both English and Chinese on the egg.

Back on the bus we head back to the city center; more cultural facts from Coco – she’s a bottomless pit. Through one of the newly constructed tunnels and under the river we immerge on the east side in the forest of super-high towers that is the pride of Shanghai. The bus disgorges us in front of the Jin Mao tower and Coco shows just the right spot get an upward-looking photo of all three of the main towers at the same time. It’s very cloudy (or is it smog?) and the tops of the towers are barely visible.

A very fast and smooth elevator ride brought us to the 88th floor of the Jin Mao tower. Apparently the number 8 is considered very lucky in the Chinese culture; this is because the pronunciation of the word “wealth” and the pronunciation of the word “eight” are almost identical. So the 88th floor must be super-lucky. I suppose the viewing platform of the tower would normally offer spectacular 360 degree views of the city but, as expected today, the clouds / smog are messing things up a bit – not so lucky then.

After a short bus ride back over to the west side and we visited the Grand Theater for lunch, which was included with the shore excursion. I never have very high expectations for lunches that are “included in the price”, however the meal today was exceptional. An area of the upstairs ballroom had been sectioned off and transformed into a banquet style lunch area, complete with large round tables equipped with rotating Lazy Susans to facilitate a classic family style Shanghainese meal. Several tour groups were already eating and our group occupied two of the round tables and tucked in to a fantastic meal.

Following lunch our bus cut across People’s Park to the Shanghai Museum where we were once again set free, this time for about 3 hours. Our plan was to try and walk to the promenade-like area along the river known as The Bund, and then finish off with some time in the museum. Central Shanghai is an extremely modern metropolis with busy broad streets, shopping malls and high-rise buildings. We navigated our way to the pedestrianized shopping area along Nanjing Road – everywhere we looked seemed to provide a photo opportunity, I’m sure we looked like classic tourists.

Nanjing road seemed to be one of the main shopping areas and on this Sunday afternoon about half of Shanghai must have been out for a stroll. Other than at a football match, I’d don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people packed so close together. All of the high-end brands could be seen and the Chinese people seemed perfectly at home in this environment – really not that very different than any other major world city, only this is communist China! After about 45 minutes of hard slog, think salmon swimming upstream, a quick check of the GPS showed we were not even half way to our intended destination – and so we abandoned the idea of a walk along the Bund and changed course for the museum.

The occasional old colonial building would appear reminding us of the history of Shanghai. Following the opium wars of 1870-something the city was divided into four “concessions”; one each for the British, French, American and Japanese. People’s Park, right in the center of the city, is a modern creation and houses several museums, the theater and main city government building within it’s grounds. 

The main Shanghai museum is located in a modern building and as might be expected is crammed with some spectacular Chinese artifacts – we noticed some pottery from 10000 years ago! There is also a superb display of ethnic Chinese fabrics and costumes. A rather good tea and coffee shop is located on the second floor. Note that if you visit the museum the security checkpoint causes a backup; we waited about 10 minutes.

Heading back to the port and its more facts from Coco, only now she is getting a little political. Apparently the west should not worry about the Chinese rise to prominence any build up of military power is strictly for defensive purposes; “the Chinese people are by nature very kind and gentle, we will not hurt you”. Well that’s a relief.