My Shanghai Travel Writing

I've meant to write about Shanghai for quite some time, but I've been procrastinating. Even just by recalling Shanghai from memory, coherent thoughts wouldn't form. That's why I've not written about Shanghai two weeks since I've left it.

Know that this is not chronological, so I won't write like "On day 1 I was here, and on day 2…". Rather, I chose the highlights of the trip. I think that's for the best, otherwise this would be too long-winded, that when printed it will be so thick that most will think this is supposed to be of the intellectual bastion. That's why people buy business books - the thicker the books, the more ostentatiously smart they are, right?

Shanghai. It's not China's capital, but it's among the nation's most prosperous cities. Think of New York to America. These two cities are quite alike in regard to their countries, and the architectures of some of their buildings resemble each other's. Just walk along The Bund, and you'll see.

The Bund: Nighttime

 An Impressive clock tower

The Bund: Morning. It's foggy.

The Bund is similar to Baywalk (Philippines), except The Bund is a river's walkway. When you go there, you'll see a lot of European Art Deco/Beaux Art buildings behind you. These kinds of buildings can also be seen all over Manhattan (or on our Roxas Boulevard, although they're abandoned and unmaintained and changed from Beaux Arts to Bulox Farts). So try to keep your ears open because language is their only discernible difference. Look opposite to the Huangpu River, that there's the Pudong district. See the many tall modern skyscrapers like the Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Tower and the soon-to-be-finished World Trade Center. Of course, you can go there, climb up, and have a panoramic view of Shanghai. They're among the top ten tallest buildings of the world.

Jin Mao Tower (front) World Trade Center (back)

Pearl Tower (hide your snark, please) 

You can go from The Bund to Pudong by subway. Or you can go by The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel. The admission fee to it is expensive ($4), but try it once anyway. You'll move by an underground cable car through a passage filled psychedelic lights accompanied by weird sci-fi music, making the going from point A to B very much like traveling to another dimension (or at least the common notion of dimensional transport. I really wouldn't know). See the final scenes of 2001: Space Odyssey. The experience is alike.

By the way, Shanghai is enormous, and that means if you want to see its tourists spots, you have to do a LOT of travelings. While the subway is useful, it does not go to all places. Get used to being peripatetic.

Ok, some may moan that they hate walking. Fine, but if you're touring anywhere, do not expect to get your money's worth if you're walk-phobic. I'm saying this because there might be some who are so amenities-spoiled they couldn't even cross the road (I know a handful of people like that), and will choose the guided package tours. Don't. They're not worthy. Guided package tours will take you to the tourists spots very briefly you'll fail to absorb the sceneries. And they'll also drag you to many irritating souvenir shops and awful restaurants. My suggestion is for you to plan your own itinerary and be prepared to walk a ton. That rule applies anywhere, but I just need to say it because I know of some who always use package tours instead. Walking is a fact of life. Deal with it.

Maybe you will think that I'm sidetracking, but I'm not. Walk a few kilometers from The Bund and you'll reach Nanjing Road, a very popular shopping street. You can also reach here by subway. You will see malls, restaurants, department stores, hotels, and shops. It's almost like New York's Times Square, which, for better or worse, means it's very bright, noisy and crowded. But this shopping district extends farther than Times Square, and is divided east and west with People's Park in between, with each of the three having its subway station. People's Park is a good repose from all the bustling, and has a museum near by. 

If you can read/speak Chinese, then take the bus; otherwise, you can walk (very far) or taxi to XinTianDi, south of People's Park. XinTianDi is an impressive sight because it looks like Paris (and even New Orleans). It has malls, galleries and theaters, but it's not so much a place to shop as it is to dine and wine. Very expensively at those. So unless you're willing to barhop and to splurge, going here might not be worth your time.

Xin Tian Di

Back off, dude. 

So far I've been talking about places in Shanghai that are reminiscent of the West. But I'm sure you didn't go to Shanghai for something like that; rather, you came with mental images of Oriental temples, old towns or pavilions. Well, worry not, Shanghai has many of those! The only drawback is that going to there without using taxis are like having a pilgrimage: manageably tiring, but oh-so-rewarding.

Yuyuan Garden is EXQUISITE! How could I even describe it? Just look at these pictures:

Yuyuan

 Yuyuan

 Yuyuan again

 Ditto

He's being reprimanded by a lion-hybrid

And you won't only see impressive gardens, pavilions and pagodas, you can also dine here (without giving Trillanes an open invitation to your pocket). They also have an expanse of shops where you can buy junks for your needy friends whose "Bon Voyage" actually means "Pasalubong ha!" (translation: don't forget my souvenirs). My only gripe here is that they have two Starbucks that plays Kenny G. When I think of traditional China, I think of emperors, temples, erhus and teahouses. Coffee shops and muzak JUST. DON'T. FIT.

Thankfully, Qibao does not have Starbucks. Qibao is identical to Yuyuan Garden, except if Yuyuan is of the affluent ancestors then Qibao is of the ancient everypeople. Both of them are uniquely fascinating. You'll travel a lot in going to Qibao (and here's a warning: the wikitravel's tip on that is inaccurate) because it's far from central Shanghai. A temple is here, which makes this place more spiritual than Yuyuan. They also have narrow streets that are full of sellers of foods and ancient Chinese goods.

He thinks he's a Tang Dynasty poet

Once again… 

Streets of Qibao 

Same 

For a temple that's nearer to the urban areas, go to Jade Buddha Temple. It is sacred, but you can go here to see the sheer magnificence of the Buddha statues of Maitreya, Siddharta, Guanyin and many others. What I don't like is that its incense is expensive: at $2 for 3 sets when it's 50 cents for one elsewhere. Even more absurd is that their incenses are said to have "different flavors", so there's a kind for family prosperity, another for love, another for harmony, and another for fortune. I don't get it. They also have souvenir shops that sell jewelries, paintings and antique statues. But, by far, the best thing about this temple (and believe me there's a lot to like) is the foods. They're scrumptious, affordable, and vegetarian-friendly.

Jade Buddha Temple

Buddha shrine

Jade Buddha Temple's Backyard

That covers it for my short Shanghai travel guide. There are too many places here that are worth your time, and I'm sure I haven't gone to as many as 1% of China's tourist spots. All I can say is that Shanghai is fabulous. You HAVE to go there when you get the chance.

Before I end this entry, here are my few observations about Shanghai:

• Did you know that Yao Ming is from Shanghai? He is the most famous individual of this country. There's a poster of him every hundred meters.
• The authorities can do things to you if you say something that indicts communism.
• People from Shanghai think that Philippines is a more prosperous nation than China. Ha ha ha. *nervous laughters*
• Pirated DVD costs $1-2.
• If you're a vegetarian, let Happy Cow guide you to finding vegetarian restaurants of any cities.
• Sun Yat Sen is much revered.
• Chiang Kai Shek isn't.
• Be wary of how the people here drive because they're very undisciplined. They swerve at will and they very often beat the red lights. Kind of like in the Philippines.
• Sadly, you'll get used to being-bumped-without-receiving-apologies.
• A lot of Chinese spit anywhere, but I've been told that people who do these are not from Shanghai.
• Have you ever seen Chinese acrobats? My goodness, they're practically boneless!
• Surprisingly, the immigration office from China is very well-mannered and efficient. Quite unlike pinoy's.
• I hate going into this "we pinoys don't have that" diatribe-land, but we DO need to improve, to work harder, and to STOP relying on delusional government's "efforts" and buzzwords. Stop believing in institutions that overrate their achievements. Please. Philippines is a beautiful country; we're just not doing our part to make it stay beautiful!
• The weather wasn't very good when I was in Shanghai. A foggy day, in Shanghai town/had me low, had me down/I viewed the morning with such alarm/the vista from Pudong had lost its charm…