16-04: Arrival at the train station from Hong Kong
Time to say goodbye to the nice lady I spoke with in the train. She gave us Renminbi money to be able to buy subway tickets and even more (Many thanks for that – Xiexie in chinese).
First image of China mainland: big place in front of the station, crowded. Lost a bank note and a chinese guy told us "Money... money" to let us know that we lost it... It took us quite a few seconds to understand what he was saying and thanked him...
An old man saying to me hello so we shaked hands. He was very smily (Who said chinese people don't speak English?).
It was a bit cold, we took the subway to the next station to reach the youth hostel close to the bund quarter. Unfortunately it was full for the next days. Marius went, as an explorer, around the quarter to find a place to stay for the night. Found it a few meters further and we had a nice room. Had a nap and then went out at evening time for a walk along the river. It's windy, humid and we got frozen. Had our first meal in a small restaurant we were looking at from the outside. The owner came out and invited us to choose amongst the "fake" dishes in the window which was the easiest way to order food ;) Enjoyed our meal and came back to the hotel.
17-04: New hostel near People's Square
Meeting with Anita in the French Concession quarter
Nice supper in Hong Kong restaurant with fried dumplings, steamed duck,...
18-04: Cross the city walking to reach the Bund, then cross to Pudong via local ferry (cheap: 2 yuan and not that crowded). It is amazing how busy is the river: many turisty boats, ships and even publicity-boats share the water!
Have a nice walk along the river under a sunny blue sky. Reach Oriental Pearl Tower and have a lunch at one of the stalls standing at the foot of the tower. Go to Jinmao Tower and take the elevator up to the 88th (8 is a lucky number in China) Floor for an outstanding view of the city. Stay until sunset to enjoy day and night scenery.
19-04: Rainy day, cloudy and grey... What a perfect for a Museum Day! Let's go to the Shanghai Museum just a few blocks from the hostel (so well situated).
We loved the Bronze section, showing the first cups and dishes used to eat as well as the representations of Buddha.
3 floors in total with really nice displays and English captions to understand a bit more... It's really worth it and it's a pleasure for the eyes. Let's simply enjoy the pictures and sink in Chinese art.
Then, a walk under the rain which ends in a massage centre where we can have a 60-min rest. Nevertheless, I have to say Chinese massage is quite tough as it is based on pressure points and for sure, my masseur did his best to relax my back! So I didn't feel asleep as I often do usually... though I felt lighter after that!
20-04: Plan to go to Hangzhou so we had to go to the train station to get the tickets (you can buy the tickets just 5 days in advance). Let's improve our Mandarin and find out how to get them. Luckily, some brand new ticket selling machines ''speak'' English so we can proceed with the buying. Before that we had to find a westerner speaking Chinese to help us determine which line up is the right one to buy the right tickets because each line up is dedicated to one specific destination...
Pretty easy so we then walk to the Jade Temple to soak in a more spiritual atmosphere. We enter a traditional wooden temple very well maintained. It looks like many temples we visited but I still like going in such places because it is full of serenity even when crowded... I like seating and observing people praying. To me, it seems very different (maybe more personal) from the Catholic religion but I won't go further as I don't know anything about the subject! I just enjoyed that moment...
Then we went eating some very nice fried dumplings on Wujiang street which is popular for its food stalls. Easy to choose the restaurant: use common sense and your senses as well ! When it's stinky, dirty ... keep on walking! and when it's crowded, it may be a good indicator of how good is the food... It works 99% of the time!
21-04: It's time to come back in time by visiting the Old City of Shanghai. Though, there is not that much left as Shanghai will host World Expo 2010... New buildings are blooming everywhere. We found a nice food market where Chinese do their grocery, enjoying the best as the worse smells before ending in the turisty part of the area. We just crossed the place as it was over crowded and a bit deceptive. Indeed, all the ''traditional'' buildings were made for the tourism, hosting shops and restaurants chains... Then, we walked to the Confucius Temple which was a much more quiet place to enjoy. As always, we took time to soak in the peaceful atmosphere... Temple, trees, water... all the traditional ingredients of that kind of places.
22-04: Last day in Shanghai. We really like the city. It is very modern, tidy, easily accessible with a special atmosphere. A bit like in Montreal with all the different quarters among which you can choose the one which fits with your mood.
In the morning, we go to the museum of urbanism. It gives us a better understanding of how shanghai is built and how it changes so fast. On the 3rd floor you can visit a huge maquette of the city, which is very impressive.
We end the day at the top of the highest tower of Shanghai where is situated the very trendy bar of the Hyatt Park Hotel. I had an outstanding glass of Gewurztraminer thanks to my charming prince :)
Tomorrow: going to hangzhou!!!
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