Tag Archives: Shanghai

Zai Jian China!

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Goodbye China

Goodbye China

China is not a developing nation, it’s developed. And we all might understand soon just how developed they are. I’ve never met a people who are more determined to make an impression on the world than these folks. Today China, tomorrow – well, probably Taiwan – but then …the World!

Hostels in China are terrific. The number and quality of them surprised us, lots of YHA options these days too, so get your membership before you arrive. Generally, they are cheap and most are either new or only 4 or 5 years old, so everything is shiny and new. Transportation in China also really surprised and impressed us. We were blown away by how modern the road network was and the buses were very comfortable. Now, bear in mind were were coming from India where the transportation system leaves something to be desired, so in comparison China ruled.

In terms of sights and things to do, the culture and natural beauty of the Southwest trumped the monuments and architecture of the North and East. Go to Tiger Leaping Gorge before the Dam is completed, see the South-West if at all possible, you will be greatly rewarded. Make time for it, shaving a few days off your time in Beijing or Shanghai will pay off.

China is the place I most wanted to visit before this trip an so far it’s the place I most want to come back to. Thanks China, have a great time ruling the World, I’m sure you’ll do a great job.

Doh! We’ve been Shanghai’d!

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Take Us With You!

Take Us With You!

Just when we thought everything was resolved with our flights, it turns out that it wasn’t.  You’d think that even the less than stellar women at the Qantas office in Beijing who issued us new paper tickets or the very stellar AA women in the U.S. who helped clean up the Beijing mess might have noticed that our very next flight – from Shanghai to Hong Kong – had been changed…. six months ago.  But I guess not.

We turned up at the airport for our 10:35pm flight on Monday, but when it wasn’t listed on the monitor, we began to worry.  Crap.  It turns out that flight was changed to 12:35pm some time ago.  How were we to know?  We thought the flight had been confirmed just the week before.   Thankfully the Cathay Pacific staff person booked us on the flight for the following day.  And we made sure to reconfirm (again) our flight to Johannesburg on Thursday.

I guess you just can’t leave Shanghai without some surprise!

Shanghai Shoppers

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Shanghai Nights

Shanghai Nights

We’re in Shanghai at the moment, and we’ve had another near miss with my cousin Sam Forrest, we had a close encounter with him in New Zealand, but we were on opposite sides of the North Island.

Architecturally this is the most interesting city in China, because of it’s mixture of Ultramodern and Deco styles. There’s also a huge influence on the city from Europe. It’s narrow winding roads are one of the many signs of European influence on the City. Nicknamed “Paris of the East” and “Whore of the Orient”. It gives you an idea of what Westerners and Asians thought of the place.

It would have been much more pleasant to visit Shanghai during the Spring or Fall – Summers here are too hot.

Shanghai is home to China’s “Golden Mile” and some of the alleged best shopping in China. In reality, there isn’t a whole lot else to do here and it’s so steamy hot that you’re actually thankful to find an air conditioned mall on every corner.

So in addition to strolling along the Bund, people watching down Nanjing Lu, and absorbing a little of the French Concession, we did manage to take in one historic site – the site of the 1st National Congress of the CCP. This was the site, 86 years ago today, of the secret meeting of 13 delegates who founded a formal and unified Communist Party of China. The museum was pretty interesting and a reminder that the CCP today is not the party of yesterday. Seriously. After an hour’s worth of reading exhibits about defeating the “bourgeois” you can step outside directly into one of Shanghai’s premiere shopping districts, something akin to the new outdoor urban malls of the US. If China is nothing else, it is ironic.

Party history aside, we could live without Shanghai. If you love cities and shopping, then perhaps it should make your China itinerary. But it if you’re more interested in really getting to know China and seeing it’s magnificent scenery, give it a pass.