Arrived in Shanghai early and used the metro this time to find the hostel to stop any "ooh, is this our stop? I don't know, everything's written in Chinese" bus journeys. The hostel was The Phoenix and was in a great location and only a short walk to Peoples Square, so we showered and headed out for a wander. We eventually made it back to the hostel 6 hours later after a lovely exploratory walk, which became a slightly confused meander, and escalated quickly into a "where the bloody hell are we" trudge. Made it back tired slept well, and had breakfast in a bakery on the corner. Croissants and coffee later, we walked to and along the Bund. This is just a big embankment which was made on the river so that the ships could dock, and as all the money was there, the banks were also built. Quite nice with all of the grand skyscrapers of steel dominating the skyline, and below the old banks of brick and stone. When the Chinese had their own national bank built, their only want was that the building was higher than it's European built neighbours. They failed twofold; the result was a brick monolith with no imagination in its design, it only stands out due to its lack of anything interesting to contribute to the Bund, and the roof designed didn't sit properly and so when adapted to work it didn't sit the highest as intended.
Some nice views of modern China (with a strong ex-patriate flourish), and lots of brides and grooms having pictures taken in the sunshine. We walked further North across a lovely old bridge of which the Chinese had actually bolstered the name of the town of production from the steel. I assume that it was Sheffield or something from Shanghais history, but can't confirm this.
We took the metro to the French Concession which used to be the playground of artistes, gangsters and whores, but now is full of malls of western brands. We were looking for a small maze of backstreets called Tianzifang. This had lots of touristy shops, some kitsch shops, little bars and restaurants and a lot of Chinese charm. It wasn't entirely authentic, was being put on for us, but a pretty little place. We decided against paying the inflated prices in one of these places and found a real Chinese chopshop a few doors down doing big steamed dumplings with pork and spring onion, and pak choi, spinach and garlic. Then found a place with BOGOF ice coffees which were a great ease to weary feet in intense heat.
Next day the plan was to get to the train station to buy tickets, then head to old town, but we couldn't extend our stay at our hostel, so had to pack up and move out. We ended up in The Captain right on the Bund which was crap to be honest. The staff were uninterested, next to no facilities, and our "mixed dorm" we booked online apparently didn't exist so we didn't even get to stay in the same room. The place boasted a rooftop bar, but this was stupidly overpriced, about £4.50 a beer when everywhere else I'd paid 60p to £1 tops.
We booked train tickets for the 32 hour epic to be to Chengdu 2 days later and as we walked back with the evening and weather closing in, Jos mood got worse and she got a little upset. Nothing serious, she was just a little homesick, and tired of moving on all the time. Travelling is great fun, but it can really tire you out, so she had a little cry on my shoulder. It didn't help that Shanghai isn't really anything new and exciting. It's a prosperous city but very Western and impersonal. Anyway, in an ironic sentiment, I treated her to a Starbucks, which did the trick and cheered her up. We then bought some tickets to the Shanghai Acrobatic Show for the following night. I spent the rest of the evening battling to backup our photos (heard way too many horror stories!).
Next day we decided we'd book ourselves back in at the Phoenix as the Captain was a dive with strange people staying there who blowdried their hair at 2am and 2 western girls who looked a lot to me like prostitutes. So in the rain, we took our big bags back to the Phoenix and then headed out to wander yet more shops and malls. We stumbled across a cinema in one mall with really cheap seats to see The 3 Musketeers in 3D, but proper 3D glasses, not the crappy disposables we have at home. This did not make a horrifically bad movie any better though sadly, and I left the cinema feeling dirty and that the money would've been better spent being farted into the wind for 90mins.
After the cinema we decided to go to the Old Town despite the weather. Getting out of the station into the rain we wimped out and dived straight into McDonalds for a coffee and cards. After a caffeine hit and our confidence bolstered, we ventured forth and found the Old Town isn't really very old at all, but really quite new, made entirely of concrete and made to look Oldey-Worldy, with traditional style buildings stilted upon a big fake pond. It ticked the last area of Shanghai off the list though, so we can't say we haven't tried to see everything! The most entertaining bit of the place was a shopfront under construction with a bloke on a ladder with no PPE on at all using an angle-grinder on top of the hoarding, spraying sparks all over himself and half the busy walkway with the shopping public underneath him! The man wouldn't have just lost his job in the UK for doing that, he'd probably be locked up! But the Chinese didn't bat and eyelid and just walked around where the sparks fell.
That evening we took the metro to the Shanghai Circus to see our acrobats. The show was brilliant, well worth the money, with pots being juggled, people jumping through spinning hoops, contortionists, and a cage of death which was a spherical cage of about 5m in diameter with 1, then 2, then 4, then 6, then 8 motorbikes riding around in! 4 of them spent about 5 mins riding around at speed less then 4" from the rear tyre of the person in front of them! Was a great final evening in Shanghai.
Next morning was our last day, and we had our epic trip to Chengdu that night, so we had a lazy day playing cards, drinking coffee and just trying to stay inside and out of the torrential rain! Was good though and Jo was thankfully back to normal again. We went to the same dumpling place we'd been to a few times before and I did my usual "talk loudly in English, then use charades, then give up and point at the Chinese menu and hope for the best" before we took the metro to the station. Next stop Chengdu for pandas and Buddhas!
Some nice views of modern China (with a strong ex-patriate flourish), and lots of brides and grooms having pictures taken in the sunshine. We walked further North across a lovely old bridge of which the Chinese had actually bolstered the name of the town of production from the steel. I assume that it was Sheffield or something from Shanghais history, but can't confirm this.
We took the metro to the French Concession which used to be the playground of artistes, gangsters and whores, but now is full of malls of western brands. We were looking for a small maze of backstreets called Tianzifang. This had lots of touristy shops, some kitsch shops, little bars and restaurants and a lot of Chinese charm. It wasn't entirely authentic, was being put on for us, but a pretty little place. We decided against paying the inflated prices in one of these places and found a real Chinese chopshop a few doors down doing big steamed dumplings with pork and spring onion, and pak choi, spinach and garlic. Then found a place with BOGOF ice coffees which were a great ease to weary feet in intense heat.
Next day the plan was to get to the train station to buy tickets, then head to old town, but we couldn't extend our stay at our hostel, so had to pack up and move out. We ended up in The Captain right on the Bund which was crap to be honest. The staff were uninterested, next to no facilities, and our "mixed dorm" we booked online apparently didn't exist so we didn't even get to stay in the same room. The place boasted a rooftop bar, but this was stupidly overpriced, about £4.50 a beer when everywhere else I'd paid 60p to £1 tops.
We booked train tickets for the 32 hour epic to be to Chengdu 2 days later and as we walked back with the evening and weather closing in, Jos mood got worse and she got a little upset. Nothing serious, she was just a little homesick, and tired of moving on all the time. Travelling is great fun, but it can really tire you out, so she had a little cry on my shoulder. It didn't help that Shanghai isn't really anything new and exciting. It's a prosperous city but very Western and impersonal. Anyway, in an ironic sentiment, I treated her to a Starbucks, which did the trick and cheered her up. We then bought some tickets to the Shanghai Acrobatic Show for the following night. I spent the rest of the evening battling to backup our photos (heard way too many horror stories!).
Next day we decided we'd book ourselves back in at the Phoenix as the Captain was a dive with strange people staying there who blowdried their hair at 2am and 2 western girls who looked a lot to me like prostitutes. So in the rain, we took our big bags back to the Phoenix and then headed out to wander yet more shops and malls. We stumbled across a cinema in one mall with really cheap seats to see The 3 Musketeers in 3D, but proper 3D glasses, not the crappy disposables we have at home. This did not make a horrifically bad movie any better though sadly, and I left the cinema feeling dirty and that the money would've been better spent being farted into the wind for 90mins.
After the cinema we decided to go to the Old Town despite the weather. Getting out of the station into the rain we wimped out and dived straight into McDonalds for a coffee and cards. After a caffeine hit and our confidence bolstered, we ventured forth and found the Old Town isn't really very old at all, but really quite new, made entirely of concrete and made to look Oldey-Worldy, with traditional style buildings stilted upon a big fake pond. It ticked the last area of Shanghai off the list though, so we can't say we haven't tried to see everything! The most entertaining bit of the place was a shopfront under construction with a bloke on a ladder with no PPE on at all using an angle-grinder on top of the hoarding, spraying sparks all over himself and half the busy walkway with the shopping public underneath him! The man wouldn't have just lost his job in the UK for doing that, he'd probably be locked up! But the Chinese didn't bat and eyelid and just walked around where the sparks fell.
That evening we took the metro to the Shanghai Circus to see our acrobats. The show was brilliant, well worth the money, with pots being juggled, people jumping through spinning hoops, contortionists, and a cage of death which was a spherical cage of about 5m in diameter with 1, then 2, then 4, then 6, then 8 motorbikes riding around in! 4 of them spent about 5 mins riding around at speed less then 4" from the rear tyre of the person in front of them! Was a great final evening in Shanghai.
Next morning was our last day, and we had our epic trip to Chengdu that night, so we had a lazy day playing cards, drinking coffee and just trying to stay inside and out of the torrential rain! Was good though and Jo was thankfully back to normal again. We went to the same dumpling place we'd been to a few times before and I did my usual "talk loudly in English, then use charades, then give up and point at the Chinese menu and hope for the best" before we took the metro to the station. Next stop Chengdu for pandas and Buddhas!
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