Shanghai

Day 14 - Shanghai

Got up at 5:30 for a run. Left the hotel at 8:00 to catch a 9:00 train to Shanghai. The train was a double decker and one of the most uncomfortable so far. We sat three by three bolt upright facing each other. Space was at a premium.

We arrived in Shanghai by noon and had lunch with the group. Justin and I struck out on our own at about 2:00 PM. We first visited Yufo Si (Jade Buddha Temple). The temple contains a white jade statute of Buddha reportedly carried back from Burma by a local monk. The statute was about 6 ft in height and supposedly weighs about 1000 kg. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed of the statue itself, though we grabbed some of the temple grounds.

After the temple, we wandered into the "old city" and eventually found our way to the Yu Gardens. Built by a well placed Ming Dynasty family, the compound was not exceptionally expansive, but large for a private residence in a big city. The rock gardens and pools of goldfish provided a nice respite from the city bustle.

From here, we walked to the riverfront area referred to as the "Bund". In its heyday, this area served as Shanghai's version of Wall street. It has several buildings built in the mid to late 1800's to house the offices of foreign investors. We actually got a little lost while walking to the Bund, so were looking for some place to take a break when we finally got there. It was getting dark, so we decided to hop on a river cruise to see the city lights come on as darkness fell. It was pretty impressive. The Chinese government is pouring investment into Shanghai in hopes of creating a successful financial center within the Communist system that would mirror the success of Hong Kong (developed under capitalism). This has resulted in lots of building and some impressive looking sky scrapers that lit up quite nicely after dark.

Day 15 - Shanghai

I set off a little after 9:00 to find a Federal Express office to mail visa documentation for Kirkland. I had called several Fedex numbers listed on-line to get directions, but my inability to speak Chinese and the broken English I encountered on the phone made it less than clear that I was heading in the right direction. Nevertheless, with a little faith, perseverance, and perhaps luck I found a distribution office at the end of a lonely street within a non-descript, gated compound. I think the workers inside were a bit surprised to see someone walk in to send a package. They spoke good English and indicated that their main operations involve picking up packages from businesses rather than receiving items from individuals. In any event, I had done as much as I could from within China to submit the required documentation.

By the time I returned to the hotel at 10:45, Justin was ready to go. We taxied to the Shanghai Museum. It was very good, with sections covering different areas important to Chinese culture - porcelain, calligraphy, furniture, bronze & jade works, coinage, statues, and paintings. What I found most interesting were the exhibits that described how craftspeople prepared their works at different points in history. So many museums I have visited display great works of art but leave unanswered the technology that had to be developed before the works could be created. In some sense, it seems that these processes are a form of art themselves. Certainly, it means more to me to have a hand crafted work than a machine produced one. In the former, I know that I have captured in some sense the artist's view of their world.

After the museum, Justin and I returned to the Bund and took the underground train across the river to the newly developed area of Pudong. We considered a number of options that would allow us to go up and have a nice view of the city. Ultimately, we decided to just have a Coke in the cafe in the Grand Hyatt on the 54th floor of the Jinmao Building. When we got there, however, it was the dessert buffet that won our hearts. The dishes were great.

Wrapping up our visit to Pudong, we strode along the promenade and caught a ferry back across the river. From their we walked through the pedestrian area of Nanjing Road, which is something of a modern outdoor shopping mall. Somewhere along here, we saw the first (and only) Subway sandwich shop that we came across in China. It is interesting to note the varying degrees to which US brands have established a presence in China. Certainly the big consumer product companies (Coke, McDonalds, etc.) have strong presences.

In the evening, we rejoined the group to attend a show by a troop of Shanghai acrobats. It involved many acts of choreography, coordination, balance, and flexibility. One act saw two acrobats twirling an impossible number of plates strung along a table. Another involved a lone acrobat climbing a teetering tower of wooden chairs, which must have been at least 25 feet tall. The finale had five individuals on motor bikes riding around at the same time inside of a wire mesh sphere. I am not sure how fast they were going, but their momentum was swift enough to allow them to go completely upside down. Pretty spectacular.

The group stopped at a local bar for drinks to send off Emmy, Lisa, Natalie, and Anne. They were on the shortened version of the tour that the rest of us were taking.

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