Bright and Shiny Shanghai!

The flight to Shanghai with China Eastern airlines was mostly unremarkable except for its, more than fair share of, turbulence. The seat belt sign was ON throughout the 5 and 1/2 hour journey. Immigration and baggage collection went smoothly and fun-fact : Chinese immigration greet you in the official language of the country your passport belongs to. It was quite a surprise to be addressed in Hindi at Shanghai airport!😊
It was only the beginning of my exposure to the extent technology is used in everyday things in China.

road.

 (A shiny display in Shanghai) 

With my initial bravado wearing off slightly at the overwhelming experience of a new country and new city, I was especially pleased to find hubby dear waiting for my daughter and me at exit. Time to keep the translate app on our phones handy. The airport in Shanghai is an hour away from downtown where all the action takes place. The roads are excellent with quite a few criss-crossing flyovers. Sedate scenery with  fields and modest houses, followed by some older housing estates which could do with some upkeep, greeted us  on the way. Then, "The Bund" comes into view! Magnificent buildings vying with each other to capture our attention. Through the taxi I got a glimpse of a few interesting skyscrapers.

Our 'hotel', The Fish Inn, was more of a restaurant which decided to build a few rooms for people to stay. When we first reached there, we were about to turn away thinking that we had the wrong place with the same name as hotel we booked online but were quickly stopped by the friendly staff and directed to our room. Notwithstanding it's appearance, the location of 'The Fish Inn' was excellent and there was nothing wanting in it's amenities. It's a good deal for families on a sensible budget!

(In the neighborhood of Shanghai Fish Inn)

 As with most of the major cities of the world, Shanghai is built around a river, 'HuangPu' and it's main tributary, 'Suzhou Creek'. Our hotel was on the banks of the 'Suzhou Creek', very close to where it was joined to the river. Not wasting too much time, we deposited our backpacks in the hotel and set off towards 'The Bund'.
The banks of the river are developed into walkways and gardens, much like the Thames in London or Seine in France and we had a lovely time walking in the cool weather. We had company, as there were people walking, jogging and exercising there. We also saw many couples doing wedding photo shoots in this beautiful background.

(The walk around the Suzhou creek) 

The tall buildings were interspersed with buildings of colonial style architecture. A huge, gated, British style bungalow with grounds sported the nameplate Patek-Phillipe, the Swiss watchmaker.

(Patek Phillipe mansion) 

The walkway beside the river was much wider than the one beside the creek. It was more crowded too with hundreds of tourists, interspersed with smartly dressed couples, on their wedding photo shoot.

(One of the many many photo shoots happening at the promenade)

We could see the skyscrapers on the other side of the river. There were boats and ferries sailing on the river and we could see the attractive oriental tower with its beautiful globes on the other side. Oddly enough there was no bridge in sight, across the main river!  Steps down to street level on to the side, led to arrays of shops selling noodles and various other Chinese delicacies I couldn't wait to try :) For those who were less adventurous, there were shops selling icecream, slurpees, corn on the cob and also a Starbucks!

(Gorging on unique tasting Chinese corn-on-the cob )

The stream of people on the walkway above and below was well regulated by uniformed staff. Sanitation workers swept up the path regularly. Dustbins were numerous and almost all of them has recyclable compartments.

 (Mao's statue by the river)

 (Posing in front of a bull statue on the street)

(Eateries on the walkway)

GROSS ALERT!
After lots of posing, eating and fun, I was really warming up to China, when I had to go to the toilet. Fortunately, there was a public toilet right next to the river. It was clean, by most public toilet standards, but what left me quite shocked was that they were all squatting toilets. Having given up squatting toilets more than a decade ago, I was forced to relive those days with a prayer for my knees. I developed a new empathy for the middle aged European women travelers I met in China, who had braved this, without any prior experience. 😇To be fair, some public toilets, usually had a handicapped stall with a western commode, but it was usually locked.

We proceeded to the people's park area and were greeted by huge manicured lawns and gardens with massive buildings, like the Shanghai Museum which dwarfed these gardens in breadth. We could see that space was not a problem in China!  To my disappointment and hubby's delight, we were quite late to the museum. 😞 He's not that into museums . However, the musical fountain  at the center of the park, was a visual and acoustic delight.

  (The Shanghai Museum in the back drop)

 (The beautiful garden in People's park)

 (Buildings surrounding the park)

(Musical fountain in the park)

It was dusk by the time we headed back  to our hotel. On the way, I stepped into a high end mall hoping to God that the toilets  there at least had a western commode. Zara, Prada, Chanel outlets were lined up on the ground floor itself making me wonder why the Chinese have to step outside the mainland for shopping?!
The beautiful natural colors of the sunset between the buildings soon gave way to the bright and flashy lights of The Bund as we joined a procession of tourists on the roads heading to their dwellings.

 

(The evening sky from People's Park)

We walked on the bright and commercial looking Nanjing road. Double storied Lego outlet with all kinds of Lego dinosaurs peeking out of the window, M&M outlet and a Ferrari which was displayed as a prize for a road show by a phone company are few of the things that caught my eye in that street where everything was eye-catching! The cost of things were quite high and comparable to a high end shopping district anywhere in the world. So window-shopping is all the shopping we did on Nanjing 

(Sights of Nanjing road)

The roads were so tightly packed with pedestrians, that the cops were actively managing the crowd. I didn't know if this was a daily occurrence or we were in the midst of tourist season. We quickly slipped into an inviting looking building with lots of food vendors. Good Decision! An escape from the smothering rush on the street and a haven of Chinese delicacies! We tried a Chinese crepe with eggs, spring onions and parsley which was delicious. Next a dish of stir fried squid beckoned to me and proved to be just as yummy as it looked. There was another dish of fried Tofu with sauce which was OK. We had just finished our Tofu and stir fried squid when a Chinese tea seller invited us to taste some sweet and exotic tea made with cranberries and dried rose petals etc. Although they all tasted heavenly, we couldn't settle on a bargain as he wanted us to carry at least a 100 RMB worth of tea, while we were ready for less.  We roamed some more to have a dessert of a sweet soup with loads of dried fruits, jellies and herbs which tasted nice and was full of texture.

 (Yummy local delicacies including squid stir-fry and sweet dessert full of fruits)

As we made our way back to the hotel, we caught sight of the buildings across the river, now brightly lighted up and trying to outdo each other like some competitive neighbors at Christmas! They also formed a panoramic feast for the eyes for us.

 (Sensational Shanghai skyline )

That night we crashed and slept like logs after our long and fun-filled day in Shanghai.

GROSS ALERT!
The next morning, I awoke to he sound of someone coughing up spit and spitting quite violently. It turned out that our room had a view, to the neighbors back porch. And the neighbor, a 60 something Chinese man, seemed quite diligent in walking right up till our window on the ground floor, which was thankfully locked and barred, and spitting right underneath it. I was quite taken aback by the regularity and violence with which he spat and cleared his nasal passages outside our window. It was only later on that I found, spitting on the road,quite a national past time for the common Chinese. Given, their civic sense, I also found drivers of vehicles on the airport spitting on the tarmac, its quite an achievement by sanitation workers that the roads are spic and span and the neighborhoods we visited, clean.
     Our friendly reception staff told of us of close by street with good eating out options two blocks away. We proceeded there for a breakfast of stir-fried noodles and dumpling soup. Using translate apps we were able to buy breakfast, shop for souvenirs and also checkout local sweetmeats. Prices were reasonable and we never felt ripped off despite being the only Indian tourists there.

 (Breakfast at a popular restaurant near our hotel)

After breakfast, we headed out to visit the tallest building in China and 2nd tallest building in the world on the other side of the river. There were no bridges so we headed for the underwater tunnel to cross the Huangpu river. We bought tickets to the Bund sightseeing tunnel and the top of Shanghai observatory for 135 RMB per adult. We were told, we could only purchase tickets for my daughter , for the observatory, near its entrance.Its another dazzling display of light and music with a voice over as you are transported in an underground car to the other side.

 (Entrance to The Bund tunnel)

 (Tunnel cable cars in the background)

After emerging from the tunnel,  we see the Oriental Pearl building, a short distance away and beyond it steps to an elevated walkway which passes by, and has exits to, most of the main sightseeing buildings in the area. There are lots of tourists like us, making their way to various malls and clicking numerous pictures, while the traffic flows smoothly on the roads below. Its a well-designed system. Dustbins, adorned with plant pots, are placed at regular intervals and I am feeling more appreciative of China when I start noticing the pervasive smell of cigarette smoke. I've chanced upon another favorite pastime.  Smoking!

  (view of Oriental pearl tower from the elevated walkway)

 (Elevated walkway between buildings in Shanghai)

 (One of the exits from the walkway to a mall and labyrinth of buildings )

(Entrance to Shanghai Tower)

 

We quickly made our way through one of the exits facing a large mall, behind which we can see the Shanghai tower, towards the observatory. We enter the building, intending to cut across it and promptly get lost indoors amidst boutiques, cafes and posh department stores. We are helped by the concierge staff till we finally get to the entrance of the observatory.
It looks as magnificent as we hoped it would be which immediately soothes our Asian sensibilities as we feel we will be getting what we paid for😊. As we make our way to the lift to get to the top, there is a lot of trivia about tall buildings and their chronology. There are models of skyscrapers around the world and lot of information about them. I am tempted to read it all but we have limited time in our schedule so I skip most of it.

 (Trivia and models of world skyscrapers)

 (Certified fastest lift)

A certificate outside the lifts declares that they hold the 'Guinness Record for being the fastest in the world! As a pretty lift hostess operates the lift, all our eyes are glued to the screen inside. It shows the floor we are on and the current speed, as we ascend.
A spacious viewing area, enclosed on all sides by glass is what greets us on the observatory floor. There are quite a few people but it doesn't seem crowded. VR machines and telescopes are there to be used for a charge. Only the tourists from other countries use coins, the locals scan the QR code, with their phones, for payment. I have noticed that QR codes are omnipresent and I have yet to see locals paying for anything with cash.

 (Spacious viewing area at the top of tower)

 (View of Oriental Pearl Tower from the top with Huang Pu river and Suzhou creek in background)

 (Views on the other side)

As we look down through the glass, the buildings that towered over us when we were on the ground look quite unimposing. What I like best is the view of the Oriental Pearl Tower against the backdrop of the Huang Pu river and it's tributary. We take a leisurely stroll around to get a 360 degree bird's eye view of Shanghai. I almost point out the location of our hotel by the Suzhou creek to hubby.

GROSS ALERT!
Now, having frequented too many of the public squat toilets at sightseeing locations, a clean western commode was now the stuff of my dreams. Therefore, I was very surprised to see a state-of-the-art western loo on the top of Shanghai Tower. I was so impressed and like any Asian mom decided to take maximum returns on the steep entrance fee, so I sent my daughter to the restroom, quite against her will. My daughter lived up to her mom's expectations locking herself inside for a full 15 minutes trying out all the options twice! By the time mother and daughter were done with the 'loo appreciation', hubby had rung twice and was quietly fuming in the corner.

 (😜)

It was quite expected, we were on a tight schedule. It was already 3 pm and we had to have lunch, head back to our hotel, check-out and head to the bullet-train station by 7 pm at least. If not, we would miss our pre-booked, expensive ride on one China's famed high-speed trains to our next destination.
All this was easier said than done. A quick lunch with my daughter, is mission-impossible itself. So I coaxed and cajoled my daughter to eat faster while trying to enjoy some delicious dimsums in front of my increasingly impatient hubby. After lunch, we hurried back to catch the return trip across the
colorful underwater tunnel and reached our hotel. We were planning to take a taxi to the high-speed train station, but the helpful staff at Shanghai Fish Inn warned us against the traffic. Anyway, the Nanjist East Metro station was just a short walk away. Hubby had looked at the map and told us that our destination was on the way to the airport.  We entered the station just as the train to the airport arrived and scrambled in with backpacks and all just in time. We were feeling very pleased with ourselves at having reached on time, maneuvering the Mandarin ticket machine, buying the right tickets and being on our way to the station on time. Two stations go by and as the third station is announced my husband catches it's name and says it's on the opposite route to our destination😟.
As it happens, Shanghai has 2 airports on opposite ends of it's metro route!

 (Inside the MAGLEV or bullet train)

All our smugness wearing off, we hastily apologize our way through the crowded train, to the exit and run across the platform to get on the train to the opposite side. Once inside, we check and recheck, to make sure we're actually on the right route this time. Three stations before our destination, after an announcement, everyone gets off the train and waits patiently for the next train as the train we were traveling on departs, empty. I can feel the collective blood pressure of the family rising at yet another delay. When we finally reach the ticket counter at the high-speed train terminus, we realize we do not have the all-important order no. that the attendant at the window requires for printing our ticket. There is a long queue behind us and 30 minutes to spare before the bullet-train departs.
Now you see, I was the one to print out the train tickets as my husband had left that job to me. The day I did the ticket printing was international festival day at my daughter's school, for which I made like 50 samosas and also pack everything but make sure you can carry it day. So, I don't blame myself for printing the invoice with the booking number instead of the email with the order number. 😇
As my husband tentatively tried "Booking No.?" and the lady at the counter barked "Order No.!!" back and forth, a few times, I felt a sick feeling in my stomach. Are we going to miss this train after all? We have only half-an-hour to spare. However, my wonderful husband fished out the order number from email in this very pressurized situation.
Once we obtain the tickets, we run with our back-packs to our platform, which is very conveniently situated at the opposite end of the huge Terminus. I am at the verge of crying when we finally locate our seats and plonk down. Within 5 minutes of that, the MAGLEV(short for magnetic levitation), pulled out of Shanghai-Hongqiao station to our next destination in China!

(Bye-bye Shanghai!)