Day 31 to 32: Shanghai

Trip Start Apr 16, 2009
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17
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Trip End May 31, 2009


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Flag of China  , Shanghai,
Monday, May 18, 2009

On Saturday, I arrived in Shanghai. Hot, dusty, dirty. One could tell that the air quality is a different than the one in Hangzhou. In fact, I appeared to react allergically to this and still do. It may be a hayfever, or just the quality of the air here. On  my first day, I pretty much spent most of the time in the Shanghai Museum, which is sort of the center of the People's Square in town. The museum offers free admission, is thus quite crowded, and offers an amazing collection of bronze work, statues, paintings, calligraphy, coins, porcelain, and so forth. Shanghai being known to be a small place - only about 19 million people living here - it happened that I met two girls from Australia in front of the museum that I got to know in Hangzhou during my first evening's dinner. How small the world is! Later on, I met Malcolm, my host here in Shanghai, and his family at whose place I stay here. We had a wonderful family dinner and I could enjoy a long lasting conversation with Malcolm's mum who is an English teacher here in Shanghai.
On Sunday then, I started my city discovery by walking down the East Nanjing Road to People's Square again where I was to meet Michelle, another acquaintance from Couchsurfing. We enjoyed a lunch at a fancy place called "Baby Doll" ;) In the afternoon, I took a walk around the tremendously crowded area of Old Town, with its Yu Garden, but escaped rather quickly as it was hard to breathe there. I called it a day with walking along Nanjing Road again, this time in an enlightened evening perspective, and of course along The Bund, with a good view of the night skyline of New Pudong area with its towers and skyscrapers.
My first days impressions of Shanghai are different than the ones of Hangzhou: Shanghai feels definitely more of being a metropolis, it is differently busy, and it probably takes more time to love this place. I have been annoyingly often approached by touts and different other people trying to sell me something, trying to convince me to join them for a tea ceremony, and so forth. It is place to watch out. It is Shanghai.
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Comments

vie168
vie168 on May 19, 2009 at 02:22PM

Spotlight!!
Try to enjoy a bit that everyone pays extra attention on you ;-) Feel like a super star??

Just remember to cut down the price first before paying anything!!

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