Last night in Shanghai
Trip Start
Apr 03, 2008
1
9
26
Trip End
Jul 02, 2008
Shanghai,
China
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
So, it's Tuesday night and this is our last night in Shanghai. We're catching a train early tomorrow morning to go to nearby Suzhou for a few days. It's called the 'Venice of the East' apparently. I'm sceptical about how accurate that is, but we're looking forward to seeing some of the many famous gardens.
Over the last few days we have had pretty dismal weather as I recall. It's quite English really - although probably slightly warmer (not much!).
Since our last entry on Saturday evening, we met the people in the dorm opposite ours (guys from Israel, France, the UK, Korea, Cote d'Irvoire and China... so quite a mix!) and sat chatting in a big group for a few hours. Unfortunately all our new-found friends were leaving the next day, but we had an enjoyable evening nevertheless.
On Sunday morning we had a lie in and then thought we'd head to the Shanghai Museum to finish off what we had missed on our first visit. I do not recommend trying this at the weekend. We saw the enormous queue of tour groups and gave up immediately! It had become quite sunny, so we grabbed an ice cream nearby and walked towards a supermarket that the Lonely Planet had recommended for buying western style things (we fancied a sandwich and it's hard to find sandwich fillings in normal Chinese corner shops). This was quite a trek away on West Nanjing Road, but we just enjoyed the walk and saw some interesting things on the way, including a delicious looking bakers. Bread products and cakes seem to be very popular out here, which really surprised us, but it's nice to be able to get a treat.
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We found the complex where the supermarket was, and co-incidentally found the booking office for an acrobatics show that was recommended in our guide book as well. We bought mid-range tickets for the next night for 150 yuan (about 10 pounds) and were very pleased with ourselves.
We picked up some food for lunch from the supermarket, and after eating it headed into a shopping mall as it had turned cold! We decided after a little walk around that we would try to find the Chinese Propaganda Art Museum. After a brisk walk to the address, we could not find it at all! On closer inspection it seems that the address that Lonely Planet supply is not the same as the marker they put on their map. We think the museum is probably at the address given rather than at the marked point, but we did not have time once we realised this to walk there to see... How annoying!
It was after 4pm now, and things seem to close quite early in Shanghai (tourist attractions like temples and museums anyway), so there was little choice of what to do next. We decided to make a trip to the Longhua Pagoda in the south of the city, even though the temple there wouldn't be open. It took a while to get there on the metro and on foot, but it was an interesting area of town, with next to no foreigners, but there was a Tesco! The pagoda was pretty, but we think that it would have been more worth visiting when the temple was also open, and the nearby cemetary for the revolutionary martyrs may also have been open.
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After seeing the pagoda we got the metro to the hostel, and went to the bar for drinks and some dinner - spaghetti bolognaise and a tuna salad respectively, and they were good value.
On Monday we walked to the Shanghai Museum to complete what we had started in our first trip. This time we saw exhibitions of calligraphy, seals, paintings and minority cultures crafts and costume. We took about another 4 hours completing it! For an afternoon snack we got some squid balls from a kiosk near to the museum and sat to eat them in Renmin Park. I was not a fan, but Ali loved them and even finished mine off. During the day we were stopped but about 3 groups of Chinese tourists who were fascinated to speak to us. It got a bit draining after a while, especially when we were trying to have a quiet sit down!
We headed back to the hostel to change for the acrobatics show, and headed out to get there on the metro. The shows start most nights at 7.30pm. Before the show we picked up some salads to have for dinner afterwards at the hostel from the supermarket nearby.
The show was really enjoyable - it was obvious that the State circus probably picked the most promising talent from regional groups like this (the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe). The show lasted about 1.5 to 2 hours I think, and we really enjoyed ourselves. The theatre was quite small, and mainly full of tour groups - we were a bit worried by the small size of the audience when they were choosing someone to help with the knife throwing act!!!
After the show we went back to the hostel to eat our salads and get an early night before our last day in Shaghai.
Today we set off for the Confucian temple in the Old Town.
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It was very interesting to see the statues of Confucius, and the messages/prayers that people had tied to trees around the main hall. After a walk around the various halls and open areas of the temple, we walked into the French concession to get some lunch. We ended up in a Thai place called Coconut Paradise on Fumin Rd, and had a very nice lunch. It wasn't very busy and there seemed to be lots of waitresses around though! After lunch we walked around the northern part of the French Concession looking at the clothes shops. I picked up a cheap cardigan, but most of the shops ended up either not having much choice, or being more expensive than we imagined! It was interesting to look in lots of small boutiquey shops rather than big chains though. We ended up in the same area that we saw the nice bakery the other day, so we popped in to get some breakfast for tomorrow, and whatever else we fancied! It was sooo crowded, but we got some lovely things for very little money indeed, so we'd recommend it. It's called Cafe 85, just south of Nanjing Rd West. We sat in a lovely garden that we came across on the walk towards the Bund and ate the walnut cake that we had picked up. The cherry blossom was out, and we saw some interesting things as we sat chatting amongst the flowers - a couple having their wedding photos taken, and some cute little bats flying around as it got darker.
We set off walking towards the Bund (a fair walk along the direction of Yun'an Rd), but we enjoyed the walk which took in a mixture of things - a giant Spaghetti Junction style flyover mess of about 5 levels (!), and some beautiful parks with open grass and lovely walks.
By the time we got to the Bund we faniced sitting and eating the dinner that we had bought for ourselves, and Ali got a coconut from a stall, drinking the milk and saving the flesh for later when we manage to break it open!
We popped down to the entrance of the Bund sightseeing tunnel, and bought return tickets for 50 yuan. This is the weirdest tourist sight I have ever seen - it's a tunnel under the Huangpu river through which little carriages on tracks carry you to the other side, linking the 2 sides of the river. The whole tunnel is lit with lights in crazy colours and patterns though - it's bizarre and well worth a look! I have a video of the 3 minute trip, which I'll load on when I can.
After a quick look around on the Pudong side of the tunnel, sadly discovering that it isn't possible to walk on the illuminated colourful steps of the Pearl Tower without a ticket to go up the tower, we got the tunnel back again, and headed back to the hostel. We're getting an early night tonight and leaving early to get the train the Suzhou.
We'll let you know what we get up to there!
Kate and Alison xxx
Comments
sounds wonderful...
wish i was there!xxxx
Spaghetti!
You had spaghetti in China, that is too much! I love it! You guys are busy travelers, that's really great to see.
Louise Brown
TravelPod Community Manager
Spaghetti!
Ha! Yes, it is weird, but the bar menu only had pizza, pasta or salad strangely! We've had plenty of Chinese food as well you'll be pleased to hear!!!
Kate