Located at the center of the east coast of China, by the mouth of the
Yangtze river, Shanghai was the merchant capital of China during the period of
European domination and is continuing that role in modern day China. Here is a
link to a site which provides an in-depth exploration of Shanghai: http://shanghai-shanghai.net/
Saturday, May 19
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We fly in from Xi'an. What a contrast! From the
ancient capital of China to her new economic powerhouse! As we drive in to
the city (population: 13.5 million) everywhere we turn there are new
skyscrapers with more going up all the time. |
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First stop: SHOPPING! We are dropped off on Nanjing road in the midst of
department stores, shops, boutiques and a surging mass of fellow shoppers.
" Be back here in an hour." |
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Now that we have that out of our system, we can take a tour of the
historical section of downtown Shanghai. We start with Huxinting teahouse
and the Yu garden. |
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Everywhere you go in china, the gates are guarded by a pair of lions.
The one to the right of the door (your left) is the female (she usually
has a tiny cub under her paw), and the one to the left (your right) is the
male (with a ball under his paw). |
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  The
Yu garden is a fully restored classical garden in the 16th century style.
A Ming dynasty official built it for his father, but it took so long to
get it just right that his father never saw it. |
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 We
visit the workshop of Wan Hongchen, an artist in paper clipping. He does exquisitely
detailed images freehand with scissors and heavy paper.
We are taken by this stand of bamboo, so it follows us home.
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He signs and dates the horses we buy for our daughter Jennifer. |
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  The Bund is the strip along the
Huangpo river where the colonial powers
built their European style headquarter buildings in the first decades of
the twentieth center. Now it has a raised promenade that Shanghai loves to
stroll along. |
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Across the river is the new Pudong district which has been built up in
the past three years. The centerpiece is the Pearl of the Orient TV tower,
the tallest one in Asia. downstream are the shipyards. |
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This was once the observatory and semaphore, sort of a control tower for
the port. Now the first floor houses the Bund Museum and the second floor
is a nice café with an outdoor terrace. The guide tried to tell us that
it was a light house. |
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 We finally get to our hotel, the Shanghai Hilton. It is located in the
old French concession and the streets we see in the area remind me a
little of Paris |
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After dinner we head back out to an acrobatics performance by the
Shanghai Circus
I
made a movie of the catapult act
(500 KB download). |
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The finale is a motorcycle act. Big deal: lots of smoke and noise. But
by the time they had four motorcycles crisscrossing inside the sphere, it
is tense and exciting! See the movie
(1170 KB download) and hear the audience reaction! |
Sunday, May 20
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This was scheduled as a free day in Shanghai. Most of our group wanted
to explore the many shopping opportunities that the city offers. We had
already done all of our shopping, so we contacted a tour company and hired
a car, driver, and guide for a day trip to the garden city of Suzhou |
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In the evening we rejoin the group for a Bund-by-Night boat ride. |
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Peter Danford has an interactive panorama of the Bund
at Night |
Monday, May 21
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We have the morning at leisure so we decide to walk over to the Shanghai
Public Library.
Traffic was a heavy mixture of cars, bicycles and pedestrians, but
through a lull I managed to snap this picture of somebody's laundry hung
out between a utility pole ad a sign post.
For more pictures of everyday life in Shanghai, click
here.
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On the way we pass the American Consulate, so I decide to snap a picture
of the Stars and Stripes.
Now examine the bottom edge of this picture. There are two soldiers
from the People's Liberation Army guarding our consulate. The one on the
right came running across the street talking very loudly to me. He pointed
to the camera, so I showed him this picture using the screen on the back.
He examined it closely and went back to his post. Thank goodness for
digital cameras!! |
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The Shanghai Public Library is a large new building much like a
university library built in 1996. One of 10 largest in the world, it has
13 million books and manuscripts. This is the old card catalog. The
neighboring room has
many computers for the online catalog. The software is Ameritech's
Horizon. It is fun roaming around the library. The fourth floor has the
Friendship Library (many nations) and the San Francisco Friendship
Library. We have to check our bags at the door in this section because we
don't have a library card, but are otherwise free to roam around. |
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We take the Hilton Hotel shuttle out to the airport accompanied by two liveried
bellboys to load and unload our luggage. Off to Guilin! |
Tuesday, May 22
Wednesday, May 23
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