Shanghaied!

Shanghai is a great city to visit.  It is the largest city in China, which is a feat in itself (remember that China has 65 cities with populations greater than a million).  The Huan Pu River runs through it, separating the Pudong (meaning “east of the Pu”) from The Bund (meaning “embankment”).

Since I had a weeklong conference at the Shangri-La in the Pudong, that’s where we stayed.  The Pudong is full of modern buildings.  It centerpiece is The Pearl, a science fiction looking radio/TV/observation tower.  Julie and Christopher braved 2-hour lines to get to the upper viewing area (which had less than spectacular views due to the small windows up there).   There is also the Shanghai Tower, the second tallest building in the world (behind The Burj Khalifa in Dubai) which, if you know Christopher, was also a must do—so they did.

What I found different in Shanghai’s skyline was that the buildings were able to standout individually, not crammed together into a blur of towers.  This is so different than other modern cities that have sprung up quickly.

Surprisingly for a city so big, the traffic was not bad.  In the Pudong there were never really any traffic jams (especially compared with SF).  What you did have to watch out for were the electric cycles that could sneak up on you silently in dedicated bike and cycle lanes.  We saw no gasoline motorcycles at all, which I assume is part of the government’s effective efforts to clean up air pollution. 

There are elevated walkways in the central business district of the Pudong which connect buildings and malls.  Being able to stroll without having to worry about crossing streets and cars is a pleasure.  They also got you up higher for a little for better views.  There are steps that you can walk up or escalators, but note that the escalators are shutoff at the first bit of rain meaning walking up sometimes slippery steps is mandatory.

China has moved forward so quickly in my lifetime.  I remember being a kid when Nixon visited China and began opening up relations.  Everyone on we saw in China on the TV news seemed to wear Mao jackets and the streets were filled with bicycles.  In only 50 years,the streets are now filled with Audi’s, Chevy’s, and Mercedes.  There are even Chinese made electric plugin cars. 

Everyday business is conducted using mobile phones and apps (pronounced "A-P-P").  We Chat and Alipay QR codes are everywhere and acceptance of Visa (and other cards) is not ubiquitous once outside of the tourist areas.  There are stands of external batteries everywhere like in the photo.  You sign up for the service, check one out with a QR code and app, charge your phone, and return it somewhere else to recharge for the next user. 

English speakers are also somewhat scarce (although this is changing).  Many signs are subtitled in English (with some interesting translations), but not everything is.  We were looking at a restaurant menu before going in that was all in Chinese and pulled out Google Translate that uses the phone’s camera to translate into English.  Some of the restaurant staff were amazed by that piece of technology.

Which brings me to The Great Wall—not the 1500 year-old one, but the firewall that controls what information goes into and out of China.  As a westerner the impacts can be felt every day.  No Google (and that includes Google, Google Maps, and Gmail), no Facebook (limiting Julie’s posts), no Instagram, and no Twitter.  There are various workarounds.  When we were there you could access those on your mobile IF you had a non-Chinese carrier who supported roaming in China.  Hotel and other public Wi-Fi had these sites blocked.  Sometimes you could get through with a VPN, but not always.  Bing became our search engine of choice while in China.

A coworker in our Shanghai office offered to give us a tour of The Bund.   The route had us crossing the river on a ferry.  You could tell at one time these were auto ferries, but now they were just for pedestrians.  We waited for one to arrive and then it was organized chaos as we boarded.  There were two groups; the one who sprinted to the far side so they could be the first off, and the group that wanted to be seated for the 8-minute ride. 

Now there weren’t really seats, just a ship’s locker that created a bench.  A coworker got there were she was one of three people sitting in a space for two.  Her face summed up her position.  We crossed the river and when we bumped into the dock nearly everyone on board let out a loud “Oooohh”.  The ferry was worth the 2RMB (about $0.25).

Once to the other side we went to Yu Gardens.  This is a touristy area full of shops, both quaint and not.  Wandering the narrow streets where the roofs almost touch in the middle is a fun way to spend a few hours.

If you are looking for something different that takes a little less time I can suggest the maglev train to and from the airport.  It is easy to find it at the airport, just follow the signs.  It was built as a demonstration project, but 15 years later it is still going strong.  It is 30km long and covers it in 7 or 8 minutes at a top speed of 420kph (~265 mph) and costs 50 RMB (about $7).  The only downside is that it only goes half way to the city center so you need to transfer to the subway or take a taxi for the rest of your trip.

This was my second time to Shanghai.  We finished the trip off with a weekend at Disneyland which was both great and the subject of another blog.   I would like to come back and explore Shanghai more.  Julie and Christopher got to see lots more and enjoyed it.  Lots ‘to do’ in this city.