Shanghai

 

"There is something in Shanghai that is very exciting and alive - the idea of a city with two different souls, one from today and another from a long time ago, is amazing."   -- Alessandro Michele

Shanghai

Shanghai is massive!  26 million people!  Imagine a city 3 times as large as New York City and twice as dense.  

Just the ride in from the airport to our hotel displayed the transformation this city was taking.

We spent three days in Shanghai and one of the best memories is getting up real early and taking a walk out onto the streets.  The world was just coming alive and the bustle was only beginning.

Sonja has never met a street vendor she didn't love.

She didn't speak English, Sonja didn't speak Chinese.  No telling what was going to be in that food.

Yuyuan Garden

Northeast of the Old City of Shanghai is the Yuyuan Garden.  Built in the 1500's during the Ming Dynasty, the garden was the largest and most prestigious of its era in Shanghai.

Zhujiajiao

A day trip out of Shanghai took us to Zhujiajiao, a water town on the outskirts.  Established over 1700 years ago there have been archaeological finds dating back 5,000 years!  

Our day was spent walking through the streets and markets.  Riding in a gondola style boat down one of the waterways and, of course, shopping.  

How about that?  We had our own private entrance!

Once we got into it, it wasn't all that private an entrance.

Who needs diapers?

Meeting with a Chinese artists and bargaining for a piece of his original art.

I was happy with the deal...  not so sure about him.

One of the few times, I will be the "tall guy" in the picture.

Silk Factory, Buddhist Temple, Bund and, oh yeah, I was working on this trip.

Really fascinating to watch them spin silk.  We had no idea how this was done and came away with a heckuva lot of respect for these hard workers.

Guess who found street food?

This young man blew us away with his command of the English language.  He spoke better and more eloquently than 90% of Americans!

Final Thoughts

As Jimmy Buffett sang...  "I'd like to get you on a slow boat to China..."  

China was incredible.  A culture going back thousands of years that had been relatively hidden from the west for so long.  We met amazing people.  We saw bucket-list places and ate incredible food.  (Although, I couldn't tell you what it was Sonja was eating on those streets).

The dichotomy between Beijing and Shanghai was very clear.  Beijing is the old, political city of China where Shanghai represents modern and the future.  Both were equally fascinating and if we ever go back we'd love to spend more time in Beijing experiencing the culture and history of this country.