Shanghai

Shanghai was really created by the European occupiers as a trading city between east and west. Massive initial investments created a major city, and a bit of a play land for the wealthy. Fortunes were made and lost in a wild and festive atmosphere. The city grew to meet the desires of the Europeans, wholesome or otherwise. The Chinese were repressed, and outlaw groups used to keep the order. Shanghai became a symbol of the problems of imperialism, and was the birthplace of the communist party, at least partly in reaction to the excesses of the European occupiers.

Shanghai has been asleep since the communist revolution, and is far away from the political intrigue of Beijing. However, it is very much the center of attention of much of the government now. Many of the leaders of China today come from Shanghai, including the Premier, the leader of the Politburo, and the mayor of Hong Kong. With the new open economy, Chinese leaders would like nothing better than to make Shanghai the shining example of successful Communistic Capitalism. The old Shanghai of the imperialists was in mothballs for fifty years, and is now being remade by the communists at breakneck speed. The government wants Shanghai to become the financial center of Asia, eclipsing Hong Kong (and presumably Tokyo!), on a par with New York and London. Huge investments have been made in infrastructure, including bridges, expressways, airports, and a metro rail system. Private investment from Taiwan and Hong Kong (and to a lesser degree Japan, Europe and North America) has built huge skyscrapers --an entire new urban area.

The result on the street? Clearly everything is about money. While the rich are building buildings and striking the billion dollar deals to control the future, the common people are opening restaurants, or just hawking goods in stalls or street corners. The pace is fast. There is a definite buyer-beware attitude, as the new merchants slowly learn the importance of customer relationships. There is a bit of the old wild west feel to Shanghai returning. Hopefully this time, instead of the money fueling corruption and exploitation, there will develop a true middle class.

Day One

We found a great place to hole up in Shanghai. By Chinese standards, Shanghai is now a rather expensive place with hotel rates in the $50-100 range, and even cheap horrid places charging $30. We found a nice Guest House attached to the Shanghai Music Conservancy. For just $12.50 a night, we are near a Metro line in a clean private room. Fran is enjoying the sound of music students practicing during the evenings, and we hope to attend a couple of recitals while we stay. This is convenient enough that we decided to make it our base of operations, with day excursions to Suzhou, Hanzhou, and other nearby areas. That also means we don't have to carry the packs from place to place! We were very lucky to find a room, since the place has been full non-stop. Our train arrived early in the morning, so we were just lucky to beat the crowds and get a room! We have seen many others arrive just after us and leave very disappointed!

We spent the first day in Shanghai walking. ....and walking. Maybe we overreacted to the two days confined to the boat (the Three Gorges tour), but we do enjoy walking. We planned to start in Shanghai with a tour bus to get a good overview of the city, and there is a great one-day pass that lets you get off and see all of the sites at your own pace. But somehow we just kept walking, and about ten hours later had pretty much seen the lay of the land, so I guess we don't need the tour bus after all!

The older famous landmarks of Shanghai include the Bund, the row of European banks, hotels, and other ostentatious buildings that line the west bank of the river. Now, the east bank is rapidly being built with a rather gaudy mix of neon and bizarre architecture. The pulse of the city is best felt at night walking from the Bund to the Peoples Park through the busy shopping district, along roads closed off to motor vehicles, and blazing with neon.

We get around Shanghai easily. The underground metro is simple to use, and cheap ($0.25). English is much more available than it was in the rural Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, and we also find more western treats like bakeries and peanut butter. The trend will continue, and travel will be easier in Beijing too. We are beginning to look forward to Europe with breads, cheeses, chocolate, salads, wine, and beer....and also to much less pushing, spitting and coughing. But we love China and really regret that we do not have more time. Eighteen months is such a tiny window through which to see the whole world! (Actually, we began venturing in December 2001 in the US and will return August 12, 2003, so that is really 21 months. But somehow we started saying 18 months and it stuck.)

Shanghai Acrobats

Several acrobatic troupes make their home in Shanghai, and we were able to attend a performance. It wasn't just the usual juggling and wire walking, but included several novel acts. For example, there was one contortionist who was able to balance candelabra on each hand, each foot, and her forehead while at the same time writhing around rolling from her back to front, flipping over forwards and backwards, and in general tying herself up in knots. In another act, performers stack rings up four high and jump through them, with people passing through different rings simultaneously. A very unique and impressive act was, well, I don't know what to call it. A woman balanced umbrellas on her feet. She was able to twirl them around, toss them between feet, and balance and roll them along the edge of the umbrella on her feet. She would even toss them in the air, where they would drift (they do catch air and drift away) and adroitly snatch them back with her toes. Weird sounding, but quite skillful and artful. Read more about the Shanghai Acrobats at, or see a video at http://www.shanghaiacrobats.com.

Shanghai Botanical Gardens

The Shanghai Botanical Gardens began serious developing in 1978, with major improvements over the next few years. There are many different gardens, including the rose garden, the peonies, the maples, the bamboos, etc. There are several ponds and plenty of space to stroll or sit. Another development boom started a few years ago, with significant new conservatories. Here in the humid land is a great succulent collection! There is also a wonderful rain jungle under glass. I had expected it to be mostly a collection of specimens but was thrilled to find instead a wonderful garden with paths, bridges, tunnels, and waterfalls housed within the glass walls.

The Shanghai Botanical garden is best known for its bonsai collection, including over 9,000 specimens! There are large areas of the garden with row upon row of young bonsai, being cultivated for future sale. We captured several in pictures.

The Market

The market area spreads over several blocks, crammed full of individual booths resembling a Saturday Market, except that it is open every day. Everything can be had for a price, especially knock-off clothing. It is comical to see the misspellings: T-shirts with "American Legened", signs for "Sick Clothes" (meaning Silk), and so forth. There are also many Timberland and Columbia brand clothes. Most brands are clearly fakes (e.g. the Nike products), but others are attempts by the authentic company to establish their brand in the fast growing market, even at very low prices. The market is loud and frenetic, with surging crowds and calling shopkeepers. Every few feet someone shouts "Hallo, CD, watch". It seems that not everyone has gotten the official message that counterfeiting is now taboo and CDs are readily available for about $0.25 each. We found a great camera case for $1.25 and some new zip-off pants for $10 (our prior ones were getting a bit baggy since we have both dropped a few pounds).

Weather

We planned the trip running from Thailand to Beijing just ahead of the hot weather. Most days in Thailand were in the 90's F, and the last couple of weeks were quite hot. Since we planned to visit two of China's "three furnaces" (Wuhan and Chonquin), we were concerned about the heat. But the concern never materialized. The first week or two was warm, but as we headed to Yunnan and Sichuan, we gained considerable altitude and beat the heat. Now, coming back down to sea level, we seem to have picked some unseasonably cool weather. It rained eight days in a row here in Shanghai before we arrived, and remains overcast. It is great outdoor weather, with temperatures around 80 F. Unfortunately, in this weather, the mountain Huang Shan is hidden in clouds, so we didn't make it there. This is reputed to be the most beautiful mountain in China, but it also is usually hidden. We just didn't get lucky. (Hey, we did get to see Fuji in Japan!) Assuming that Beijing isn't too hot, we should be in for pleasant weather for many months as we visit Europe (Jun-Jul), Africa (Aug-Oct) and then India (Nov-Feb).