Weekend in Shanghai

After living in Hangzhou for almost a month, we decided to take a short weekend trip to Shanghai.  We went by high speed train, so the trip to Shanghai from Hangzhou was less than an hour.  If you include getting from our apt to the train station and getting through Shanghai to the hotel, it took about 2 hours.  The first day we wandered the Bund, and the shopping street which leads down to it, Nanjing Road.  We stopped in Peoples Park, where there are parents of unmarried older children, who are looking for mates for their children.   It was kind of a surreal environment, all of these people basically advertising the age, gender, and other information about their children, hoping to find a mate for them.  I do wonder a bit what the children think of this.  I was amused because I also ran across a party which was taking wedding or engagement photos in the same park, not far away from all of the searching parents.

After this, we wandered down Nanjing Road to the Bund and just took in the sights-- the river, the old buildings along one side and the new sky scrapers on the Pudong side, and the couples who dress alike.  I had to think of the story my mother told about my Grandfather who was a scholar in Chinese, but who wasn't allowed entry to China.  He apparently got permission to spend one day in Shanghai when he was taking a boat to Japan and stopped there on the way.  I wonder how different it was then from now, I suppose it has changed a lot in many areas.


  There were many chinese, and a few foreign, tourists taking pictures all along the river, especially in front of this flower wall.

On the second day, we took a tour of the old town.  We had a walking tour with "Noodle Tours".  We saw many of the alleys and byways of the old town, the part where the Chinese were allowed to live when the English controlled the port.  Actually there are many different areas of Shanghai which have different "flavors" or feel, because they are old districts which were run by different countries.  The Bund was English, the French quarter was oddly enough French...  Some photos from the old town, which is still walled in.   It may give way to high rises sometime in the next decade, which would be a shame for tourists, but understandable for people who live there.  If you live there, you likely live in one room, bathroom is down the street, kitchen is a sink outside the door with a cooking area where you bring all of your supplies out when you cook, and bring them back in when you are done.  All your neighbors know what you are eating for dinner, and may come to share if you have something good.


Apparently if you own a room (and the policy after Communism started was one room-one family), every member of every living generation gets an apartment in a new building if the building is taken over and redeveloped, so it can be an expensive thing to rebuild in this location.
Room rental adverts:


Here's an old opera stage, which was used during the cultural revolution for telling people how to behave, but now stands abandoned.  There used to be a variety of opera typical to Shanghai, but it seems to be dying out because many people cannot understand it, or don't want to devote time to listening. 

Buy your dinner right on the street.


Just a weekend away, but a fun trip to see a different city from Hangzhou, which has less foreign influence and character.  Shanghai really deserves more than a short weekend to explore, but that was all the time we had then.  We'll have to go back as it is so close.  More photos on Flickr

Side Trip to Macau

In the beginning of May, we moved from the Philippines to Hangzhou, China.  On our way, we stopped for a couple of days in Hong Kong.   Since we had been to Hong Kong several times, we decided that a day trip to Macau was in order.  What we had heard about Macau, is that it is mostly a gambling center, and not much else.  Fortunately to our surprise, we discovered that there is a charming side to Macau in addition to the gambling.  It has a rich heritage as a Portuguese port of call, and a fun set of cultural combinations to try to figure out.  For instance we really enjoyed some small custards (obviously of Portuguese origin) we bought as a snack on our way down the hill.  But I get ahead of myself.

We took the fast ferry from Hong Kong (Kowloon side) to Macau.  It was a very smooth ride despite the weather being a bit grey and gloomy and threatening rain.  We arrived at the ferry terminal and took a taxi up to the old fort, which is now a museum.  It sits next to the old cathedral.  The fort was to protect Macau from various parties who might wish to conquer or plunder it.    It seemed that everyone wanted to pose with the canons, and some even tried sexy poses.   We saw several people posing in various "alluring" poses around the fort.

Inside is a nice small museum about the history and culture of Macau, complete with a mock street showing the various kinds of architecture.   I would highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting for the first time and who wants to know a little more about the history of the place.

The iconic Cathedral ruins, were mobbed, and visible from many locations.    It's a great place to do some people watching.   This is from down the shopping street below, where we had those custard tarts I mentioned earlier.  The street was an interesting mix of Chinese, Portuguese, and a few random other (i.e. British) shops thrown in.  There were great little streets and alley ways to explore, unfortunately we were getting hungry for lunch, so we decided to eat.   We stopped in at Restaurante Vela Latina, and had a delicious lunch, while it rained outside.

We also happend on a house, I cannot remember whose it was in the past, but it was open as a museum, and there was a concert inside.   A delightful rest from the busy hustle and bustle of tourists outside.
It also showed the architecture of the building off nicely. 

We finished up our day by returning by fast ferry again to Hong Kong.   I'm certain we didn't see all there is to see in Macau, but we are willing to go back and explore some more if we have the chance.   An utterly delightful side trip.  But since there is so much to see in China, I expect it may be a while before we get back here.