It was yet another train ride, but this one was only a short stint to our next destination. Shanghai was originally a small fishing village during the early period of China, but has become one of the most famous cities in all of China, and the world over. Like much of China, Shanghai went through a period of great decline and stagnation during the communist regime when all of China was closed to the rest of the world. However, there is a new mode of thought spreading quickly in China today and it would appear that Shanghai is to be the center of that movement. With the backing of Beijing, and the oncoming of the world exposition in 2010, Shanghai has become an economic power house and the new gateway into the orient, replacing both its predecessors, that of Hong Kong and Singapore. Known as also the pearl of the orient, Shanghai is currently undergoing a major rejuvenation as a city of the future. This is evident through the massive master planning that has taken place not only for the financial district but for the entire city as a whole. I had a chance to visit the planning department, where I was truly amazed at the scale and magnitude of development that will be taking place in Shanghai in the next 5 years.
There are some world renowned pieces of architecture found here, and there is more to come as the model in the planning exposition indicated. What already exists here now in Shanghai is a mixture of the neo-classical masonry buildings in contrast to the new 21st century steel and glass towers. Their plan is to bring Shanghai into the lime light and the forefront of the 21st century.
Our time in Shanghai was way too short, but we wanted to see as much as we could. So we walked everywhere. The two and a half days that we were there was full of activities both with the group as well as being on our own. We decided to walk to the city center and the “Bund”, a strip along the river that faces the financial district and the icons of the new Shanghai. As we ventured through the streets of Shanghai, we noticed a nice mixture of the old and the new, as old traditional street venders were just as prevalent as that of the westernized fast food chains such as KFC and Mickey Ds. On one of the walks we stopped at local stall for lunch and for two baskets of home made dumplings and two bowls of wonton soup it came to a staggering 7 Yuan which was a little more than a Canadian dollar (a big mac meal was about 15 Yuan). We spent most of our free time on the Bund admiring the city skyline as well as doing some window shopping at the famous Nanjing road, visiting parks in different areas of the city, and of course my favourite past time, starring at some amazing buildings.
The group did manage to meet for two dinners as well as attend the Shanghai Acrobats before venturing off to a great patio for a couple of beers on our last night together. We partied quite late that evening as for half of the group, Shanghai was the final destination but for the remaining half, the rice terraces awaited our arrival in Longsheng.
I wished that we could have had a couple more days in Shanghai to discover more of the city and its people. We only got a glimpse of this sensational city, and I wonder just how much this city will change in the years to come…
1 comment:
looks like it would be great to spend more time there
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