Shanghai Highlights

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Every city in the world has its highlights, those places of "mandatory" visit and the respective picture as an evidence that you actually were there. In Paris you find Eiffel Tower, Arch of Triumph and Louvre Museum, in London Big Ben, London Eye and Piccadilly Circus, in Medellin (Colombia) the Lleras Park and the Botero Square, in Sydney the Opera House and Bondi Beach, and so on... 

Shanghai has its highlights as well and some of them will be described in this entry from my own point of view and experience, with suggestions that hopefully will be useful for you when coming to enjoy this wonderful city, so, here it goes! 

The Bund - Zhongshan Lu (Zhongshan Road)

How to get there: Ten minute walk through East Nanjing Road towards the Huangpu river - Subway Lines 2 or 10 (East Nanjing Road) 

Best time to go: At night 

The Bund is the "flagship" place of Shanghai, the main attraction, the "mandatory" Facebook picture! Basically, the Bund is a waterfront of approximately 1.5 kilometers from where you can get a stunning view of the Lujiazui skyline, the fancy financial district of Shanghai. Among the main architectonic pearls of the Lujiazui area there can be mentioned the Oriental Tower, the Jing Mao Tower, Shanghai Tower, the World Financial Center, etc., all modern and trendy buildings that really let you know that you are in the main Chinese (and probably Asian) business city. 

This is an amazing view I particularly like, after visiting The Bund few times I never get tired of it and if I am close by and can easily head there will do it with no hesitation, every day is "the same view but a little bit different" due to the diverse and dynamic colors.

 

View of the Lujiazui skyline from the Bund. It is just amazing!

I would bet this is a good place for marriage proposals, "closing deals" that are running or "begging for mercy" as the view is really stunning, even someone that is hard to impress would be touched by the Bund's magic and it is not the same seeing it by pictures than doing so by yourself so, just go!

Lujiazui view from the Bund during the day. It is cool, but at night is definitely much better!

The Bund starting to turn on the lights for the night performance

Between the Bund and Lujiazui is the Huangpu river, in which it is possible to take a touristy cruise as well as a ferry between both river banks. I have not taken the cruise nor the ferry so can't give my personal opinion on that, some people say that is an amazing experience while others say that it is just a waste of money... the only way to really know if it is worth it is by going yourself, but any opinions related to this are highly welcome! 

Just next the Bund is magnificent Zhongshan Lu (Zhongshan Road), full of classy and important buildings with exquisite architecture (banks, luxury hotels, government authorities, trendy night clubs, etc.). You can see red Chinese flags on the top of the buildings, showing how powerful and distinguished has this country become over the last decades. About the trendy night clubs in this road there are great places for an enjoyable time such as "Unico", "The Peninsula" or "Bar Rouge". This important topic will be covered in detail later on.

The Bund and Zhongshan Lu (Zhongshan Road)

Zhongshan Lu viewed from the Bund

Zhongshan Lu at night

Nanjing Lu (Nanjing Road)

How to get there: Subway Line 2 (East Nanjing Road) 

Best time to go: At any time

Nanjing Lu, specifically the eastern side (East Nanjing Road) between People's Square and the Bund is the most important pedestrian shopping street in Shanghai, where it is possible to find any kind of articles, mainly luxury brands and tourist souvenirs. 

If you are on a tight budget and feel that wouldn't be able to buy any article in any of the luxury stores of Nanjing Lu (expensive brand stores are much more expensive in Shanghai than anywhere else that even some Chinese people prefer going abroad for luxury shopping than purchasing here!), this is not an obstacle to walk and enjoy Nanjing Lu.

There are also places in which you can eat very good local food at reasonable prices and "budget friendly" stores in which you can find any kind of clothing, shoes, souvenirs, electronic devices, etc. Also, very close by you can find the famous fake markets in which you can buy any kind of "luxury brand" articles like watches and bags, of course, not original and not the best quality...

Walking through Nanjing Lu is always fun as you see lots of people, there is music, noise, colors, cultural diversity and a lot of activities are going on until late. Something extremely important is that you have to be extremely careful with the people that approach you offering "happy" massages with beautiful young ladies or the best "promotions" of particular luxury articles as it can be a scam you may want to avoid if you don't want to have your account or your few kuais wasted in just few minutes... the advice is to say No to any human being that comes to you and wants to offer you something from scratch!  About the common scams in Shanghai I will write later on.

Apart from that, let's enjoy amazing Nanjing Lu!

Nanjing Lu during the day

Apple store viewed from the crossroad between Henan Lu and Nanjing Lu

One of the most crowded areas

Nanjing Lu at night

Lujiazui

How to get there: Subway Line 2 (Lujiazui) - Ferry from the Bund

Best time to go: At night if you want to see the lights

                                     

As it was mentioned before in the outline about the Bund, Lujiazui is the financial area full of fancy skyscrapers that can be viewed from there. Then, why not crossing Huangu river to have a closer look of all these buildings as well as viewing the Bund from the opposite way? 

It is a very good idea going to Lujiazui as it is a very modern area with big avenues and the most representative buildings of Shanghai. If on a cloudless day, you may want to go up to the Oriental Pearl Tower or floor 88 of Jin Mao Tower to have a clear view of Shanghai from the heights. There are lots of shopping centers, good places to eat dumplings or have a coffee and it is full of colors and thrill at night as in the Bund or Nanjing Lu. 

With no doubts, a highly recommended place! 

Shanghai Tower

The Bund viewed from Lujiazui

Lights and colors in Lujiazui

The Oriental Pearl Tower 

The Oriental Pearl Tower viewed from the other side

Yuyuan Garden 

How to get there: Subway Line 10 (Yuyuan Garden) 

Best time to go: During the day

                                     

Yuyuan Garden (Satisfaction Garden in English) is one of the "classic highlights" every newcomer should visit in Shanghai as it represents the old and traditional Shanghai. Its construction was finalized in 1577 during the Ming dynasty. This is one of the most valuable cultural and architectonic relics of Shanghai and China, so it is worth it to have a look and spend some time there walking around.

It is a very touristy and commercial place so don't be surprised if you see a lot of people walking through the streets and mazes of Yuyuan Garden. If you like art, handicrafts, local gastronomy and Chinese old architecture there is no doubt that you will love Yuyuan Garden!  

Also, by paying a 30 to 40 yuan (RMB) ticket (according to the season) you can enter to the Taoist City God Temple. I didn't enter myself (and probably will not) so can't provide a personal opinion about it, and as it usually happens some people give very good references while others don't, so if you are curious about this ancient Taoist temple just go! 

Yuyuan Garden streets

Shanghai Tower viewed from Yuyuan Garden

Yuyuan Garden

Inside Yuyuan Garden, a magical place

Qibao 

How to get there: Subway Line 9 (Qibao) 

Best time to go: During the day

                                     

For those that want lo live a Chinese authentic cultural experience in architectonic, gastronomic and shopping terms should go to the Qibao Old Town (pronounced "Chi bao" as the Q sounds like a "ch" for English and Spanish speakers). 

Qibao is crossed by the Puhui river and so this place is also known as the "water town of Qibao", with many bridges to cross the river and streets in which you can find any kind of articles (clothes, food, handicrafts, jewelry, electronic devices, etc.). Similarly to Yuyuan Graden, there is a very old Taoist temple that should be visited. 

This is a very genuine place where you really see very few laowais (foreigners) and can be pretty attractive is the idea is to get into the Chinese/Shanghainese culture. As a popular touristy and commercial spot, you can expect to see big crowds of people so it is better to go to Qibao with no worries nor time pressure. 

Just go and enjoy the experience, captivate yourself with the interesting urban landscapes formed by the tea houses next to the river, the smell of different types of food available there and the variety of people and styles that can be found in Qibao.

Street in Qibao

                                                                               Puhui river and tea houses

Walking next to the river

Sugar cane juice, delicious! 

These five places I have highlighted in this article are pretty representative of Shanghai and should be visited by any newcomer. Of course, this is quite a big city and has lots of places more which I expect to describe in further posts.

  

Chinese New Year in a Chinese Rural Village? – Adventure in Shangougou (Zhejiang Province) 山沟沟 07-09/02/2016

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As it is well known, the main celebration for New Year in China is not on December 31st-January 1st as it is in the West, it’s not like that guys! here in China December 31st is just another working day more, like August 5th or September 24th ...  Although the Gregorian calendar (“western” calendar) is used here for daily life and business matters and today is exactly the same day, month and year as it is in the West, the “real”, magnificent, colorful and powerful celebration for New Year in China is based on the traditional Chinese Lunar calendar.     

In this calendar, Year 4714 has started and one of its distinctive features is that each year is ruled by an animal (12 in total), that is also our zodiacal sign (this interesting topic will be covered in a further post).

Preview of the Chinese New Year celebration

Last Monday February 8th 2016 the year of the intrepid and playful Monkey has started, sign that is characterized by its craftiness, creativity, spontaneity, charm and inventiveness. Because of that we had to celebrate the start of the Year of the Monkey with style! with an adventurous, exciting and of course, very Chinese experience. 

Thanks to Ella, Donatella, Cathy, King Kong and the team of amazing people of OK Deal, I was able to take a bus on Sunday February 7th  at 8 a.m with destination to Shangougou (山沟沟), Zhejiang Province (浙江), a rural and remote village located 70 Kms from Hangzhou (杭州), in a frenetic journey with amazing landscapes, ups and downs and even a car crash with no consequences but with the respective confusion that generally happens in this cases and that actually was pretty useful to learn some non-formal but “daily life” Mandarin (and with the consideration that it wasn’t our drivers fault, who drove responsible during the whole trip).

It was a good stop to rest, stretch our legs and to smoke for the ones that enjoy it. After everything was sorted out and 4 hours since our departure from Shanghai, we finally arrived to Shangougou.

Shangougou

Shangougou

We enjoyed a succulent and tasty lunch with different types of pork, chicken, fish and vegetables with a very Chinese style, that prepared us for a very particular experience and related to the New Year of the Monkey: an intense hiking in a snowy Bamboo forest.

Snowy Bamboo forest

It was intense as the forest is steep and was a bit slippery so it pushed us to the limit, there were slips and falls, actually some of them pretty “funny” (as far as it is not you, right?) and probably caused by the fact that some of the people didn’t bring appropriate shoes for this type of adventure even though we were warned that this would be an intense hike, but in general there was a total connection with the forest and the bamboos as well as within the group because we required to help each other in order to overcome the natural obstacles and literally looked like monkeys going from one tree to another so, Is there any better preparation for the New Year of the Monkey than this?

Ascending in the snow

Bamboos become your best friends in the forest

The descent, leaving the forest

Undoubtedly, a renovating and unforgettable experience, both the ascent and the descent were demanding and at the end, there was a general feeling of satisfaction within the group even though we were all exhausted after this intense activity.  

After coming back to the village, most of the attendants proceeded to rest, to take a shower and start preparations for what was coming and the main reason we were in Shangougou: The New Year celebration!

We prepared dumplings, interacted with the locals (very friendly and smiley people) and had dinner like kings as we had to say goodbye to the Year of the Goat with full tummy and happy hearts.  

Preparing dumplings the Chinese way

By the way, something that has surprised me about rural China is how good and abundant they eat. Outside China it is thought that Chinese rural areas are damn poor with lots of unsatisfied basic needs, but after going to Shangougou and Anhui province and having exchanged opinions with other people that have traveled to rural areas in different Chinese provinces, the general impression is that they are plenty of food as well as alcohol, the good life! They have a high index of longevity, are very healthy, self-sufficient with their food production, living without the concerns of the “corporate race” or bank debts, without the boring routine of the “9 to 5s” or the deadly competition of big cities…    

However, most youngsters of these villages emigrate to big cities and take part of the “corporate race” as they don’t want the rural life of their ancestors, so a very high percentage of the population is composed by elders. Anyway, if we are talking about “quality of life” it can be said that these villages might rank very high as far as you enjoy a slow paced lifestyle and don’t care too much about money or the idea of “success” we have been sold since they have everything that is necessary to live (for sure there might be regions in which rural life is not like this, but as a whole it can be said that Chinese rural areas have better living standards compared to rural areas in Latin America and other regions).  

The moment of truth has come: 12:00 of February 8^th 2016, Happy New Year of the Monkey!!!

Back to the topic we have been covering (New Year’s celebration), the previous hours went by with music, beers, laughter, noise, firecrackers... not in the same way you would expect in Latin America where I come from but at the end having a lot of fun and entertainment, especially considering that we were in a small rural village rather than in a big capital.

The last thirty minutes of the Year of the Goat were full of expectation, with not a lot of firecrackers, people coming and going, beers, baijius (a Chinese white liquor not suitable for weak drinkers since it has 40+ degrees of alcohol), music and looking constantly to our watches as we weren’t listening any radio station with the exciting countdown that is common in other places until the moment finally arrived, after waiting for a long time it’s 12:00 guys!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR OF THE MONKEY!!! XIN NIAN KUAI LE!  新年快乐!

  

Fireworks lasted for a long time and with high intensity for the first 10-15 minutes of February 8^th, lots of hugs and good wishes between the group members and one beer coming after another. After a while people starts going to bed, there was no party until 8 a.m. as would have been desirable for some but it was an amazing experience, no drunk people in the streets nor people burned by firecrackers.

As a whole, a calm but at the same time fun celebration with very good energy and amazing people!

We just had few beers...

The day after Chinese New Year celebration

As it usually happens in the next day after New Year’s celebration almost everywhere, everything looks calm, silent and with almost nobody in the streets. We were one of those rare exceptions as by 9 a.m. were already taking breakfast and willing to continue exploring this fascinating Chinese region by having a walk through Shangougou and drinking some teas with friendly locals that opened the doors of their home for these uncommon guests.       

Walking through Shangougou

Shangougou locals

Playing some kuais in the poker table

The New Year's picture of the whole group after the teas

After the teas, a desire for some spiritual renovation came to us in order to collect good energies for this New Year of the Monkey so, why not going to a Buddhist temple surrounded by a big green tea field? 

In the way to the temple

The girls infront of the temple Green tea field The temple viewed from the top of the green tea field This was an unforgettable experience, full of fresh air, warm weather and peace... lunch time was coming and we started feeling a bit hungry, so we got ready for our first lunch of the Year of the Monkey, full of duck, pork and other wonders of Chinese gastronomy.

Duck exposed to the sun before being cooked

Some pork before going to somebodies' belly afterwards

During lunch I was able to see something very particular that captured my attention. Is a kind of local liquor with a big snake inside, apparently pretty useful to enhance gentleman’s performances when looking to give the ladies a very happy experience, I am sure you know what I am talking about ... :)     

A possible alternative to Viagra

I didn’t try it so can’t give an opinion about its flavor or effectiveness, we were told by locals that it is a quite strong alcohol and that apparently the ones who drink it before “the moment of truth” with the ladies get pretty satisfying results, so if somebody reading this text requires more information please enquire and we will see how we can help getting it!

After lunch we went hiking again. Basically, Shangougou and some other Chinese rural areas are amazing places for ecotourism and adventure tourism, and as these places are not very famous nor touristy there are no big tourist crowds so are great places for a getaway and a relaxing time with fresh air and the sounds of nature.  

One of the most interesting places we visited is “Ten Thousand Horses”, a place that has lots of rocks (literally there can be 10.000 as its name) in which you can do an exciting hiking from the beginning to the top. I would say it is an easy hike, although if you feel that are not fit enough or are not carrying proper shoes you can also get to top of the Ten Thousand Horses using the stairs trail that is just next to the bamboos on the left side.

Ten Thousand Horses from the beginning before starting the adventure

In the top of Ten Thousand Horses

Playing with snow and chilling a bit

                               

At night, beers and bonfire to close the day after New Year’s, the equivalent to the western January 1^st.

Lighting the bonfire

After few beers

Last day in Shangougou

We started to feel a bit nostalgic about leaving Shangougou, so before returning to Shanghai we got ready to explore one of the hidden gems of the region, Tangkeng.

Welcome to Tangkeng

Tangkeng is one of those natural paradises on Earth that can still be found nowadays, great for nature lovers with waterfalls, abundant flora, streams, fresh air, rocks with particular forms and a lot of colors the whole way until you reach the top. It is a very special place, the walking trail takes about an hour although you may not go so fast since it is worth it to enjoy nature and connect yourself with the environment.

Starting the trail in Tangkeng

Water and fresh air

A Dragon spitting some water

King Dash: The star of the trip!

The popular "Spanish fan" picture

After hiking in this wonderful place we returned to the town, where we had a very Chinese lunch (again) full of pork, rice and vegetables. Then, after some rest we took the bus back to Shanghai.

Special thanks to the amazing people of OK Deal for this wonderful experience, with unforgettable moments and new friendships that will last for a lifetime. I really recommend this trip to anybody that comes to China!