Shanghai Buzz - 10th December 2011

Stepping off the train in , I felt the energy that has made me fall in love with the city. Haven't felt the buzz since I left Hong Kong, and this city with it's western influence feels very familiar. The city is super easy to get around given its sizen (16million people). Firstly, straightforward metro system, local buses that read out stops in english, taxis so cheap that they make the taxis in hong kong seem overpriced, and according to my lonely planet guide - sightseeing buses to nearby towns and bullet trains to neighbouring big city Hangzhou. The food here is also very good (and cheap) - seafood, dumplings, rice.. and what my friend and i had for dinner tonight - wonton soup, smoked pork and cauliflower, and yummy green beans in some sought of spice.

When we arrived, we went to a minority restaurant for brunch and sampled a huge array of food for 40 yuan each: scrambled egg with tomato, aubergine and veges, sweet and sour pork proper styles, spicy bbq squid, chicken in peanut sauce, beef, and a potato casserole type thingee - so much food for brunch. Belly's full, we decided to burn some calories with a walk around the Bund taking the cliche snapshots in front of the river with the distinctive Pearl Tower and Financial Tower (4th highest building in world) in the background. We then had some free time so decided to head to the Shanghai Musuem. This was a love or hate excursion for our group, and I found myself hanging with the older individuals in the tour group looking at the sculptures, ceramics, pottery etc at least a thousand years old, while the younger lot visited the musuem very briefly. I found when you first look at the items you think 'oh great a pot', then when you look at the age of the pot, the technology involved and the condition it is in, you get a real appreciation for the history, culture, and ingenuity of the ancient chinese.

After the musuem, a couple of us headed to the foreign bookstore. As well as getting a couple of presents for the family (books are very well priced in China) I purchased a book about Chinese dynasties. I want to read up on the Ming and Qing dynasties before Beijing and its forbidden city and summer palace, so that I can gain a further appreciation of these cultural sights. China has an amazing history, and coming from a country with limited history, learning about China's journey has been an amazing opportunity from this trip.

Nighttime and it was time for the acrobat show. Quite a pricey activity but worth every cent, these guys are amazing!!! Hoop diving, using props such as bicycles, a titantic themed piece to Celine Dion that involved Jack and Rose swinging out above the audience, and the last item - Death ball. This involved 5 motorcyclists riding together in the same ball on stage - I was fearing for someone's life!

Today we had an early start heading out first to the Maglev train and then to the financial tower. I sat these activities out, opting instead to wander, as they were pricey and I am going to do a bullet train myself when I come back to Shanghai. In the afternoon, we headed to the French concession and the old town and its antiques market. Thats when I got struck out of the game, getting a taxi back to the hotel with tummy troubles (the third in our group to feel yuck today). The others continued to Yuyuan gardens, the flower and bird market, then the pub.

Tomorrow, am going to see what I missed this afternoon before catching the night train to Beijing. I have changed my itinerary, so that instead of going to Chengdu from Beijing, it will be as follows:

17th Dec - night train Beijing to Shanghai

18th - 21st Dec - stay in Shanghai hostel with day trips to Suzhou and other neighbouring towns and sights including the Leaning Tower of China - which is actually on slightly more of a lean than Pisa.

21-23 Dec - catch bullet train to Hangzhou and stay two nights in hostel here. This city is supposed to be beautiful and bike friendly so I will be happy here with the lake, islands etc

24 Dec - catch either night train or fly to Guangzhou

25-27 Dec - Xmas in Guangzhou then will do a boxing day trip to Shenzen

Two eyeopeners from Shanghai I will tell you:

On Nanjing Road, you are constantly approached by touts trying to sell watches, fake bags etc. We are instructed to ignore them. One of our tour group members, having a laugh, decided to string a tout along pretending she was keen. Nek minnut, a policeman comes along and the tout gets in trouble!

In the market today, we walked by a vendor harrassing a western lady 'you broke my thing, you have to buy something off me otherwise i will beat you'. The lady was by herself and looked very distressed, so a guy from our group told her to walk away then dealt with the vendor's harrassment on her behalf. It is important to take care in the markets (especially being a woman on your own) so that you don't become a target of a scam..