Category Archives: Shanghai

China 2014, Shanghai, Travel

Shanghai Is Wet

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We came to Shanghai one day earlier than our original plan, so Zhen booked us at the Puli to cover the extra day. Although all the hotel we booked were good, the Puli was a notch above. They had an amazing swimming pool complete with hot tub and sauna and the rooms were very will appointed and most importantly, warm. Before we checked out we went for a little swim and tried out the hot tub and sauna.

We booked the Puli close to the Shanghai Metro, but after our experience lugging the baggage through the metro on our way from Beijing, we decided to take a cab to our next hotel, SSAW. Once we were settled into our new hotel we went for a walk in the pouring rain. Shanghai’s climate is quite similar to Vancouver, except I am told there is no time when it’s really dry. It rains all year round very consistently and there is a wet season for which the rain pretty much never stops for a couple months. So, we bought an umbrella right away and ventured into Shanghai.

Shanghai is much different from Beijing. It is very metropolitan and modern. The architecture is stunning in style, height and volume. There are a multitude of massive skyscrapers and very few monolithic blocks. They all seem to have some flare or differentiating visual appeal.

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The Bund is a great spot to see a vast array of architectural styles from colonial to modern. It’s there we decided get on a city bus tour. There are a couple options for bus tours of the city, but for only $6 each, we got on the City Sight Seeing bus which allowed us 24 hours of hop-on hop-off travel along their roots

After our bus tour, we met up with some of Zhen’s friends from high school for dinner. The restaurant we went to had a long line of people waiting, but despite that it wasn’t long before we were in. Restaurants in China are on an entirely different scale than North American restaurants. Almost all of the restaurants are massive, often having 2 or three levels. A restaurant that seats only 30-50 people would more likely be called a cafe. There aren’t many that small. We had a great meal here and I got a video of them cooking the shrimp on an alcohol fire at our table.

Posted from my phone. Please let me know of typos or other errors.

China 2014, Shanghai, Travel

Off To Shanghai!

We had to wake up uncharacteristically early to make sure we caught the train to Shanghai. Having packed up the night before, there wasn’t much left to pack, however, as spring festival winds down, Beijing is winding back up, so we had to leave early as traffic is a whole new experience here, nothing like what you would encounter in the western world. Luckily, traffic wasn’t so bad. We got to the train station with plenty of time to spare, got our tickets and had a nice fast Chinese food breakfast.

One of the items we had were steamed dumplings full of meat and broth. These dumplings are a little delicate since they are filled with liquid, but they are absolutely exquisite and they are a specialty in Shanghai!

On the train to Shanghai!
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Practically Flying!

We boarded the train to Shanghai on time, but it was slightly delayed due to weather. The speed was reduced from 300km/h to somewhere around 160km/h. It was fun watching the scenery change as we headed south. We passed through a hilly area, and ironically as things got green, we passed through a belt of light snow on the ground. As we continued toward Shanghai, the snow on the ground disappeared and was replaced with rain falling from the sky.

We met up with Zhen’s friend in the subway station that’s attached to the Shanghai train station. The subway was really crowded, probably since it was the last day of the spring festival national holiday.

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Despite the crowded subway, we made our way to our beautiful hotel room at the Puli, and from there to a Thai restaurant for dinner.

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Posted from my phone. Please let me know of typos or other errors.