After breakfast, it’s down to the ground floor to meet Jimmy, our guide for the day. He’s taking us around Shanghai. Our first stop is People’s Square, the center of the Shanghai government. Shanghai has a population of around 23 million, the largest city in China, although a few other cities are close (Beijing, Chongching). Next stop is the Oriental Pearl television tower. It’s an odd shaped tower with two large bulb looking structures. It’s over 1000 feet at it’s highest point, and one of the buildings in Shanghai that provides the signature look from the Bund, across the river. We had some great views of the city today.
View from our room before we head out.
Looking back up at our hotel from Shanghai People’s Square.
Oriental Pearl TV Tower
This guy is outside, about 850 feet up
Next, we went to a Buddhist temple. We’ve seen plenty of temples in China, but it is interesting to hear each guide’s individual take on religion in China. We had a lunch in a very “touristy” restaurant with Chinese dancers and singers in costumes. We’ve lived in China too long for an appreciation for this type of food and entertainment. After lunch we visited a very famous home/garden built 350 years ago, with many of the features that make these type of homes so unique. Surrounding the garden was an interesting area known as “Old Downtown”. There were lots of restored buildings filled with restaurants and shops, and the crowds were very large today.
Wandering around “Old Downtown”
Our next stop was the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Shopping Street. It stretched for many blocks and had lots of exclusive stores and name brand shops. We finished up our tour with a stop at the Bund. It’s an area developed by the British in the 1800’s that been turned into a pedestrian area. The view across the river ranks up there with view of Hong Kong Harbor. Lots of great buildings and construction is still booming. It seems every large city in China is competing for the tallest structure. I think Shanghai’s new financial building will be the leader when it opens in 2015. It’s over 1500 feet tall.
British Architecture on The Bund
Looking across the river
Night view from our room, back toward the Bund.