We knew in advance that enormous industrial growth over the past decade resulted in more air pollution in China than seen in most Western cultures. This turned out to be true in Shanghai, with thick gray smog obscuring the sun, although the local people we talked to thought the weather was nice. It is getting cooler as we head north – the temperature never reached 60º F during our two days in Shanghai.
It’s essential that we begin with some background information for understanding the current situation in Shanghai. As we described during our posting for Xiamen, part of the 1840 Treaty of Nanjing, ending the First Opium War, ceded the island of Hong Kong to the British and opened Shanghai, Xiamen, and three other cities to foreigners to live and trade openly. Further agreements were made with France and the United States. These so-called concessions allowed for the foreign settlements in Shanghai to be autonomous and exempt from Chinese laws. The great international trading houses of Europe built large subsidiaries here that led to Shanghai becoming a very large commercial hub as well as Asia’s largest port.
When the Chinese Communist Party seized power in 1949, foreigners and wealthier Shanghai natives fled, while the Communists nationalized private enterprises. This was further exacerbated during Mao Tse-Tung's Cultural Revolution (1966 - 1976). This was reversed in 1990 when Mao’s successor, Deng Xiaoping, established economic reforms that opened China to foreign investment and encouraged private competition. Part of the reforms included re-establishment of Shanghai as China’s commercial showcase, leading to billions of investments in the city.
One of our tour guides in Shanghai jokingly referred to the current economic system as “market-oriented communism.” In our two days in Shanghai, we heard Deng’s famous remark repeated several times, “To be rich is glorious.” We were told that Shanghai is now an economic powerhouse, including status as the world's busiest seaport (by cargo tonnage).
March 30, 2016 – Shanghai Day 1
Our first day in Shanghai we had a private car with tour guide and left the port at about 10:30. It took us about one hour to make it into town. Our fairly young guide, Allison, spoke good English and told us a lot about life in Shanghai. English language is now a required subject in school and part of their lessons include assuming an English name while in class. Allison graduated from college with a major in Hospitality and Tourism, with a minor in English. She’s a cute girl and should do well, in our opinion. Here’s a picture of Allison posing next to a 700-year-old iron statue:
Modern Shanghai is dramatically divided by the Huangpu River (a tributary of the Yangtze). The west side of the river is Puxi, commonly called the old city. Much of Puxi has historic architecture, as well as the former international concession areas. More people live in Puxi. The east side of the river is Pudong, the modern economic-development area that Deng Xiaoping designated as China’s future commercial heart. Twenty-six years ago, the west bank of the Huangpu River was nothing but rice paddies and mud flats. Now, Pudong is an eye-opening look at what a fast track to modernity Shanghai has been on – with banks, businesses, and skyscrapers popping up almost daily.
Allison told us that there are 14 subway lines now in Shanghai, several of them going under the river between Puxi and Pudong; all of them are new, clean, and inexpensive. The claim is that eight million people use the subway every day. She said there are also 10 tunnels and 12 bridges crossing the Huangpu River in Shanghai.
Lunch at the Din Tai Fung Restaurant was included in the private tour (arranged by Signature Travel Network). Allison recommended that we go to lunch at 11:30 before doing anything else, because by noon the restaurant would be completely full. She was exactly correct.
The restaurant is in Pudong, among all the huge high-rise buildings. The driver dropped us off at a modern, high-rise shopping mall, and we took the escalator to the third floor. Allison helped us choose some typical Shanghai offerings. Din Tai Fung is apparently famous for their Shanghai pork dumplings with a broth inside. The dumplings were served in a bamboo steaming tray and were tasty. We also had a beef noodle soup and fried rice with shredded pork, washed down with Diet Cokes (the last item was not really a traditional offering). Service was excellent. In among the local office workers at the restaurant, we observed several westerners. Allison told us that, because of the many banking companies and major corporations in Pudong, there are a lot of westerners now working in this immediate area.
Yu Garden was built as a classical private garden by a wealthy Ming dynasty family in the late 1550’s. The gardens were destroyed during the mid-1800’s Opium Wars but later rebuilt. We spent a good bit of time walking along winding paths, seeing carp-filled ponds, dragon-lined walls and very old pavilions. Allison told us that to be an authentic Chinese garden, it must have water, rocks, statuary, and a few trees. This garden included a lot of large rock and boulder formations.
Surrounding
the garden is a busy bazaar of small shops selling arts, crafts, and
souvenirs, mostly for the tourists. We bought our obligatory refrigerator
magnet here, but that was all.
On the west (old-city) side, the Bund is fronted by massive buildings (many from the early 1900’s). These were built and owned by the great banks and trading houses, mostly British, during the early 1900s. One of the most prominent is the 1921 Shanghai head office of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (the bank is now known as HSBC). The building was seized by the communists in 1949 and is still a government building today.
If you look across to the eastern side of the river there is a wide range of skyscrapers, many of which now rank among the tallest in the world. In the photo below, you can see four towers in this scene that are over 1,350 feet in height, and they’re all in close proximity to each other in the Pudong financial district: Shanghai Tower (128 stories, 2,073 feet tall), Shanghai World Financial Center (101 stories, 1,614 feet tall), Oriental Pearl TV Tower (101 stories, 1,535 feet tall), and the Jin Mao Tower (88 stories, 1,380 feet tall).
As a final point of interest, “Bund” is an Anglo-Indian term meaning “muddy waterfront.”
We returned to the port by about 4:00 pm, after another 1-hour ride.
March 31, 2016 – Shanghai Day 2
Highlight of our second day in Shanghai was attending the special Signature Travel Network World Cruiser luncheon at the Peninsula Hotel Shanghai. This was a wonderfully elegant event and a real treat for those who had made their travel arrangements through an agent affiliated with the Signature network. In our case that was Preferred Travel of Naples, Florida.
The Peninsula Shanghai opened on the historic Bund riverfront in 2009, and is considered by many to be the number one hotel in the city. It was voted as 2015 Best City Hotel in Asia by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine and also ranked 2015 Number One Hotel in Greater China by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine. Even though the hotel is only seven years old, it looks like it’s been here much longer. In many respects it looked to us like a touch of Art Deco style.
Signature had rented the entire Sir Elly's Restaurant on the 13th floor of the hotel. One of the hotel managers talked to us about the hotel’s history. The 4-course meal was magnificent, service was excellent, and the view overlooking the Bund was outstanding (even though it was quite smoggy today). Here was what we were served: French Veuve Yellow Label Champagne, Gravlax Salmon appetizer (beetroot, thyme and rosemary, lemon cream), Vegetable Ravioli Consommé, Australian Wagyu Beef Tenerloin or Slow Cooked Seabass, Dessert -- Almond Macaroon, ginger-apple sorbet, banana marmalade, candied ginger.
Our friends, Jerry & Karen were part of the Signature group:
In Summary, during our 2-day visit Shanghai came across to us as a huge city, with a mix of east and west. In many places the city has a cosmopolitan feel, but it is very crowded, with a hectic pace, frenetic development, overpopulation, noise, and a growing traffic problem. There are definitely towering skyscrapers and brightly lit commercial high-rises, as China hurtles into the future at a breakneck speed. So far, it seems to be working well for them economically. There are many western food outlets, stores, and luxury-brand boutiques. Almost everyone seems to be using mobile phones. On the down side, our first-day guide, Allison, told us that Shanghai is “a great place to work, but a bad place to live,” because most starter apartments are very small (40 - 90 square feet) and are expensive.
It’ll be interesting to compare Shanghai with Beijing – our next port stop.
On board ship, we’ve had a big swap-out of former passengers who left the ship at the end of the Singapore-to-Shanghai segment and new passengers who came aboard for the Shanghai-to-Tokyo segment. It’s always a little crowded around the ship until the new people settle into the routine that most suits them; until then, they want to try everything, which is only natural.
Tuesday, March 29, the entertainment staff presented another World Cruise Theme Event. This time it was “The Sound of Music,” a tribute to one of the most beloved musicals of all time. Once again, the show was outstanding – 25 cast members: singers, dancers, orchestra, and Astoria Strings. There was a special guest star, Broadway and concert star Christine Andreas, and her husband Martin Silvestri on piano.
Wednesday evening, March 30, a local Shanghai troupe of performers – acrobats, contortionist, plate spinning, and balancing experts – put on a great show that amazed everyone.
One of the couples at our table, Jerry and Karen, flew to Xi'an on a ship-sponsored overland adventure to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. It was a 2-night trip, and they seemed to have a great time. They told us that there were over 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, and even weapons on display at the site. We were a little jealous of their trip, but we were happy with what we saw and did in Shanghai.
Our scheduled third day in Shanghai had to be cancelled, because the port authorities in Tianjin (the cruise port for Beijing) did not receive approval from Chinese government officials for our ship to travel directly from Shanghai to Tianjin. A port stop in another country between the two Chinese ports was required. So Friday, April 1st we’ll be cruising to a Korean port, logging in, and then leaving immediately (without anyone getting off the ship). Arrival in Tianjin is now scheduled for Saturday, April 3rd at 8:00 am.
Jim & Ginny
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