To Shanghai from Xian

We flew this morning from Xian to Shanghai on Air China, about a 2–hour flight. We arrived in Shanghai at lunch time. Photo: Our group awaiting our delicious lunch at a restaurant near the airport. That is Sherry standing up, our Shanghai local guide to help Kathy.

Shanghai

View from the highway going into Shanghai proper. This is part of the Pudong area. You can see by the houses that Shanghai is a much wealthier city than are other areas of China. There is a cruise liner in the distance.

Shanghai

Close–up of houses on a river. Looks a bit like California.

Shanghai

Further along: Also, many condos and high–rise buildings.

Shanghai

Next, high–rises and skyscrapers. Crossing the Huangpu River dividing Shanghai from the Pudong area.

Shanghai

After crossing the bridge, some of the old China.

Shanghai

Close–up of the last photo. The man with the white cap is probably a Chinese Muslim.

Shanghai

Our first stop was at the Yu Gardens, walking there past this old Shanghai building.

Shanghai

And also this one.

We first visited the Yu Gardens. The Yu Gardens were built in 1577 during the Ming Dynasty by Pan Yunduan as a place for his parents to enjoy their old age. They fell into disrepair and were also severely damaged during the Opium Wars of the 19th century. They started being restored in 1956 and were opened to the public in 1961. I have put my photos of the Yu Gardens on a slide show on this website: Go to Slide Shows, Asia, China, “Shanghai:  Yu Gardens.”

Shanghai

After viewing the Yu Gardens, we went to the adjoining Yu Gardens Bazaar. The bazaar area was decorated for the Spring Festival. This was Chinese New Year’s Day Eve and people were shopping for last minute New Year’s gifts and also enjoying the decorations. I have put my photos of the bazaar on a slide show on this website: Go to Slide Shows, Asia, China, “Shanghai:  Yu Gardens Bazaar.”

Shanghai

Map of where we went next. The Yu Gardens are south of this area. The next photos were taken from the Wusong Road Bridge at the top of the map. The Pearl of the Orient TV Tower is across the Huangpu River. The Bund is located on the river road below the Wusong Road Bridge.

Shanghai

These buildings are referred to as the New Shanghai, across the Huangu River in Pudong. You can take a boat across the river or go through a psychedelic–like sightseeing tunnel.

Shanghai

Close–up of the Pearl of the Orient TV Tower.

Shanghai

Close–up of the New Shanghai.

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The Bund taken from the bridge. The Bund was the heart of Colonial Shanghai. The building with the clock on it was the Custom’s House. The building with the triangle roof is the Peace Hotel, now undergoing rennovation. The pedestrian river promenade along the Bund was blocked off because of the 2010 Expo preparations.

Shanghai

Seen on the other side of the bridge.

Shanghai

More Colonial buildings north of the bridge.

Shanghai

Next, Chinese New Year’s dinner at a Dai Chinese minority restaurant. There are 56 ethnic minorities in China, with the Dai being one of them. Their population is about 1.2 million and they are centered in Yunnan Province in southwest China. They are Buddhists. The 56 ethnic minorites make up about 8% of China’s total population, with the Han making up 92%.

Shanghai

Small shopping area inside the front door.

Shanghai

Inside the restaurant. It was very crowded as many families go out for Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner.

Shanghai

Some of the dishes we were served. You are supposed to eat fish for good luck for Chinese New Year Eve’s dinner, but not all of it. Some is supposed to be saved for the next day.

Shanghai

Coconut soup was inside the coconut. This was really good––it was sweet and also had pieces of fruit in it. We were additionally entertained by some Dai dancers. I have put two of these dances on this website: Go to Movies, Asia, China, “Dai Chinese New Year’s Dancers–1 & –2, Shanghai.”

Shanghai

Our waiters were dressed in different costumes.

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Our waitresses were as well.

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The doorman.

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After dinner, we drove down part of Nanjing Lu, Shanghai’s main shopping street, and saw the modern stores. Many were designer stores, though they aren’t shown in this photo.

Shanghai

Passing by a beautifully lit rose on Nanjing Lu on the way to our hotel.

Shanghai

We stayed at the five–star Swissotel off Nanjing Lu. This was the view from my hotel room. Six of our group tried to go up the elevator to our rooms on the 19th floor. Carly pressed the button for the 19th floor. The elevator would only go to the 17th floor. It then, by itself, went down to the 2nd floor. This went on several times. Carly put her keycard into a slot in the elevator––didn’t help. We decided that there was something wrong with this elevator (the hotel was brand new so maybe it was having elevator trouble or else, perhaps, evil spirits had entered it), so we went across to another elevator. Everytime Carly pressed the 19 button, the door of our last elevator opened and ours didn’t close. It got spooky, so we all got out to look for the stairs, not liking having to carry our hand luggage up those stairs. A hotel employee saw us and told us we were on the wrong floor––we knew that. But he figured out that we didn’t know how to work the elevator and showed us. You have to hold your keycard right in front of a black pad that says “Put keycard here” to get the elevator to work. Now why couldn’t the instructions say “Hold keycard in front of these instructions to work the elevator.” Than would have been helpful. But now you know how to work these new–fangled elevators. To get in our rooms, we also had to hold our keycards in front of a black pad with no instructions.

Shanghai

Sherry, our Shanghai guide, told us that it is illegal to set off fireworks in our area of Shanghai and there was no government–sponsored firework show, so I was ready for a disappointing Chinese New Year’s. However, fireworks were being set off all around us from the time we got in our rooms––these were being set off by the general population. These were not itty bitty firecrackers; these were ones with huge bangs and many went into the sky. About 10 p.m., I was too tired to stay up, but I knew that at 12 midnight I would be awakened by all the noise. I was. Can you imagine the noise of thousands of people shooting off fireworks at the same time? Fireworks are set off to ward off evil spirits and for good luck. I doubt there was even one evil spirit left in Shanghai this night. The firework show stopped about 1 a.m., mainly because none of the buildings in this photo were now visible because of all the smoke. I didn’t take any photos this night as (1) I didn’t think they would come out and (2) I was too totally engrossed in the display, even though we mainly heard the fireworks more than saw them. But some fireworks were being set off the next night as well, so here is a shot of some fireworks that only took me about 50 tries to take. Was it dangerous for people to set off these fireworks? I saw an article about the ones being set off in Beijing––49 people lost their lives setting them off.