The Charms of Old Shanghai (1)

We just came back from our 7 days of exciting & fruitful trip visiting Shanghai, Nanking, Mount Jiuhua in Anhui and Suzhou. The weather was unexpectedly cold for Spring season and the coldest experience was 1 degrees C in Anhui. Most days it was around 10 degrees which was perfectly cool and nice to wear my Winter clothes again.

It was our first visit to Shanghai and I noticed the Chinese guys & gals were mostly milky fair & very tall. It was a common sight to see many ladies towering above 5 ft 8 in and they all looked glamorous wearing fashionable clothes making "Shanghai Fashion" a trend being observed even in Paris & Milan.

Our arrival on the 4th April was the 2 days Public Holiday in China for the Qing Ming  - Tomb Sweeping Day. There were hundreds of thousands visitors walking all over the Shanghai city, jamming the subways, malls and streets. The weather was cold, so it was bearable to jostle and push your way around in the crowded places.

I would conclude that this trip was an eye opener for me to appreciate the scenic mountains and latest technologies besides getting shocked by the toilet cultures in China. I hope to upload more posts of the whole trip fast.

We arrived Shanghai at 7:00am and took the world's first Maglev Train that runs on Magnetic Levitation lines from Pudong Airport to the outskirts of the city.

This Bullet Train runs up to maximum 431 kph during peak hours and 301 kph during normal hours. It was very fast and smooth making my head dizzy! We got off halfway and jumped into the subway train that took us to our Dorsett Hotel. This hotel is highly recommended as it has a subway station right beneath the hotel - So Convenient!

We headed to the city right away with plans to visit the City God's Temple, Yu Yuan Gardens, Ancient Tea House and the old shopping streets of Shnghai.

 It was quite cold that morning at 8 degrees C and the streets were so packed with Chinese visitors from all over China. It was so difficult to take photographs and I often had to wait for them to walk away.

 The ancient architecture of the old buildings were all well preserved and everyone was busy clicking their cameras!

 We had to take turns to take our photos like tourists. It was always fun and happier to travel in a pair as a bigger group could mean more headaches sometimes.

 This big landmark is a Goldsmith's Jewellery Shop which started its business since a long time ago.

 The narrow lanes are lined with many cute and interesting shops selling souvenirs, antique curious and traditional food stuffs.

 The lake outside the Yu Yuan Gardens were connected by several bridges. It was packed with tourists like human sardines!

 It was so crowded that I got molested so many times. The policemen on duty had to blow their whistles and shouted at the unruly crowd who were pushing each other.

 We sat down at a big food court that occupied 3 floors with hungry gluttons. My order of plain Fried Bihun with 2 Desserts cost 50 Yuan (RM25)!!!!! It was my first daylight robbery.