Had breakfast in the hotel.
A nasty looking bacon and eggs with lukewarm black coffee and soggy toast.
Will have to look for something else tomorrow morning.
Could also smell smoke in the corridor, but not much I can do about that I guess.
Spent most of the morning writing and practising my Chinese, then headed to Nanjing Road to check out the city centre.
Some local girl came up to me and started speaking English. She "just wanted to speak English". I'd heard that one before, so I had a brief chat and then told her I had to go.
Went to KFC for lunch.
Ordered "Er" (number 2) from the menu, which was a crispy, spicy chicken burger (what we call a Zinger). The burger was pretty similar to ours, but the chips were standard McDonald's style French fries. Fine, but I think most Aussies prefer the special chicken salt that KFC has back home.
Walked further down Nanjing Road, and who should I bump into, but "John" the "English teacher"!
He started his spiel about hello, where you from? Then he realised we'd met yesterday!
Had a chat anyway. My wallet was firmly in my pocket, so no harm done.
He suggested we go to a traditional Chinese tea house. I declined. :-)
Took a photo. :-)
He gave me directions to the park.
Ended up feeling thoroughly confused about what had happened.
I guess maybe he would have been happy to be my guide. Don't know what would have happened about paying for the tea and any meals.
But he definitely pulled a fast one on me yesterday.
Anyway.
Walked towards the park, expecting to check out the Shanghai Museum.
There were no signs, so it took me a while to find my way. Walked into the park but had to turn back around because there were no exits on the right side.
On the way, I also helped a Canadian group find their bus stop.
The museum was really good.
Free entrance, and four levels of artefacts. Firstly pottery, then paintings, then calligraphy, then coins and jade.
Went thru at a moderate pace, as a lot of the artefacts were similar, but got to see quite an array of interesting stuff.
For example, I learned that all artworks and documents were marked with a red seal, which explains why all the posters for sale at the market had red squiggles on them. (Either they were authentic or were meant to look authentic!)
Also saw a lot of beautiful watercolor art that was probably less sophisticated than European-style oil paintings, but beautiful nonetheless.
And of course, lots of nice Chinese porcelain ("China").
Another section of particular interest was the currency section. Lots of early Chinese coins with square holes in the middle, but also some foreign ones from the Silk Road, such as curvy Indian ones, and some bank notes from different banks during Shanghai's colonial era, such as the Chartered Bank of India, Australian, and China (Chartered Bank), the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), the German-Asian bank (Deutsche Bank), and I think one from another major power (e.g. France or Russia).
On the way out, some people asked me to take a photo of them. I obliged, then we had a chat.
His name was Zhangshuai and her name was Yinger.
I asked if they were free and wanted to go have a beer.
We ended up going to a Chinese tea house instead for a traditional tea ceremony.
It was quite expensive, but worth trying once.
At the start, they asked us to pick a lucky number, six being good luck, eight being wealth, nine being long life.
I said that I would like good luck, so six it was.
Apparently that was how many teas we were going to try.
Then we saw the prices (48 RMB/10 AUD per person per tea) and decided three teas would be just fine, thank you.
We had Gingeng & Oolong tea, Jasmine tea, and Fruit tea.
All were nice, but the fruit tea was particularly nice.
Also learned that oolong tea should be brewed in a clay pot with 100-degree water, whereas Jasmine tea should be brewed in a porcelain pot with 80-to-90-degree water, and that good tea doesn't take more than a few seconds to brew. (Or maybe that just meant she was putting more than I'm used to in the pot?)
Then they tried to sell us 300 Y of tea leaves. We all agreed that wasn't particularly good value. :-)
They needed to head off, so we exchanged details. They said they might come to Australia, and if they did they would look me up.
They also said they didn't have a Facebook account. Apparently in China it's not very popular. (By now, all of my Australian friends are on Facebook.)
Ended up a bit South of the park down near Yanan Road at this point, and it looked like it would get busier if I headed East towards the Bund, so that's what I did.
Went past the Bund Hotel, then found a huge, seven storey, bookstore. It had foreign language inscriptions outside, so I wondered if that was the foreign language bookstore Lonely Planet had recommended.
Went inside, and altho most books had dual Chinese and English titles, the contents was only Chinese.
Went for more of a walk, and found another bookstore that was the Foreign Language Bookstore. :-)
Bought a book about tea there, both so I could learn something about my new-found favourite (well, nearly favourite) drink, and so I had something to read on the plane.
Then headed to the Bund.
Called Mama and Papa and then Mum and Dad to say hi. I'd told them both I was alive via SMS and this blog, but I figured they'd appreciate a phone call.
Then decided I'd check out the other side of the river (Pudong), so I took the "Bund tourist tunnel".
It was convenient, and worth doing once, but it was totally craptastic.
Rather than a decent view of the harbour (which I guess would be difficult with brown water), they had a really, really bad sound and light show.
To see how bad, watch this movie on YouTube.
When I got to the other side, I went up the Oriental Pearl TV Tower to get a better view of the city.
There's three levels, but the top one was about 150 RMB (30 AUD), so I went to the first level, which offered a decent view anyway.
Without knowing Shanghai very well, it wasn't overly meaningful for me, but what was obvious was that it's built up and lit up in every direction, not just the dense Bund area. In fact, the financial district (with all the new bank buildings) is on the Eastern side near the tower.
And at the bottom, included in the entry price, is a the Shanghai History Museum. Really, really interesting!
Far too many things to mention here in detail, but basically an overview of the colonial influences in Shanghai, particularly the English and the French (and to a lesser extent the Germans and Russians), the Opium Wars, the old names for the streets (which I assume were renamed either after the Chinese defeated the occupying powers or after the Chinese revolution).
Walked back home, again via some dusty roads that were having work done, said no to the guy selling "girls" outside the hotel, got to my room, finished the blog, and went to sleep.
Tomorrow I'll be checking out the French Concession.
A nasty looking bacon and eggs with lukewarm black coffee and soggy toast.
Will have to look for something else tomorrow morning.
Could also smell smoke in the corridor, but not much I can do about that I guess.
Spent most of the morning writing and practising my Chinese, then headed to Nanjing Road to check out the city centre.
Some local girl came up to me and started speaking English. She "just wanted to speak English". I'd heard that one before, so I had a brief chat and then told her I had to go.
Went to KFC for lunch.
Ordered "Er" (number 2) from the menu, which was a crispy, spicy chicken burger (what we call a Zinger). The burger was pretty similar to ours, but the chips were standard McDonald's style French fries. Fine, but I think most Aussies prefer the special chicken salt that KFC has back home.
I know the third character means East, and I think the last one means road?
Nanjing Road, looking West from the Nanjing East station
KFC: a Zinger and Maccas style French fries, ordered in Chinese
Walked further down Nanjing Road, and who should I bump into, but "John" the "English teacher"!
He started his spiel about hello, where you from? Then he realised we'd met yesterday!
Had a chat anyway. My wallet was firmly in my pocket, so no harm done.
He suggested we go to a traditional Chinese tea house. I declined. :-)
Took a photo. :-)
"John" the "English teacher"
He gave me directions to the park.
Ended up feeling thoroughly confused about what had happened.
I guess maybe he would have been happy to be my guide. Don't know what would have happened about paying for the tea and any meals.
But he definitely pulled a fast one on me yesterday.
Anyway.
Walked towards the park, expecting to check out the Shanghai Museum.
There were no signs, so it took me a while to find my way. Walked into the park but had to turn back around because there were no exits on the right side.
On the way, I also helped a Canadian group find their bus stop.
The clock tower on the Art Museum
Monument in the People's Park
The Shanghai Grand Theatre
An old-looking bus stop on the way
The Shanghai Museum
The museum was really good.
Free entrance, and four levels of artefacts. Firstly pottery, then paintings, then calligraphy, then coins and jade.
Went thru at a moderate pace, as a lot of the artefacts were similar, but got to see quite an array of interesting stuff.
For example, I learned that all artworks and documents were marked with a red seal, which explains why all the posters for sale at the market had red squiggles on them. (Either they were authentic or were meant to look authentic!)
Also saw a lot of beautiful watercolor art that was probably less sophisticated than European-style oil paintings, but beautiful nonetheless.
And of course, lots of nice Chinese porcelain ("China").
Another section of particular interest was the currency section. Lots of early Chinese coins with square holes in the middle, but also some foreign ones from the Silk Road, such as curvy Indian ones, and some bank notes from different banks during Shanghai's colonial era, such as the Chartered Bank of India, Australian, and China (Chartered Bank), the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), the German-Asian bank (Deutsche Bank), and I think one from another major power (e.g. France or Russia).
Clay sculpture
Clay pots
Chinese porcelain
A nice watercolor painting, note the red seal top left
Seals
Very early Chinese coins
Bank note from the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China
On the way out, some people asked me to take a photo of them. I obliged, then we had a chat.
His name was Zhangshuai and her name was Yinger.
I asked if they were free and wanted to go have a beer.
We ended up going to a Chinese tea house instead for a traditional tea ceremony.
It was quite expensive, but worth trying once.
At the start, they asked us to pick a lucky number, six being good luck, eight being wealth, nine being long life.
I said that I would like good luck, so six it was.
Apparently that was how many teas we were going to try.
Then we saw the prices (48 RMB/10 AUD per person per tea) and decided three teas would be just fine, thank you.
We had Gingeng & Oolong tea, Jasmine tea, and Fruit tea.
All were nice, but the fruit tea was particularly nice.
Also learned that oolong tea should be brewed in a clay pot with 100-degree water, whereas Jasmine tea should be brewed in a porcelain pot with 80-to-90-degree water, and that good tea doesn't take more than a few seconds to brew. (Or maybe that just meant she was putting more than I'm used to in the pot?)
Then they tried to sell us 300 Y of tea leaves. We all agreed that wasn't particularly good value. :-)
They needed to head off, so we exchanged details. They said they might come to Australia, and if they did they would look me up.
They also said they didn't have a Facebook account. Apparently in China it's not very popular. (By now, all of my Australian friends are on Facebook.)
Zhangshuai, me, and Yinger
The tea ceremony room
Ended up a bit South of the park down near Yanan Road at this point, and it looked like it would get busier if I headed East towards the Bund, so that's what I did.
Went past the Bund Hotel, then found a huge, seven storey, bookstore. It had foreign language inscriptions outside, so I wondered if that was the foreign language bookstore Lonely Planet had recommended.
Went inside, and altho most books had dual Chinese and English titles, the contents was only Chinese.
Went for more of a walk, and found another bookstore that was the Foreign Language Bookstore. :-)
Bought a book about tea there, both so I could learn something about my new-found favourite (well, nearly favourite) drink, and so I had something to read on the plane.
Then headed to the Bund.
A market street
Big bookstore (not the Foreign Language Bookstore)
Called Mama and Papa and then Mum and Dad to say hi. I'd told them both I was alive via SMS and this blog, but I figured they'd appreciate a phone call.
Then decided I'd check out the other side of the river (Pudong), so I took the "Bund tourist tunnel".
It was convenient, and worth doing once, but it was totally craptastic.
Rather than a decent view of the harbour (which I guess would be difficult with brown water), they had a really, really bad sound and light show.
To see how bad, watch this movie on YouTube.
Today's shot of the East bank (Pudong) from the West bank (Puxi)
Inside the Bund tourist tunnel - bad lights and sounds all the way
When I got to the other side, I went up the Oriental Pearl TV Tower to get a better view of the city.
There's three levels, but the top one was about 150 RMB (30 AUD), so I went to the first level, which offered a decent view anyway.
Without knowing Shanghai very well, it wasn't overly meaningful for me, but what was obvious was that it's built up and lit up in every direction, not just the dense Bund area. In fact, the financial district (with all the new bank buildings) is on the Eastern side near the tower.
View of the West bank (Puxi), customs house far left, people's monument far right of picture
Downtown Pudong, the banking district
And at the bottom, included in the entry price, is a the Shanghai History Museum. Really, really interesting!
Far too many things to mention here in detail, but basically an overview of the colonial influences in Shanghai, particularly the English and the French (and to a lesser extent the Germans and Russians), the Opium Wars, the old names for the streets (which I assume were renamed either after the Chinese defeated the occupying powers or after the Chinese revolution).
A woman makes tofu blocks
A court presided over by a half-Chinese, half-English authority
Map showing the old street names, Avenue Edward (now Yanan Road) divides English and French sectors
An opium den
A Chinese tea house, the traditional gathering place
The Bund and Customs House, as they were over a hundred years ago
A very European-looking street
Warships in port (unmarked)
Walked back home, again via some dusty roads that were having work done, said no to the guy selling "girls" outside the hotel, got to my room, finished the blog, and went to sleep.
Tomorrow I'll be checking out the French Concession.
Post a Comment