Friday, June 8, 2007 - Shanghai
Today our focus was Nanjing Xi (West) Lu (Road) and the People's Park/Square.
The People's Park is at the heart of Shanghai, contains about 4 museums, one of which is the Urban Planning museum (the only museum we decided we want to check out). A beautifully landscaped garden is right at the center of this huge park, a few ponds and lots of places to sit and relax.
From the Nanjing Xi Lu station we turned left towards the park and along the way we found stores that sold local snacks and food for take away -like buns, dumplings, poached chicken, duck, etc. We bought a few items to try for our breakfast at the park: sticky rice with pork in the middle wrapped in lotus leaf, flaky crust pastry with chicken, flaky crust pastry with red bean, and a huge bun-like sticky rice full of fruit and nuts and red bean paste. They were all good and cheap, although I have had my fill of red bean so Peter is pretty happy he didn't have to share with me.
As we were having our breakfast in the park we were approached by 2 young people who wants to practice their english and at the same time take advantage of you. We started speaking in Spanish and Tagalog so they would stop. It just makes us feel sad that instead of putting their knowledge of English to good use they do it to scam tourists. Now we were a bit leary of young people speaking English. We so much want to communicate with them and talk story with them but it might just be a bit complicated.
From where we were on the park we could hear singing. After we finished eating we walked to where the music was coming from and saw a group of middle-aged people singing in the pavilion right across the pond. It was really beautiful, accompanied by an accordion and a chinese fiddle. Then as we got closer the music was finished. We sat there a bit to wait and see if they'd sing again but by then they were just singing solo. (I video taped a short portion of a woman singing.)
We walked to the Urban Planning museum and paid 40 yuan/person to get in. Right in the center of the lobby is a scale model of what they plan for Shanghai in the near future. On the second floor us a much larger model complete with light effects and colors. There were 4 floors dedicated to Shanghai's development and improvements with housing, transportation, maritime, etc. What interested Peter the most was the ecological island they are planning at Chongming (?). They have begun planning and development of this place in 2004. There will be several zones: forestry, farming, tourism, etc. A controlled population of about 650 thousand will be allowed to live and work there. They hope to finish this project in the next few years. I believe they will be host to the 2010 World's fair. The museum could actually be improved and more features can be added to make the admission fee worth it.
For lunch we ventured along Nanjing Xi Lu, the shopping street for Shanghai even from the early1900s. There are a number of shopping malls there but only in the basement of Isetan we found a food court, called Megabite. Here you purchase a Megabite card ($30, 50, 100) which you use to pay for the food you order. Just go to the stall you want to order food and give the card which they debit the transaction. You can refill the card again for future use. Note: the card will have a fee of $5, so subtract than from the store added value before you purchase your food so you know how much your balance will be.
We returned to the hostel later that afternoon and took a much needed nap. Our sightseeing trip here in Shanghai is very relaxed and spread out because we are here for about a week and this city is not the huge compared to Beijing or Seoul. We wanted to check out the Bund and Nanjing Dong (east) Lu at night but when I checked to see the last train to Caoyanglu was 9:48 or 10:48 p.m. (I wasn't too sure) we decided to just go to Zhongshanlu where there's this huge mall called Cloud Nine.
Cloud Nine is a big mall full of activity and people. They have a Carrefour in the basement and 1st floor and a number of restaurants in the building, so most of the people come here to have dinner and at the same time do their grocery shopping. It is a very convenient stop for most as it connects with the subway line 2, 3 and 4.
Because we didn't know what time the station here in Caoyanglu would close, we had to find a fast food place for our dinner - KFC! Yep, you read right! We ate at an American fast food store (that's 3 now: Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and now this.) Well, we really weren't that hungry after having a late lunch and a dessert around 2 or 3 p.m. It was a good thing we ordered the spicy chicken wings (we didn't know what it was because it was in Chinese and it looked huge in the picture).
Now that we're back here at the hostel, we learned that the subway closes at 11 p.m. I guess tomorrow we will try checking out the Bund at night.
~~~
It's just difficult to end up late outside and not know how to get back to the hostel as the buses here only have chinese characters and the taxi drivers do not speak english. Make sure to have your hotel/hostel's name written in Chinese script with you at all times so that you can take a cab when you end up staying our late.
Carrefour is the best place to buy your necessities, like toilet paper and water.
Definitely try out the local snack stores, there's really no need to try street food as they are available in stores also for slightly more in price - unless you really want to try the street food and your stomach is pretty strong.
Spend time lingering around the People's park. It's a nice place to just relax.
When crossing the street, make sure to watch out for motorbikes and bicycles that also criss-cross along the pedestrian walkways and crosswalks. Sometimes cars, along with the bikes, would run the red light or turn right very quickly. Always cross with the local people to help shield you from these oncoming vehicles.
The streets here is not too polluted compared to Manila. Yet it is still better to have a handkerchief or a mask to protect you from it.
Today our focus was Nanjing Xi (West) Lu (Road) and the People's Park/Square.
The People's Park is at the heart of Shanghai, contains about 4 museums, one of which is the Urban Planning museum (the only museum we decided we want to check out). A beautifully landscaped garden is right at the center of this huge park, a few ponds and lots of places to sit and relax.
From the Nanjing Xi Lu station we turned left towards the park and along the way we found stores that sold local snacks and food for take away -like buns, dumplings, poached chicken, duck, etc. We bought a few items to try for our breakfast at the park: sticky rice with pork in the middle wrapped in lotus leaf, flaky crust pastry with chicken, flaky crust pastry with red bean, and a huge bun-like sticky rice full of fruit and nuts and red bean paste. They were all good and cheap, although I have had my fill of red bean so Peter is pretty happy he didn't have to share with me.
As we were having our breakfast in the park we were approached by 2 young people who wants to practice their english and at the same time take advantage of you. We started speaking in Spanish and Tagalog so they would stop. It just makes us feel sad that instead of putting their knowledge of English to good use they do it to scam tourists. Now we were a bit leary of young people speaking English. We so much want to communicate with them and talk story with them but it might just be a bit complicated.
From where we were on the park we could hear singing. After we finished eating we walked to where the music was coming from and saw a group of middle-aged people singing in the pavilion right across the pond. It was really beautiful, accompanied by an accordion and a chinese fiddle. Then as we got closer the music was finished. We sat there a bit to wait and see if they'd sing again but by then they were just singing solo. (I video taped a short portion of a woman singing.)
We walked to the Urban Planning museum and paid 40 yuan/person to get in. Right in the center of the lobby is a scale model of what they plan for Shanghai in the near future. On the second floor us a much larger model complete with light effects and colors. There were 4 floors dedicated to Shanghai's development and improvements with housing, transportation, maritime, etc. What interested Peter the most was the ecological island they are planning at Chongming (?). They have begun planning and development of this place in 2004. There will be several zones: forestry, farming, tourism, etc. A controlled population of about 650 thousand will be allowed to live and work there. They hope to finish this project in the next few years. I believe they will be host to the 2010 World's fair. The museum could actually be improved and more features can be added to make the admission fee worth it.
For lunch we ventured along Nanjing Xi Lu, the shopping street for Shanghai even from the early1900s. There are a number of shopping malls there but only in the basement of Isetan we found a food court, called Megabite. Here you purchase a Megabite card ($30, 50, 100) which you use to pay for the food you order. Just go to the stall you want to order food and give the card which they debit the transaction. You can refill the card again for future use. Note: the card will have a fee of $5, so subtract than from the store added value before you purchase your food so you know how much your balance will be.
We returned to the hostel later that afternoon and took a much needed nap. Our sightseeing trip here in Shanghai is very relaxed and spread out because we are here for about a week and this city is not the huge compared to Beijing or Seoul. We wanted to check out the Bund and Nanjing Dong (east) Lu at night but when I checked to see the last train to Caoyanglu was 9:48 or 10:48 p.m. (I wasn't too sure) we decided to just go to Zhongshanlu where there's this huge mall called Cloud Nine.
Cloud Nine is a big mall full of activity and people. They have a Carrefour in the basement and 1st floor and a number of restaurants in the building, so most of the people come here to have dinner and at the same time do their grocery shopping. It is a very convenient stop for most as it connects with the subway line 2, 3 and 4.
Because we didn't know what time the station here in Caoyanglu would close, we had to find a fast food place for our dinner - KFC! Yep, you read right! We ate at an American fast food store (that's 3 now: Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and now this.) Well, we really weren't that hungry after having a late lunch and a dessert around 2 or 3 p.m. It was a good thing we ordered the spicy chicken wings (we didn't know what it was because it was in Chinese and it looked huge in the picture).
Now that we're back here at the hostel, we learned that the subway closes at 11 p.m. I guess tomorrow we will try checking out the Bund at night.
~~~
It's just difficult to end up late outside and not know how to get back to the hostel as the buses here only have chinese characters and the taxi drivers do not speak english. Make sure to have your hotel/hostel's name written in Chinese script with you at all times so that you can take a cab when you end up staying our late.
Carrefour is the best place to buy your necessities, like toilet paper and water.
Definitely try out the local snack stores, there's really no need to try street food as they are available in stores also for slightly more in price - unless you really want to try the street food and your stomach is pretty strong.
Spend time lingering around the People's park. It's a nice place to just relax.
When crossing the street, make sure to watch out for motorbikes and bicycles that also criss-cross along the pedestrian walkways and crosswalks. Sometimes cars, along with the bikes, would run the red light or turn right very quickly. Always cross with the local people to help shield you from these oncoming vehicles.
The streets here is not too polluted compared to Manila. Yet it is still better to have a handkerchief or a mask to protect you from it.
posted by Mimi | 2:51 AM
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