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Shanghai's
cosmopolitan atmosphere today has its roots in a long history as
a center for trade dating to 960 AD As a result of the Opium Wars
in the 1840's, the British imposed the Treaty of Nanjing on China
thus forcing China to open Shanghai up to westerners. Foreign interests
quickly consumed most of what is now central Shanghai. It was in
Shanghai that the Communist party was founded in 1921 and, in 1960,
it was here that the Cultural Revolution began and its headquarters
were established. During the Cultural Revolution the Red Guard began
destroying anything that was not defined by the Communist Party
as Socialist Realism, including anything foreign, Buddhist, or just
old, like many of the Colonial buildings. Many of these things survived
the worst of China's growth and learning experiences, and they are
there in Shanghai for us to enjoy today. The Bund is one of the
remaining vestiges of Shanghai's colonial period.
Zhongshan
Dong Lu Road, or as us Westerners call it, the Bund, parallels the
western bank of the Juangpu Jiang River. It was here that the European,
American and Japanese built their banks, trading houses, consulates
and hotels. Renovated by the Chinese as a tourist attraction and
brightly lit at night it is a spectacular sight when viewed from
the promenade across the Bund and adjacent to the river.
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The
Bund, Zhongshan Dong Lu Road |
Seeing
the Bund in daylight was one thing, but we'd seen pictures of
it taken at night when the all of the buildings are flood lit.
While our tour did not include a visit to the Bund at night, Anne
and I were determined that we'd come back on our own.
Directly
across the Juangpu Jiang River lies the Pudong Xinqu, or new area.
It is the site of a 40 billion US$ development project to include
state-of-the-art container port, an international airport, high-rises
and skyscrapers. It is well on its way to making Shanghai a world
renown port and industrial giant.
Views
across the Juangpu Jiang River are impressive with the high-rises
and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Take a look ...
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The
Oriental Pearl TV Tower
and high-rises along the Juangpu
Jiang River in the Pudong Xinqu area |
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As
seen through the fisheye lens |
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After
our short walk on the promenade with views of the Bund and Pudong
Xinqu we elected to follow Mei, our tour escort, on a walk along
the Bund and through the center of the business district, and
then take the subway back to our hotel. On our walk we stopped
and went inside the Peace Hotel, known as the Cathay in Shanghai's
colonial period, and today is Shanghai's most prized colonial
building. As is often the case with such old hotels the lobby
areas were absolutely beautiful with exquisite woodwork and elaborate
decorations.
Leaving
the Peace Hotel we proceeded down a main shopping street where
we enjoyed an ice cream courtesy of Mei before negotiating the
subway back to the hotel.
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Anne
playing in a
telephone booth again |
Corner
building with
major traffic |
Small
vendors still find room along a street containing
many shops offering everything you might need |
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Main
shopping street is
closed to traffic |
A
modern subway station |
Clean,
modern subway cars! |
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| After
our short walk and subway ride we arrived back at our hotel in plenty
of time for dinner and a free evening. Anne and I knew what we would
do with our free time ... take a cab back to the Bund and enjoy the
brightly lit street scene at night. Unfortunately we couldn't convince
Carol, John or Alicia to join us. I believe now they regret not tagging
along after see the pictures we took. |
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The
Bund brightly lit at night |
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Anne
with the Oriental Pearl TV Tower |
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The
Bund through the fisheye |
The
Pepsi Sign Street |
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| Walking
along the river on the promenade and enjoying the sights of the brightly
lit street scenes was very enjoyable. I'm happy we did it. One always
has reservations about venturing off into the night in an unknown
city given that we really don't know the area, but it was crowded
with other people walking along the promenade. We felt safe enough
to duplicate our walk from before and proceeded to head toward the
subway for the quick ride back to the hotel. |
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Anne
by a fountain |
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Statue
near the Promenade |
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Beijing's
Olympic
Symbol |
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Night
scenes along the business district
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Anne
with a statue
of a mother, child
and baby carriage |
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What
a full day we had enjoyed. Yuyuan Garden, the Temple of the Jade
Buddha, and the Bund in the afternoon and at night. We'd walked
for what seemed miles, but we weren't that tired, or so we thought.
But it was time to call it a day and get some rest in preparation
for our excursion to Suzhou, China's Venice on the Grand Canal.
Join
us on the next page for our trip to Suzhou ...
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