Well, hello there everyone. This past Chinese labor day we took a trip to Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hanzhou, all of which are located in southern China. It was a 5 day trip that was packed with anything and everything we could do in these cities. For me, there are almost too many things to tell. I really felt like I was able to get a new perspective on China. Actually I am still trying to figure this place out, so I suppose this blog has been really instrumental in that regard.
So here is the plan. There is way too much to talk about in one blog post. I am going to post a couple new posts every so often about different subjects or parts of the city(ies). So lets start out with the most famous part of Shanghai - The Bund-.
There is a long history to Shanghai, and any attempt here to commentate on the history of this former British outpost would be foolhardy. But I can tell you about my experience. This section of Shanghai is a very peculiar corner of China. It is a strange juxtaposition between an old chinese town, british imperialism, and a new and rapid growing form of chinese capitalism. So it is nothing short of confusing. Well in any case the easiest way to understand this is to look at the buildings along the Bund. Most of these building above are either leftovers from the Western occupation or new buildings from the Chinese economic boom. In short, from one spot you can look around and feel like you are in a very chinese metropolitan city, then all it takes is a quick turn around to feel like you are in the middle of London.
Essentially Shanghai serves as the Finance and Economics hub of China. Beijing is more of a political and cultural center, whereas Shanghai can be just about anything else. It is the most populous city on the Mainland 23 mil+ and has seen a ridiculous amount of development over the past 50 years. Thus, most of these huge buildings are national banks, Multinational Corporations, or state-owned enterprises.
Here is wikipedia. Have a look around, the history IS pretty neat:
I had a great chance to go on a boat cruise in the middle of the Huangpu river 黄浦江. It cuts right through Shanghai and serves as a boundary of sorts. To the east is the more financial district with the impressive skyline and needle, and to the west is the old town and the more densely packed cityscape.
For some wierd reason we had to take the "coco club" boat out on the river tour. Don't ask me why, I don't have any idea either.
love the coco club pic, that is the Jeremy I miss. Lindsay
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