Travels with Kathryn

Well, this is it – the last leg, the final train ride, the last hotel check-in and it is nearly time to leave reality and go embrace being a Disney Adult! I have travelled (as the crow flies) 2,132 miles (Xi’an to Kashgar) plus 795 miles (Guilin to Shanghai) since the beginning (in Xi’an), travelling through 5 provinces, and today I arrive in my first direct-administered municipality and the third largest city in the World (according to UN numbers). Is it going to feel like a shock, or have I acclimatised to the hoards that is China? We shall soon find out. I am also interested to see what I remember from when I was here 6 years ago as it turns out if one does not write a blog, one may forget…

Anyway, I am getting a wee bit ahead of myself. I did indeed wait until it had cooled down (a little) yesterday evening for a last walk around part of the West Lake. I had intended to watch the sunset, but to be completely honest, 2 hours before there was no front row space and it was just getting busier. I decided that actually, I was not that bothered. I got some nice photos and enjoyed an amble along the night market (lots of jewellery and not much else) and then headed back to my hotel for a bowl of noodles and an early night.

I am now writing this on the train. Well, Hangzhou station was somewhat busier than I recall, or perhaps this is morning traffic as opposed to afternoon traffic?

On arrival into Shanghai, I decided I would semi-TMaP and get a taxi (via the local rides haring app Didi) as opposed to tackling the subway in heat. Well, it was initially somewhat challenging. I am at Shanghai Hongqiao which is both the main station and and the airport, so whilst there is a dedicated pick up point it requires standing in a hot car park hoping your taxi can find you. It took a while (my hair is wet again!), but I managed to locate Mr Dao, and I am currently enjoying the air conditioned luxury of being chauffeured to my hotel (for the huge expense of about £7).

My hotel in Shanghai does not have the greatest curb appeal, but my room is huge – split level with a massive king size bed and chaise long upstairs and a downstairs sofa, desk and bathroom. Its also in a great location. So after an unpack and attempt to shelter from the worst of the day’s heat, I intended to head out to the Bund.

But before I do that, a little history – before 1842 Shanghai was a thriving country town with a useful port (and gateway to the Yangzi River) but certainly not the city it would grown to become. In 1842 the Treaty of Nanking was agreed between the UK and the Qing dynasty of China designating Shanghai as a “treaty port” for foreign trade. In 1845 an area within Shanghai known as “the Bund” was designated as a British settlement and this became the first area in Shanghai to become a modern urbanization. The French, Americans and everyone else followed and by 1853 Shanghai had become the busiest Chinese port.

It was the first Chinese city to really be built on foreign trade – in particular opuim, silk and tea. It also became synonymous with exploitation and vice as countless gang managed opuim dens, gambling houses and brothels also sprung up across the city. In 1949 the Chinese Communist Party “liberated” the city and ended the exploitation of Chinese workers, eradicated the slums, ended slave labour and attempted to rehabilitate the many thousands of opuim adicts. During the Cultural Revolution, it was no more than a colourless factory town and was the power base of the Gang of Four. It was not until the 1990s that the Shanghai we would recognise today started to take shape with the development of the Pudong (which is on the eastern side of the river from the Bund) and today it is a city of 25 million people (or which 9 million are migrants from other parts of China).

With this background, off I headed to the Bund. Its a 14 minute walk from my hotel the Bund and then I had to stop for a cooling refreshment:

I started at the Shanghai People’s Heroes Monument which as you can see from the image below is a very impressive monument, but seems to be glossed over in tourist literature and in maps. However, having done some digging I can tell you that it was errected in 1993 to commemorate revolutionary martyrs as well as those who have died fighting natural disasters. The 3 sides are meant to represent styalised rifles leaning against each other to show respect to those who have fought for their homeland. I can kind of see why the attempted rebrand and glossing has happened…

However, I was here to visit the Bund History Museum which is underneath the mounment which I do remember from my last visit and gives an excellent overview of the Bund. In its heyday the Bund was the Wall Street of its day and the city’s most powerful banks and trading houses built elaborate offices along it giving it a very international and non-Chinese appearance. Although hot, there was a breeze blowing so actually a walk along it was not as stupid as one might of perhaps assumed.

The main draw though is the view over to the Pudong and modern Shanghai and the iconic view featuring the Oriental Peal TV Tower.  I did not go up this last time, but I did go up the Shanghai Tower which at is China’s tallest building at 632m tall – its the one with the swivel/twist which was designed to reduce wind load by 24% saving $58million in construction cost. Most impressive.

I headed back via East Nanjing Road which is one of the most world’s busiest shopping streets and is also home to China’s first department store (which opened in 1920) which I visted and ate dinner in their food market (which was certainly the place to be given the number of locals doing the same thing). On my previous trip to China, and I cannot remember exactly where other than it was on a food stall manned by grandmas, I had the most amazing crab soup filled dumpling. It was so delicious, I immediately brought another one! I found a place that had them on the menu and ordered it – although it was not quite as good as my food memory (could it ever have been?), it came a close second.

Full of dumplings I have returned to my hotel for an early night as I have booked a 6am taxi to take me to Disneyland. Certain people on my tour seemed somewhat appalled that I was planning to go to Disneyland, but what can I say, I am a multifaceted person who enjoys classical history, culture and a bit of Disney. I am very excited although nervous that although I have a plan (obviously), it is not tried and tested, so I may have to adapt given the crowds expected – I have been monitoring the app and some of the big rides regularly have queues over 3 hours long! Lets just say I have paid the £20 extra for early-entry and hope this will get me through the Kathryn must-dos. Expect a full report and photos of me in Mickey ears. Normal service will be resumed on Friday (my last day in China – sob!) when I shall be back to museum visiting, history learning and possibly another dumpling or two…