Shanghai China

Sunday, March 08, 2009 – SHANGHAI, CHINA!
Great weather of blue skies and mild temperatures – they have had weeks of rain and we are here in perfect weather!
Population of 16 million; Nicknames: Pearl of the Orientor Paris of China; heavily polluted air; City is fighting a never-ending battle with silt as their shoreline is extended 25 feet a year

Before disembarking, I was able to call home! It takes a good half hour to figure out the way to dial the number and I get frustrated with it. Is it GSM or Automatic or something else? I am not a techy and I find it very difficult to sort out but it worked! Good to hear from them and I was sorry I could not call others.

The harbor is magnificent! HUGE. Beyond huge. There are cranes for miles and miles and containers and containers and more containers. They are stacked six high and I could not even begin to guess how many across. And we heard later that most of them are empty, due to the economy. We arrived at 7AM and once again, were scanned for “high” body temperature prior to disembarking. They also did this in Korea and Japan. They aim a camera at you as you walk past and if your body temperature is at a certain level, you are not allowed off the ship.

Shanghai (City on the Sea), was merely a fishing village until 1842. After the first Opium War, the British named it a treaty port, opening the city to foreign involvement. The village soon turned into a city carved up into autonomous concessions administered concurrently by the British, French and Americans, all independent of Chinese law. Each colonial presence brought with it is particular culture, architecture and society. Although Shanghai had its own walled Chinese city, many native residents still chose to live in the foreign settlements. Thus began a mixing of cultures that shaped Shanghai’s openness to Western influence.

In its heyday, it was the place to be – it had the best art, the greatest architecture and dance halls, brothels, glitzy restaurants and international clubs that catered to the rich. But poverty ran alongside opulence and many of the lower-class Chinese provided the cheap labor that kept the city running. “Paris of the East” became known as a place of vice and indulgence. The communist party held its first meeting in 1921 and then the Japanese occupied the city. The party was over. By 1943, most foreigners had fled. The Communists declared victory in 1949 and established the People’s Republic of China.

The city remained the largest contributor of tax revenue to the central government and was the powder keg for the Cultural Revolution, serving as the base of operations for the infamous Gang of Four, led by Mao Zedong’s wife. In 1967, the Red Guards fervently carried out their destruction the “Four Olds” – old ways of idea, living, traditions and thought.

In 1972, President Nixon met with Premier Enlai to sign the Shanghai communiqué, which enabled the two countries to normalize relations and encourage China to open talks with the rest of the world. Today, this city has once again become one of China’s most open cities ideologically, socially, culturally and economically. It is a city of paradox and change.

The group was right on time (they are SOOO good!) and so were our two buses and guides. The owner was there plus two guides, two drivers and four helpers! For 37 people!!!! The buses were very nice with elevated back rows and we had 15 on one bus and 22 on mine. We docked in the Shanghai Haitong International Terminal and drove approx. two hours west of Shanghai to Tongli, reputed to be one of the most famous waterside townships in China. It’s history stretches back more than 1000 years. It is composed of seven islands created by the five surrounding lakes and 15 rivers that crisscross it. Forty-nine stone bridges of varying styles and periods connect them while along the river banks were are stone houses, also of varying styles that epitomize the city’s long history.

We passed many rice fields, high rise apartments, small lean-to homes and passed through several toll plazas – all of which were extremely busy and ornately constructed. The town does not have the room for vehicles on the cobblestoned streets so you park outside of town and take an electric golf cart (holding up to 14 people) in to the center of the city.

We walked over several of the old bridges to the Tuisi Gardens, which is actually a 4000 sq. ft. home owned by a military officer. Built from 1885-87 during the late Qing Dynasty, the garden has a unique layout with a collection of pavilions, terraces, porches, bridges, halls and houses surrounding a pond at its center, creating the impression of a waterside garden. The compact and natural layout during the four seasons contribute to its elegance. This small, secluded and tranquil Chinese classical garden was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site in 2001. Two people lived in this beautiful home with an entrance parlor, large rooms, terraces, balconies and a very large pond with many fish and beautiful limestone scattered around the garden. It was a beautiful home to walk through so imagine living in such a peaceful setting…we listened to the Pipa, Yangchin and Chinese Flute and saw a gentleman do paper cutting. Such very small cuts and you get exquisite cuttings!!!

We were being filmed as we toured and I found it they are making a film for Tuisi Gardens and want to show that tourists DO visit and they would like more tourists. Some school girls approached several in our group and asked to have their picture taken with us. We found out later they consider it an privilege to have themselves in a photo with a foreigner – and some in our group are extremely tall or have white hair, so this was even more interesting to them.

We continued down the streets filled with shops for today’s goods and with some tourist items and entered several small, low boats in the canal. Local women rowed us through the canals and we passed the open-air restaurants with laundry hung out to dry, people washing their dishes in the canal and more locals gazing at us! We were quite an attraction. We passed a boat which looked like it had vultures resting on a stick. These birds (they are not vultures!) are trained to catch fish! They dive into the water, catch the fish, keep them in their bill and then regurgitate them. This saves the fisherman from doing the work!!

Today’s was Women’s Day so were there specials in several shops and fireworks were being fired around town. It was a Sunday afternoon and the streets and restaurants were packed with Chinese from Shanghai and other cities exploring just as we were.

Our Nanyuan South Garden teahouse was built in late Qing Dynastry. It is a traditional half-timbered structure with four side open shops with wood carvings of the Qing Dynasty. The house did not have western toilets so this opened the eyes of a few in the group. Most toilets are ground level with no place to sit. You squat and balance and try to finish quickly. Those thigh muscles get a good workout! The most difficult part is juggling where to hold the paper (which you supply yourself), your camera and your day bag! But you manage. And then you realize how grateful you are when you do come to a western toilet…

We had a lovely luncheon on the 2nd floor. They served on a lazy susan tray family style and everyone had a small bowl and chopsticks, a fork and two small tea cups. We had a formal tea ceremony where we tasted four teas (I like jasmine the best) and then the food was served. First were the cold courses: spicy roast beef, duck seasoned with soy sauce, bamboo shoots in sauce, candied lotus root. Hot courses were: fried beef with green pepper, spicy salt prawns, sweet and sour perch, fried whitebait with scrambled eggs, braised duck with special sauce, seasonal vegetable, diced chicken with peanuts, mixed bean cured with seasonal vegetable. Tomato and egg soup and tongli fried rice were included also. It was all delicious and everyone was game for trying it all. We ended with lychees and they were delicious (a small round brown fruit about the size of a bing cherry. You peel it and eat the sweet white pulp; there is a seed).

Finally some shopping time! They were anxious to get out there and several friendships were created as well as many bargains purchased. We were back on the trams to the buses and then headed into the city of Shanghai.

We stopped downtown Shanghai at Peoples Square – the magnificent theatre, museum and Silk Factory and Exhibition Hall are there, beside vendors hawking cheap Rolex watches!! You were lucky to get one before the police came along!

Beautiful silk paintings and clothing were in the government-run building. Craftsmen were there showing the strength of the silk and how much it can stretch and women were sewing double-sided silk paintings. Some were over $5000 US dollars!!! They were unbelievably beautiful and many resembled a photograph. The stitches were so fine and precise.

We were fortunate to have one bus return promptly to the ship and one bus remained for those wishing to shop a little longer. Onboard, they presented a Chinese acrobat show with the young children and teenagers juggling plates and bending their bodies in pretzel shapes – an incredible show!

Dinner was fun with everyone at the table, watched a great comedian from Kentucky, Bob Bizendine, completed our reports and went up to watch the sailout. The harbor was so pretty at night. All those cranes and ships had thousands of lights! And then you could see the many fishing vessels at sea, also lit up. It looked like we were on the main thoroughfare of a city street!

Main sights in Shanghai:
- Jinmao Tower – 88 floor art deco pagoda is among the five tallest buildings in the world and the tallest in China. The Grand Hyatt Shanghai takes up the 53-87 floors.
- Oriental Pearl Tower – Tallest tower in Asia (looks like a UFO structure). There is an observation deck in the three spheres.
- World’s first commercial “mag lev” (magnetic levitation) train which runs from the airport to downtown at 350 kilometers per hour. It take 8 minutes to travel 17 miles!
- Bund (waterfront boulevard) – Peace Hotel
- Pudong area – new development
- Yu Gardens
- Jade Buddha Temple
- Bird and Flower Market
- Peoples Square – social and cultural center