My travels have officially started!I am on my own now, in Shanghai! School ended on Wednesday, June 7th and most of my friends in the program headed out on the 8th, but I had my tickets booked for the 10th. It was a little lonely, being all alone at the school, but it was also a good thing because it gave me lots of time to plan my trip! I spent June 8th and 9th researching and reading about what I wanted to do in Shanghai, Zhangjiajie and Beijing.
I left for Shanghai early on Saturday morning. The Zhuhai airport is about an hour and a half drive from BNUZ, and I didn't want to be late so I left my dorm at 7:30 in the morning. Little did I know that I didn't need to worry at all about being late. My flight, which was supposed to leave at 12:10pm was delayed BY EIGHT HOURS. I couldn't leave the airport, and I wasn't able to understand why the flight was delayed, so I just waited and waited. I finally arrived in Shanghai at around 10:30pm, and arrived at the hostel around 12:30. Luckily, I had emailed to let the hostel know I was going to be late so they didn't give away my bed. I went to sleep as soon as I lay down!
In the morning on Sunday, I had to get up pretty early because I had booked a bike tour that started at 9:00. I decided to test out the subway instead of a taxi to get there. I made it to the tour in time despite accidentally getting on the wrong train. The tour was fantastic! It was a group of six people and a tour guide. The tour I booked was a four-hour bike tour around the French Concession in Shanghai. Before we started, the guide (Rose) gave us some background about the bikes we would be riding: in the early 1950s, China started to manufacture what they called "Yong Jiu" bicycles, or "forever" bicycles. At the time, these bikes were the first to be mass-produced and distributed all around the country. They were also a sign of wealth and status at the time, and even today many of the older people in Shanghai will recognize the style and compliment the bikes.
We started the tour on some of the main roads around the French Concession. To give a little background, as I mentioned in a previous post, in 1700s-1800s, many European powers wanted to trade with China. They wanted three things: silk, porcelain and tea. However, China, being pretty self-sufficient, didn't really want to start trading with Europe. In fact, there wasn't really anything from Europe that the Chinese needed or wanted. So, England decided they would force China to start trading by bringing opium into the country.
This caused a huge amount of opium addiction within China, which did not make the government happy. China and Britain went to war in the late 1800s, and Britain won. As part of their treaty, Britain decided to start colonizing China. When the rest of Europe heard about this, they also decided they wanted a part of the country, and many foreign powers settled in areas of today's Shanghai.
The French Concession is significant because it is right in the heart of downtown Shanghai and is a really cool example of "cultural fusion."
The architecture of many of the buildings combines classic Chinese styles with the European trend of high ceilings, big staircases and many floors. For a while, the area was occupied by wealthy French citizens and their families. However, after world war two, when communism started to take hold, the government decided to repurpose these huge French buildings. In order to combat homelessness, the buildings were split into shared homes, where many families would live. The families would have their own room in the house but the kitchen and bathroom would be shared between everyone. Today, many people still live like this. We visited one area, and a woman invited us in to see her room. It was pretty interesting because the floors and furniture was all still original. Rose, the tour guide, told us that the people living in these buildings aren't necessarily poor, it's more that this is just the way they are used to living.
Next, we visited another area that is known as Old Shanghai. This is an area of the city that hasn't been changed in a long time. There's tons of winding alleys that get thinner and thinner the farther in you ride. It was quite scary to be biking through these alleys, because there were people and bikes and animals everywhere, and a lot of blind corners. But it was also really interesting, and not somewhere I would have known to visit on my own. We stopped at a local shop for a little snack which was tasty, and also visited a Buddhist temple.
The bike tour ended around 1:00, and I decided I would head to The Bund. This area is much more developed, and is where the iconic
Shanghai cityscape photos come from. The Bund is basically a port, and was built by the British after they colonized the area. "Bund" is actually an Indian word that literally translates to "port." It's called the Bund because even though it was commissioned by the British, they brought over workers from their colony in India to build it.
I wandered around for a while, trying to take it all in before deciding to head to the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower. This tower is almost 400m high, and offers a super view of Shanghai city. I knew that the city was big, and I know there are about 25 million people living here, but it wasn't really until I was at the top of the tower that I grasped just how many people that is. It was a really clear day yesterday, so I had an amazing view but no matter how far I looked, the buildings seemed to go on forever. It was incredible. The only downside was the wait time, which took almost two hours but I think it was worth it in the end.
I headed back to the hostel after that, to get changed and grab some food. At this point, it was about 5:30pm. My next stop was the Shanghai Circus. I hadn't heard a lot about the circus, but I decided to attend anyway because the reviews of the show were really good. I've never seen Cirque du Soleil, but I imagine it is similar. The show was fantastic, and absolutely crazy. I was shocked. There were people riding bikes and jumping from bike to bike, crazy gymnastic stunts and trampolines. But the most insane act was when eight motorcycles all got inside this huge metal sphere and were driving around without hitting each other. I didn't get many pictures, but I'll try and upload what I have - it was crazy! It was one of those things that completely shocked me, and probably my favourite thing I've done so far.
I got back to the hostel around 11:00pm, and finally met some of the other people here. Since I had arrived so late the night before and left early in the morning, I hadn't really had a chance to meet anyone. A bunch of people were heading to a local bar so I tagged along with them. There was a guy from London, Holland, the States and Vancouver.
I woke up around 9:00am today, and decided to have a more relaxed day. Yesterday was pretty hectic and busy, and even though it was really fun, I don't think I can keep up that sort of schedule every day. I'm currently at the hostel, just finished breakfast. I'm planning to head back to the city, maybe to the Shanghai museum or to this really beautiful garden I've rad about. It's raining though, so I might try and stay somewhere indoors. I am heading to Zhangjiajie tomorrow, so everyone cross your fingers that my flight leaves on time.
Thanks again to everyone for reading!I'll be posting some more pictures very soon. :)
