May 22, 2011

Day 7 -- It was a bittersweet day, saying goodbye to the historically rich city of Beijing, as well as our tour guide, Christina, and saying hello to the Westernized, consumer society of Shanghai. Christina helped us check into the airport and to see us off to Shanghai. We really enjoyed our time in Beijing and were excited to see a new city. Our three-hour flight was amazing: quick security checkpoint without any problems, spacious seating (compared to U.S. flights), a meal, a movie (Inception), and pillows and blankets.

We made it to Shanghai!

We were met at the airport by a member of Dwight Law’s firm. After waiting in an hour of Shanghai’s gridlock traffic, we arrived at our glorious hotel.

Traffic @ 2 p.m. on a Sunday

This place is amazing! Each room has a living room, two TVs, an amazing bathroom, free usage of converters, and free breakfast. The hotel also has a massage area and a sushi restaurant below. It is located very close to the Bund as well. Once we were through with exploring our hotel, we headed to the Bund.

Details along the Bund

Buildings along the Bund

The Bund is located along the Huangpu River and is home to extremely tall, glitzy buildings. As we walked along the riverfront, we experienced many interesting and artsy details such as the benches, paving patterns, and drainage networks. A living wall of flowers was another beautiful feature along our walk. On our way to get dinner, we walked down one of the most famous streets in Shanghai, most known for shopping. We ate at a restaurant on the top floor of the mall.

Next on our agenda was a river cruise, which sounded rather miserable with the drizzle, but the cold rain didn’t stop us! We waited in line for the boat to arrive; Jena, Rachel, Sara, and Jessie had to stay strong to hold back the entire crowd from sneaking around us to cut in line. It was hilarious waiting in that line, forcefully standing our ground to keep our spot in line, but it was worth it, getting prime seats near the windows. The cruise circled around in front of the main stretch of the Bund. The building lights were brilliantly bright and colorful, creating somewhat of a light show. Some of us went up to the upper deck for photos, even though it was windy and rainy.

View from the river cruise

Concluding our night, we went back to the hotel and went to the top floor for more exploring. It has been an interesting transition from Beijing to Shanghai. Beijing definitely had some interesting spots we ran across through exploration; Shanghai seems to include Western-style culture.

To give you a little taste of the cultural differences we've been learning about, here are some examples: When sketching at sites, many people crowd around us to watch. When a fish is ordered at a meal, whichever way the head is pointing, that is who must make a toast and take the first bite. The markets sell things like scorpion on a stick, starfish, seahorse, and sheep testicles. Avril Lavigne and Michael Jackson are extremely popular in China. Fruit is served as the last thing at a meal and functions as a dessert. Finally, chivalry is not dead in China; the men carry their girlfriends' or wives' purses when walking down the street.

That’s all for now! Get ready for an update from the French Concession tomorrow!

-- Jessie King