Shanghai - Part 3

Welcome back to my week in Shanghai, China. The last couple of days have been pretty boring...because I actually had lots of work to do ; ) This evening, however, I visited the very heart of Shanghai. It's called The Bund. It's an area of the city right next to the Huangpu River. It's rather historical, as it was the big financial center of all Asia, back in the early 1900s, through the 1930s. When you watch old movies that include any reference to the Far East...it was Shanghai.

The view from the Bund is amazing...you look across the river, and this is what you'll see (click to enlarge):

The tallest building in the picture (it looks like a giant bottle opener) is the World Financial Center. Right now, it's the tallest building in China. Up until a couple of years ago, the building directly to its left (Jinmao Tower) was the tallest building in the world. There's a Hyatt hotel inside...and I had the chance to stay there, on one visit to Shanghai.

This is a shot of the Pearl TV Tower - it's a giant structure that I've blogged about before. If you enlarge the picture, you'll see a cruise ship off to the left. On the other side of the river, are the more classic buildings:

It's interesting to see the older style of buildings on one side, juxtaposed with the modern high-rise buildings on the other side of the river.

Directly off The Bund is Nanjing Road. The best description I can give it, is a super-shopping-street. It's very popular with locals and tourists, particularly on a Saturday. Here's what it feels like to take a stroll down Nanjing Rd:

Yes, it's a little crowded

There are all kinds of shopping on Nanjing...from the very top-end brands in special malls, to grocery stores, to other specialty shops:

Inside the kiddie store, I found a section with clothes for children. The brand name was interesting....

Just off the main road, you'll find areas that look like "old" Shanghai, before China emerged as a world power.

The last thing I'll leave you with, is a little video clip from Nanjing Road. This is a pretty good example of what I was talking about in previous blog posts. Traffic rules in China (like other parts of the world) are merely optional. Check out this intersection in action - people walking right in front of cars:

That's it for now. Tomorrow, I'm headed to Beijing. I appreciate the fact that people take the time to read some of this crazy stuff ; )