Trip
to Shanghai!
- November 21-24 (2003), People's Republic of China
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| This autumn, we were lucky to have many Japanese National Holidays fall on Mondays and Fridays. In late November, Yuka and I decided to take the three hour flight across the East China Sea to visit Shanghai. | Shanghai is supposed to be China's most modern city, but luckily the city still has many areas where some of the traditional China can be found. As in Beijing, however, these are quickly disappearing due to the quick development taking place in the city. |
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| One of the most popular tourist attractions in Shanghai is the Yu Garden, which dates back to 1577 and is supposed to be one of China's prettiest private gardens. On weekends, however, the place is visited by thousands of tourists. I think I would have enjoyed the place a whole lot more if it was my own private garden. | The garden is divided into several sections, and it is somewhat difficult to keep track of one's whereabouts. Some parts were pretty reminiscent of their counterparts in Japan, but other parts were different from anything I've seen before. |
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| Finally, yours truly in front a pond. I overheard a Japanese guide explaining that the big rock seen in the background is very old, and the Japanese tourists were very surprised by this. Aren't most rocks pretty old though? | One of the highlights of visiting China is of course the food. However, please be prepared to accept that China does not have culture for non-smoking tables. Also, table manners are different (PC for "horrible") by any standard. If you eat something that you do not like, the answer is simply to spit it out on the table. Check out part 3 for a dinner table as left by a Chinese family. |
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| I had my shoes polished by a nice Chinese gentleman, and it cost me just 10 yuan (about 1.2 USD). Chinese taxis have the same amount as their starting fare. For the sake of comparison, the starting fare in Japan is 660 yen (about 6 dollars). | Another top attraction in Shanghai is a cruise on the Huangpu River. Our relatively short boat trip lasted just over an hour, but it is possible to take boat trips all the way to the Yangzi River - and beyond. |
