Shanghai - Part 4

Shanghai is the largest Chinese city by population & the largest city proper by population in the world. Our stay spanned 3 days, and we could’ve spent 3 weeks and not seen it all. It was a dizzying experience, immersed in large crowds & horrific traffic everywhere. It’s one of the four direct-controlled municipalities, with a population of more than 24 million as of 2013.

This past Friday at 1:30pm and still 85 miles away from the pier, our ship entered into what is known as the Shanghai Traffic Pattern. This is an imaginary hiway on the water with two lanes of traffic – going to and coming from Shanghai. I’d not seen anything like it. When you go through the Suez or Panama Canal, you typically see one or two dozen ships waiting to enter the traffic que, but with Shanghai as the world’s busiest container port, there were literally hundreds of ships, large & small, both ahead of us & behind. Shanghai sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River Delta – actually, about 25 miles inland. We entered the mouth of the Yangtze around 7pm and didn’t dock until 10pm. Talk about a ‘slow boat to China’! So, the Shanghai metroplex borders the provinces of Jiangsu & Zhejang to the north, south and west, and is bounded to the east by the East China Sea. 

Shanghai is a very popular tourist destination, renowned for its historical landmarks such as The Bund, City God Temple, & Yu Garden, as well as the extensive Lujiazui skyline and major museums including the Shanghai Museum & the China Art Museum. On day two of our stay, we decided to tour on our own and thanks to a friend’s recommendation, we bought all-day bus passes (total $32) on what’s known as ‘Big Bus’ – a double-deck, open air vehicle with three distinct routes through the city, and headphone commentary as you drive. Great investment – you get on & off as you please, and as long as you can remember where pick-up points are located, no chance of getting lost. We made a day of it and were able to see many incredible, amazing sites – both the old & new – high end shopping, low end street markets & everything imaginable in between. Walmart has a good presence in Shanghai, along with Starbucks’s, McDonald’s, KFC, & Subway. Ordering is difficult – all menus are in Chinese, and the lines are dozens deep 24 X 7.

Though we didn’t actually see the site, one of our guides told us that Disney has a park under construction, and is scheduled to be operational by 2016. The Shanghai Disney Resort project was first approved by the government back in Novemnber 2009. The $4.4 billion theme park and resort in Pudong will have a castle that will be the biggest among Disney's resorts. Can you imagine the crowds this will draw?

Shanghai is also a global financial center. Rapid re-development began in 1990s. This is exemplified by what is known as the Pudong District, which became a pilot area for integrated economic reforms. By the end of 2009, there were 787 financial institutions, of which 170 were foreign-invested. In 2009, the Shanghai Stock Exchange ranked third among worldwide stock exchanges in terms of trading volume and sixth in terms of the total capitalization of listed companies, and the trading volume of six key commodities including rubber, copper and zinc on the Exchange all ranked first in the world. This past year, Shanghai's total GDP grew to 1.92 trillion yuan (US$297 billion). The three largest service industries are financial services, retail, and real estate. I’ve heard three different unemployment stats from as many of our guides, ranging from 4 – 6%...so we’ll call it 5% at this point. Everyone appears to be working with high-rise cranes & new construction every direction. 

The conference and meeting sector is also growing. In 2012, the city hosted 780 international gatherings, up from 754 in 2011. The high supply of hotel rooms has kept room rates lower than expected, with the average room rate for four & five-star hotels at only US$153. 

In recent years, a large number of architecturally distinctive and even eccentric buildings have sprung up throughout Shanghai. They are impressive by day, but phenominal by night when illuminated. We didn’t think any city could top the Hong Kong skyline after sunset, but Shanghai takes top honors in our book. Notable examples of contemporary architecture include the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Grand Theater, & Shanghai Oriental Art Center. Despite rampant redevelopment, the old city still retains some buildings of a traditional style, such as the Yuyuan Garden - an elaborate traditional garden in the Jiangnan style.

One uniquely Shanghainese cultural element would be the shikumen residences, which are two- or three-story townhouses, with the front yard protected by a high brick wall. Each residence is connected and arranged in straight alleys, known as a longtang, pronounced longdang in Shanghaiese. The entrance to each alley is usually surmounted by a stylistic stone arch. The whole resembles terrace houses or townhouses commonly seen back home, but distinguished by the tall, heavy brick wall in front of each house. The name “shikumen” means "stone storage door", referring to the strong gateway to each house. 

As mentioned earlier, the Pudong district displays a wide range of skyscrapers, many of which rank among the tallest in the world. The most prominent examples include the Jin Mao Tower (88 stories) and the taller World Financial Center which at 1,614 feet is the tallest skyscraper in mainland China & ranks 3rd in the world. The distinctive Oriental Pearl Tower at 1,535 feet, is located nearby, and its lower sphere is now available for living quarters. Another highrise in the Pudong area is the newly finished Development Tower, standing at 882 feet. The Shanghai Tower, under construction since 2008 and slated for completion in less than 2 months, is the tallest building in China. With a height of 2,073 feet, the building will have 127 floors. We toured the Jin Mao Tower yesterday as we wanted some panoramic shots of the city. Unfortunately, think smog consumed the city by mid-morning so our photos are pretty low quality. 

Speaking of smog, our first two days in Shanghai were absolutely beautiful. No smog, nice breezes with temps in the mid-70’s, low-80’s. Day 3 was miserable. Air pollution in Shanghai is low compared to other Chinese cities, but still substantial by world standards. That said, last December pollution rates reached between 23 and 31 times the international standard. As a result, we were told the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission received orders to suspend students' outdoor activities. Authorities pulled nearly one-third of government vehicles from the roads, while a mass of construction work was halted. Most of inbound flights were cancelled, and more than 50 flights were diverted at Pudong International Airport. This past January, the mayor of Shanghai municipality announced that three main measures would be taken to manage the air pollution in Shanghai, along with surrounding Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The measures involved delivery of the 2013 air cleaning program, linkage mechanism with the three surrounding provinces and improvement of the ability of early warning emergency situations. Then in February of this year, China's cabinet announced that a US$1.7-billion fund would be set up to help companies to meet new environmental standards. They still have a problem, but it seems they’re implementing positive, corrective measures – or at the least, initiatives to prevent further deterioration. 

At the opposite end of the spectrum - Shanghai's parks offer some reprieve from the urban jungle. All of the parks we visited were lush with trees, flowers & meticulously maintained. The Chinese take great pride. The former racetrack turned central park, People’s Square is located in the heart of down town Shanghai and is known for its proximity to other major Shanghai landmarks. Fuxing Park, in the former French Concession of Shanghai, feautures formal French-style gardens and is surrounded by high end bars and cafes. Zhongshan Park in northwestern central Shanghai is famous for its monument of Chopin, a tall statue dedicated to the composers of the world. Built in 1914 as Jessfield Park, it once contained the campus of St. John’s University, Shanghai's first international college; today, it is known for its extensive rose and peony gardens, a large children's play area, and as the location of an important transfer station on the city’s metro system. Shanghai Botanical Garden is located about 7 mi southwest of the city center and was established in 1978. One of the newest is in the Xujiahui area – Xujiahui Park, built in 1999 on the former grounds of the Great Chinese Rubber Works Factory and the EMI Recording Studio (now La Villa Rouge restaurant). The park has a man-made lake with a sky bridge running across the park, and offers a pleasant respite for Xujiahui shoppers. Other well-known Shanghai parks include: People’s Square Park, Gongqing Forest Park, Fuxing Park, Zhongshan Park, Lu Xun Park, Century Park, and Jing’an Park. The ONLY negative – heavy crowds.

An update on our second bullet train ride – actually, the Maglev – Magnetic Levitation Train. I mentioned in an earlier post that this is new technology. That was incorrect - the Maglev has been in service since 2002 and although 12 years old, it’s still the fastest train in the world at 280 MPH. While I’m thinking of it, I need to correct the speed of the bullet train we were on a few days ago – I quoted around 250 MPH but actually, that was killometers…so our true speed in MPH was 155. We took that particular train to the city of Hangzhou, 140 miles from Shanghai – 1 hour to get there with 4 station stops, 45 minutes back with two stops. I apologize for the incorrect info, but was taking it directly from a Holland America shore excursion brochure.

So…the Maglev – it was built (as mentioned) back in 2002 with the help of European technology at a cost of US$ 1 billion. Using no wheels, the train floats on an electromagnetic cushion. We were surprised, in that the slower Bullet Train was smoother & more quiet (with wheels) while the Maglev (no wheels) was occasionally bumpy & noisier. We started at the Long Yang Lu Train Station and shot (like a rocket) to the Pudong International Airport – remaining onboard for the roundtrip. It was a distance of 40 miles but took only a few short minutes. I used a video camera to record both segments and hope to upload & share with you once we reach Hong Kong. It was an incredible, amazing trip, with the landscape lashing by like nothing we’ve ever experienced. We passed cars on the adjacent freeway as if they were at a complete standstill. Had we not been on a ship-sponsored tour, we would’ve done it a few more times!

Trying to describe Shanghai adequately is difficult. There’s so much diversity, culture & beauty one could comment on. Hopefully, our pictures help paint a representation for you. I used the term ‘dizzying experience’ early on…100 lbs in a 5 lb bag may be more appropriate. In terms of infrastructure renovation, technology development, educational requirements for young people, health care, social security, & retirement mandates (50 for women, 60 for men) they are so very far ahead of us back home. I don’t agree with the government’s control over family size (one child only) and some of their other regulations & protocols, but then I look at our own government and find some faults as well. One recent development that’s particularly disturbing however, is China’s desire to have complete control over the China Sea & restrict or prohibit all foreign vessels. This has the potential to become quite heated in the near term.

We found the people in Shanghai to be very friendly & helpful – and they LOVE to have their picture taken with Americans. Cheryl and I were approached many times for photos, as were many passengers. As sophisticated as the Chinese are on so many fronts, it surprises us that they haven’t yet converted their female restrooms to mirror those in Japan or the US. I’ve felt so sorry for Cheryl & other ladies having to squat at every turn.

We sail now toward Hong Kong, scheduled to arrive Thursday morning – Wednesday back home. We received a lengthy letter from the front office advising us of the potential dangerous areas in the city and what to avoid during the current protests. We’ll be there for two days. Right now our thinking is we may end up back at Hong Kong Disneyland as we’ve seen & toured the city on two other recent cruises. We had a great time at Disney, and what could be better than spending a day at “the happiest place on earth”?! We’ll see what happens…we understand from watching the news this morning that the protesters are scheduled to meet with government officials later this evening and depending on the outcome of the negotiations, the situation will either calm down or intensify.

 

 

 

 

Left to Right: Joe, Barbara, Cheryl, Bob, Trudy, Orlin - Good Friends at Happy Hour