My very first impression of Shanghai was the pleasure of seeing a blue sky! Even in Qingdao where it was a little cooler than Beijing and Xi'an, the sky was hazy and visibility was poor. Here, the heat is still staggering, but the air is clear. On the subject of weather, I am quite surprised at how inaccurate the weather forecasts have been over the last two weeks. Before I left Paris, various sites warned of light to heavy rain every day in all cities I planned to visit in the first 10 days. I have not seen a single drop of rain since I arrived in China. I believe things will change at our next destination, Kunming in Yunnan province.
We found a really nice hotel in a former villa in the French Concession area of Shanghai, but the room turned out to be a bit dark and cramped, though very nicely furnished and decorated. We stayed there last night after dinner in the adjoining Thai restaurant. After dinner we went for a walk around the Bund district on the west bank of the Huangpu River. It was the financial centre in the pre-communist days, and is now back to its former glory. And if you want a sign of the change in the economic regime in China, it's the number of banks. Every street seems to have several different banks, mostly Chinese, so many in fact that I've learnt to recognise the symbols for "bank" (two characters that I've since been told mean "money business").
Today we moved to another beautiful hotel in the same area, in a converted apartment block built in the 1930s in art deco style. All the rooms have their own individual touches, including original art work. It reminds me of the apartment block that Jeeves and Wooster (Fry and Laurie) stay in when they go to New York.
Today we went for a stroll in the old city, near the river, and browsed around the Yu market. Some shops were interesting for the range of goods they sold, others for their air conditioning. We spent some time in shop doorways, basking in the cool air shooting down from overhead.
Planning a day trip to Zhujiajiao or Suzhou tomorrow.
We found a really nice hotel in a former villa in the French Concession area of Shanghai, but the room turned out to be a bit dark and cramped, though very nicely furnished and decorated. We stayed there last night after dinner in the adjoining Thai restaurant. After dinner we went for a walk around the Bund district on the west bank of the Huangpu River. It was the financial centre in the pre-communist days, and is now back to its former glory. And if you want a sign of the change in the economic regime in China, it's the number of banks. Every street seems to have several different banks, mostly Chinese, so many in fact that I've learnt to recognise the symbols for "bank" (two characters that I've since been told mean "money business").
Today we moved to another beautiful hotel in the same area, in a converted apartment block built in the 1930s in art deco style. All the rooms have their own individual touches, including original art work. It reminds me of the apartment block that Jeeves and Wooster (Fry and Laurie) stay in when they go to New York.
Today we went for a stroll in the old city, near the river, and browsed around the Yu market. Some shops were interesting for the range of goods they sold, others for their air conditioning. We spent some time in shop doorways, basking in the cool air shooting down from overhead.
Planning a day trip to Zhujiajiao or Suzhou tomorrow.
