A morning in the market
I had a nice lie in today. A lot better than I thought to be honest, considering the environment I was surviving in. The pair of us got ready and headed out to explore Shanghai. We started by taking the same route as we did last night. The market place greeted us, the same one that we saw last night. It was very busy but also very beautiful. There were shops of all kinds, selling odds and ends, crafts, food, jewellery, clothes, and more. This market is part of the Yu Garden, more info about it here!
As it was my Mum’s birthday soon, I decided to send a postcard. We stumbled upon a shop that sold cards, so we went in to have a look. There were many nice postcards, I went for an air shot of Shanghai, skyscrapers and all. Thankfully the woman at the shop was able to help with regards to stamps. I had to buy 5 stamps and place them in the top right corner. She also told is where the post box was, so that was that sorted. We had some breakfast, although it was strange to be honest. It consisted of some chicken nuggets and a corn dog. Not a choice I’d deliberated about before, but it was lovely all the same. We had a mosey around the market and pond before carrying on with our exploration.
Reaching Pudong
After walking for a time, we were on the river front once more. It was rather busy with tourists and runners alike. We walked down the river front towards the famous Bund, the best spot to view all of the skyscrapers and towers that are in Pudong, across the river. The Sun was shining gloriously; it was going to be a good day. The view across the river was crystal clear, perhaps the best view of the city we could have hoped for. Now, the challenge was how to get there.
There are buses you can get, and bridges you can cross. The problem was, the nearest bridge was extremely far away, so we opted to take a ferry. On the maps it looked pretty close. Getting there, however, was a different ball game. It took over an hour to walk to the ferry station. As soon as you go one street away from the main attractions, it pretty much becomes like every other city. Due to this, the walk wasn’t too interesting. When we got to the ferry, we had to buy a small token, it didn’t cost much. Then a few steps later, we had to deposit said token into a turn stile to get through. We waited for 15 minutes or so before the ferry came, and a boat load of people got off (pun intended). Be careful of the bikes that travel on the ferries too.
Walking amongst giants
The ferry only took 10 minutes or so to get across, so we got to the Pudong district of Shanghai pretty quickly. As soon as we were off, we were immediately surrounded by skyscrapers, not a normal building in sight. Be careful, you’re liable to get neck ache walking around Shanghai! We came across the Oriental Pearl Tower; this was a mighty tower indeed. After having seen it in many places for years, to finally be standing underneath this gargantuan construct was awesome. Although, to actually go into the closer vicinity/up it, you do have to pay.
We carried on and came to a roundabout with a nice display in the middle. There’s a circular bridge walkway the whole way round the island, so we went up one of the bridges. The bridge led to a building, so we entered not knowing entirely what it was. It turned out to be a shopping centre, the Super Brand Mall, to be exact. This shopping centre was the biggest one I’ve seen (that I can remember). I looked down from the top floor, and there were 9 other floors below me. I’m surprised I didn’t get vertigo.
A feast for foreigners
The shopping centre was pretty quiet to be honest. Probably because it was the middle of a weekday. We searched high and low for somewhere to eat, and eventually decided on Skateboard Chicken. It was empty, that worked in our favour as we were starving! We both went for the same meal, fried chicken with fries. There was a short wait before it came. Oh my god. I can’t believe how much was brought out, and how much it filled us up. I didn’t want to leave a single piece, but I was splitting at the seams. My belly felt like it’d burst any second. After a long wait, we eventually staggered out and made our way to the river front.
We found a nice viewpoint on the river front where we sat and watched the sun set. There was plenty of photo taking and posing, but we just sat and admired the view. As the Sun set behind the metropolitan Shanghai backdrop, beams of light shot all over the place. It was majestic. We eventually made a move to the ferry, which took us over to the other side of the river. When we arrived, we were closer to home than the other ferry port.
The Bund
We stayed on the river front and walked back to The Bund. By the time we got there, it was almost dark. The buildings weren’t lit up yet, but the atmosphere was buzzing. Everyone was waiting in anticipation. Then, a short while later, the buildings lit up, one by one. All of them lit in magnificent colours and patterns, such as the China flag. When they were all lit, one by one the buildings consecutively flashed a pattern of white lights. Starting from the building furthest right, the light progressed to the left, and then even the buildings behind us took part. All of the lights were zooming around us, 360 degrees. The fact it was all in sync was amazing.
We had some crazy dude take about a hundred photos of us, he seemed pretty star struck to be talking to us. Quite strange. After some time, we decided to dip from The Bund. We decided to check out the shopping area of this side of Shanghai. When we reached the high street, it reminded me of Time Square. Huge electronic billboards with adverts on for luxurious brands and latest gadgets. Plus, the shops themselves were pretty glamourous too. A while later, we decided to turn in for the night, but we were still so bedazzled by all the lights. I’m sure I could still see the lights when I closed my eyes.
