Shanghai, the final frontier....
After taking my flight from Xi'an to Shanghai (here's something to try to grapple; my longest flight, totaling 2 hours and 10 minutes, was also my cheapest flight, at only 175 US, while Seoul to Beijing, at only 1 hour and 35 minutes, was 550 US....I hate traveling in Asia....) I arrived in Shanghai, absolutely tired and ready for a nap. I'd tried to sleep on the plane, but surprisingly, they served me a delicious meal and had a movie on that I hadn't seen yet. This time, after struggling to find the right bus, I arrived at my last youth hostel, almost ready to just pack things up, and go back to Seoul. One of the frustrating things about trying to pack in so much sights into just over eight days, is that you're always on the go; when you're sitting down, you feel guilty because just by sitting down for ten minutes, you're effectively missing something, because it never is just ten minutes....ten turns to twenty, which turns to thirty....(you get the idea).
I decided to start by walking along the Bund, which is Shanghai's famous boardwalk. Long ago, Shanghai was a bustling trade port; only in the past few years has it become the giant that it is known as now. The ironic thing is that all of Shanghai's expensive new houses have been built on reclaimed swamp-land. After ten years, they have shockingly discovered that their new high-rises are sinking at the same rate as Venice's famous canal houses. Even more surprising is that there is not a spot in the world where the real estate prices are higher.
After walking up and down the Bund, which unfortunately didn't look like much at all because of the pollutions haze, I decided to walk back to my youth hostel. I opened my guide to Shanghai, and disappointingly realizing that I could have done Shanghai in about one day (instead of the two days that I allotted for Shanghai....the exact amount of time I would have needed to see the Great Wall....) Don't get me wrong, Shanghai is a nice city, if you're looking to stay there for a while. But when you've rushed through everything, I couldn't help but to be disappointed that I was ending my euphoric trip on a low note. For a second I thought about going home one day early, so I could recuperate and catch up on some sleep, but then I realized how stupid that would sound when I came home; I'm in China, and I go home to South Korea a day early? When, its quite likely that I may never come back to China for a long, long time. I decided to enjoy myself, and not worry about what I missed. I'm in China, I should have a great time. That afternoon, it rained almost as hard as the day I arrived in Beijing....so I didn't end up doing much.
The following day, my last final day in Shanghai, I ventured off into Shanghai's well-known clothing market, known more-so for their knock-offs than their realistic merchandise. As much as its fun, its also rather frustrating - men everywhere come up to you asking if you want to buy a "real" Rolex, or DVD's, at real cut-rate prices. I wandered into the market looking for two things; a knockoff North Face Gore-Tex jacket, and a pair of zip-off pants. After a few days of being ripped off, and swindled at numerous places, I was in the mood to argue. For a good ten minutes, I haggled with a girl over my North Face Jacket. After a few minutes, it got quite humourous. You get to hear a host of reasons why they can't drop their price as low as you want it to go: reasons such as "I need to feed my family!", or "I can't make money when you pay so little!", to "You must think this is a fake...it's not! It's the real deal!!" I settled on 300Yuan, which was just as cheap as I wanted to go. I had been proved of its waterproof stature, and its proof of "real" status as a North Face jacket, I walked out of the market, a happier man than when I had walked in there.
That afternoon, I walked off to the new area of Shanghai, called Pudong. Its also where the Shanghai Pearl Tower is located. Perhaps the best known landmark of Shanghai, after walking past it, I realized the rumours were true; it really is uglier in person than it is in pictures. That night, I walked along the Bund, and took pictures of the waterfront at night; it really is a beautiful sight, if you can see through the smog. Overall, it was probably better that I end my time in Shanghai, because it allowed me to rest, and just slow down, after running around for an entire week. Shanghai however, isn't the greatest city in the world; there's a reason that its called the "whore of the Orient", and its rather unfortunate. But if you can look past the occasional glitches in the city, its rather quite nice, especially around the waterfront areas.
On my way to the airport, I decided to take the Maglev train to the airport. By airport terminal bus, its a one hour trip to the outskirts of the city, to the airport. But via the Maglev, its a nice 8min30 second ride, topping out at 432kmh - no joke, this train was fast. It runs every twenty minutes - ten minutes there, ten minutes back. It made me think about the future of air travel - Maglev trains are faster than airplane travel, potentially safer, and much more economical to ride. Oh well - I arrived back in Seoul on Sunday after a one hour delay at Shanghai due to the Aeroflot plane not passing its pre-flight safety check (shocking...Aeroflot having safety issues) I got back into Seoul, and got back to my apartment at 6:30pm.
Part Five - post thoughts coming shortly....check the picture site for the last of the China trip pictures.....
I decided to start by walking along the Bund, which is Shanghai's famous boardwalk. Long ago, Shanghai was a bustling trade port; only in the past few years has it become the giant that it is known as now. The ironic thing is that all of Shanghai's expensive new houses have been built on reclaimed swamp-land. After ten years, they have shockingly discovered that their new high-rises are sinking at the same rate as Venice's famous canal houses. Even more surprising is that there is not a spot in the world where the real estate prices are higher.
After walking up and down the Bund, which unfortunately didn't look like much at all because of the pollutions haze, I decided to walk back to my youth hostel. I opened my guide to Shanghai, and disappointingly realizing that I could have done Shanghai in about one day (instead of the two days that I allotted for Shanghai....the exact amount of time I would have needed to see the Great Wall....) Don't get me wrong, Shanghai is a nice city, if you're looking to stay there for a while. But when you've rushed through everything, I couldn't help but to be disappointed that I was ending my euphoric trip on a low note. For a second I thought about going home one day early, so I could recuperate and catch up on some sleep, but then I realized how stupid that would sound when I came home; I'm in China, and I go home to South Korea a day early? When, its quite likely that I may never come back to China for a long, long time. I decided to enjoy myself, and not worry about what I missed. I'm in China, I should have a great time. That afternoon, it rained almost as hard as the day I arrived in Beijing....so I didn't end up doing much.
The following day, my last final day in Shanghai, I ventured off into Shanghai's well-known clothing market, known more-so for their knock-offs than their realistic merchandise. As much as its fun, its also rather frustrating - men everywhere come up to you asking if you want to buy a "real" Rolex, or DVD's, at real cut-rate prices. I wandered into the market looking for two things; a knockoff North Face Gore-Tex jacket, and a pair of zip-off pants. After a few days of being ripped off, and swindled at numerous places, I was in the mood to argue. For a good ten minutes, I haggled with a girl over my North Face Jacket. After a few minutes, it got quite humourous. You get to hear a host of reasons why they can't drop their price as low as you want it to go: reasons such as "I need to feed my family!", or "I can't make money when you pay so little!", to "You must think this is a fake...it's not! It's the real deal!!" I settled on 300Yuan, which was just as cheap as I wanted to go. I had been proved of its waterproof stature, and its proof of "real" status as a North Face jacket, I walked out of the market, a happier man than when I had walked in there.
That afternoon, I walked off to the new area of Shanghai, called Pudong. Its also where the Shanghai Pearl Tower is located. Perhaps the best known landmark of Shanghai, after walking past it, I realized the rumours were true; it really is uglier in person than it is in pictures. That night, I walked along the Bund, and took pictures of the waterfront at night; it really is a beautiful sight, if you can see through the smog. Overall, it was probably better that I end my time in Shanghai, because it allowed me to rest, and just slow down, after running around for an entire week. Shanghai however, isn't the greatest city in the world; there's a reason that its called the "whore of the Orient", and its rather unfortunate. But if you can look past the occasional glitches in the city, its rather quite nice, especially around the waterfront areas.
On my way to the airport, I decided to take the Maglev train to the airport. By airport terminal bus, its a one hour trip to the outskirts of the city, to the airport. But via the Maglev, its a nice 8min30 second ride, topping out at 432kmh - no joke, this train was fast. It runs every twenty minutes - ten minutes there, ten minutes back. It made me think about the future of air travel - Maglev trains are faster than airplane travel, potentially safer, and much more economical to ride. Oh well - I arrived back in Seoul on Sunday after a one hour delay at Shanghai due to the Aeroflot plane not passing its pre-flight safety check (shocking...Aeroflot having safety issues) I got back into Seoul, and got back to my apartment at 6:30pm.
Part Five - post thoughts coming shortly....check the picture site for the last of the China trip pictures.....