Shanghai (China)

Shanghai Skyline

Train's in China are quite an experience and I certainly recommend anyone wanting to see the real China to travel around by this mode of transport. As we came to realise - each train from one location to another is generally different from the last but all in all, they are comfortable, clean and pretty fast. We planned it so every train journey we ended up on was an overnight sleeper train and we were in berths of four. Harriet and I would, for the most part, get a good night sleep but that often depended on who the other two room-mates were and more importantly - if they snored. We got our first taste of Chinese food on the train too - which actually wasn't too dissimilar to Chinese back at home although the train version isn't generally of the best quality and often would appear to us both as - meat in slop - and we weren't really sure what meat it was either.

Each bunk on the train always has it's own TV although they very rarely work, yet you are at least given your very own pair of slippers, although they often didn't fit my western sized feet. Trains in China are very popular with the Chinese rather than just tourists (we actually didn't see that many tourists on trains) and so it became a great way to meet the locals.

The train from Hong Kong to Shanghai was the longest of our entire trip. We weren't even sure it was running as a few days earlier Typhoon Morakot had torn it's way through this part of the world. In fact it mainly affected Taiwan, where it made the record books as the deadliest Typhoon to impact the country. Our train was running however, and to our delight, was about 20 hours in duration. Although mostly overnight, there were parts during the start and the end of our journey which were light enough to view rural China and the less rural, industrial China, out of the train window. After our long trip we headed through immigration, as China is sort of classified as another country from Hong Kong, although it kind of isn't (it's complicated) and we finally stepped out into China and our first stop - Shanghai.

Shanghai is the largest city in China and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with a population of over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, Shanghai is now described as the 'showpiece' of the world's fastest growing major economy.

We stepped out of Shanghai's train station, and within 3 minutes had already been completely conned. I mean this was Asia, and we were tourists, so if there's a buck to make then the locals are gonna make it - even if it isn't in the most honest manner. I'd seen all these tricks before and was used to avoiding them, but we had just come off a 20 hour train journey and we were both very tired, so we thought we would just let it slide this time. What we needed was a taxi to our hotel and we had no idea where it was located. Getting a taxi on the meter was becoming difficult and we were being harassed to take an unmetered one. They were quoting 100 Yuan (about £10), which I knew was ridiculously high. When I told the drivers that we wanted a metered cab - they said that metered taxi's would cost 120 Yuan to our hotel - yeah right!!! We eventually took an unmetered cab for 80 Yuan and let the con take place. They catch tourists coming out of the train station in the hope that it's their first time in the city and they have no idea where they are going or how much it should cost to catch a cab. We later found out that you could go pretty much anywhere, in any city in China, on a metered taxi, for no more than 15 Yuan. We reached our Hotel.

We only had two days in Shanghai so we dumped our bags in our stunning hotel and went to check out the town. We were staying close to the Huangpu River and the European styled Bund area, which lines the river and faces the Pudong (high-rise business) district on the other side of Huangpu. As you walk down to the Bund from our hotel, you get a real sense, and our first experience of China. Busy, narrow streets with thousands of people everywhere. It reminded me a bit like Vietnam compared to any other Asian country I had been to, with most people opting to choose bikes (be it motorbike, moped or push bike) as their favoured mode of transport. To cross the road (as was the case in Vietnam's Hanoi, or Saigon), you literally had to cross the road on the count of three and watch as the bikes whizzed and skidded round you. Buildings were old and those in need of restoration had bamboo scaffolding smothered around them - which I thought was an interesting choice of material to use for such a job, but which on many levels must work. However, once you reach the Bund, buildings become very grand and suddenly you are presented with every designer maker you could wish (or not wish) to see. It was an interesting contrast.

The whole of Shanghai and other parts of China are currently in construction, as the whole country is getting ready for Expo 2010. Although this grand tradition of international fairs and expositions is a global event, Expo 2010, themed "Better City - Better Life" appears to have it's central heart here in Shanghai. As such, new buildings are going up, the Bund area is getting a complete make-over, new metro lines are being put in place and a small blue character named Haibao (the Expo 2010 mascot) can be seen absolutely everywhere. If you decide to come to China next year between the 1st may and 31st October 2010 - may I strongly recommend booking early as the event is expected to generate the largest number of visitors in the history of world fair's.

We decided to head over to the other side of the river and to get there, we used some sort of weird theme park ride. Signs to get to Pudong were informing us that we needed to go underground. When your down there - I assumed we would be getting the subway across - never assume. As part of Expo 2010, they had constructed some sort of odd kid's ride which takes you across the Huangpu River in a small pod and then plays with your mind by putting on this most bizarre light show. It was very interesting if not slightly, well, mad. On the other side of the river we headed over to the business centre which has three very tall and extraordinary buildings. One is the Jin Mao Tower, a landmark skyscraper in Shanghai, the second was the newly constructed World Financial Center which looks weirdly like a bottle opener but at least has the highest observation deck in the world, and finally the Oriental Pearl Tower, which looks like nothing any human has ever seen before unless of course your standing right outside it. We opted to head up the latter. After eating off the street stalls (I loved getting back to eating Asian street food), we purchased our tickets and then endured what can only be described as the longest queue the world has ever seen. I waited less time in line for Disney Land's 'Splash Mountain' which I'm sure held some sort of record for waiting about. First there is one queue, then an elevator takes you up some of the spaceship looking tower, then you queue for the next elevator, which takes you up a bit further, before the queue's continue....well you get the idea. When we eventually did get out the queue and onto the highest observation deck (known as the Space Module) - we had a great time. You get a fabulous view of Shanghai even though it was a bit misty. The Jin Mao and Financial Center buildings were just round the corner, you could see the Bund in the distance and then beyond, out over the rest of China. They had a number of viewing decks, one which amused me but scared the pants out of Harriet, had a glass bottom, so it looked spookly as though you were floating at over 250m above the ground. The also had a rollercoaster ride in the tower, which we naturally had to experience, as well as restaurants, a cinema and all manner of other things.

We later returned back to our hotel via the underground river, theme park ride and prepared ourselves for the night ahead. We were going to a Chinese acrobatic show. Unfortunately you couldn't take photographs or video's of this incredible performance and what a shame. They must of had about 12 different scenes, each one more breath-taking than the last. At some points you almost couldn't watch for fear of some major catastrophy unfolding before your very eyes. It's odd what people will pay to see. It really doesn't matter what the actual talent is, but as long as someone can do it better than you or in some cases, if someone can do it all, then people from any part of the world will pay to see it. Take a footballer for example. Most people can play a bit of footy even if not very well, but if they are incredible at it, thousands will come to watch them and thousands is what they will get paid. Now take a man, balancing on 14 stacked chairs, most of the chairs are only balancing on their neightbour by one leg and the man, at the very top and almost interfering with the light fitting's, is balancing on the last chair using only one finger. Stuff football is all i'm saying. There were plate spinners, some guys who would do 15 back flips before jumping through a series of hoops, each no bigger than an ipod, and then the last act - well!!! They bring out a caged sphere. A guy on a motorbike comes out, starts his engine and gets in, before spinning around the cage at top speeds. Then a second motorbiked crusader comes out and gets in with him. They then both ride around this ball, criss-crossing each other and only avoiding near death by the narrowist of margins. By the time the 5th Biker gets in the cage, most of the audience has experienced at least one myocardial infarction. Five bikers all in a small caged ball, riding round at 35mph, each so close to the other that it can't possibly be achieved by pure practice but instead, can only be explained by some sort of voodoo magic. Everyone came out of the show in bewilderment and also sweating a lot.

The next day Harriet and I decided to take a boat cruise down the Huangpu River. From the river you get to see some great views of Shanghai, plus Harriet is a bit of a boat person and loves to cruise on any stretch of water. We sailed up and down the river, taking in the sights. The new Expo 2010 building is almost complete and we sailed right up to the oddly, yet architecturally beautiful construction. We also took a final stroll down the streets of Shanghai, taking in the sights, sounds and smells, and the boy pooing on the side of the road (who provided all three), before making our way back to our hotel. Our accommodation was an incredible place to stay. Our room was very traditionally designed in the old Chinese style. The amazing thing is, China is cheap and so although it appeared to any bystander that we were staying in the grandest hotel on the block, it actually wasn't very expensive. We headed off to the Train Station (cab just 12 Yuan) and left for our next destination. We were actually passing through Shanghai for one more day on our return leg so we would get to experience a bit more of this fascinating city, however that would have to wait a few days. Out of all the places in China, our next stop was the one that I was looking forward to the most. Filled with tradition, the home of Peking duck (yum), some incredibly famous buildings and one particularly famous wall - well it could only be Beijing.......