Day 10: Good-Bye, Shanghai!

Day 10: Good-Bye, Shanghai!

We took the double decker tour bus all over the city today, from the Bund, where we are staying, to the new part of the financial district on the other side of the river, to the uptown shopping area, and the Buddhist Temple. The new area was marshland just 20 years ago; now it is known as the wall street of the east, and it is amazing, with more high rises than New York!

As we went through one of the shopping areas, I thought I had died and gone to heaven, store after store of sewing accessories: ribbons, buttons, feathers, buckles, thread and trim of every sort. I was off that bus so fast that Bryce wasn’t sure what had happened to me! Although I didn’t buy anything, it was fun to just look; if I lived in this area, this would be my favorite place to come and shop! You can tell how much a man loves you if he is willing to sit on a sack of rice on the sidewalk for an hour while you indulge yourself in shopping heaven!

We also discovered a full shopping area where they sold suitcases and leather bags; Bryce bought himself a fabulous leather backpack and I found a couple of leather purses for $16 each!

The Buddhist Temple was amazing! This is a popular spot for practicing Buddhists judging by the numbers of people buying and burning incense, kneeling and praying in front of the various shrines. There is a huge room where people are gathered around in little groups wrapping up little offerings to present to the Buddha.

One of the things that I found fascinating is that the Nanpu Bridge that they built to cross over the Huang Po River separating the old part of Shanghai from the new Financial Center is modeled on the Alex Fraser bridge! It shouldn’t be surprising given that Vancouver is such a popular spot for Chinese people to come visit! I am sure that those in the know saw what a beautiful, functional bridge we have and decided to transplant it over here!

We ended our day wandering around the night market, where there were groups of people doing Chinese line dancing, street musicians, and of course, delicious food stands. We had the most amazing dumplings, spicy chicken and custard tarts. I’m not sure why they supply a scale in the hotels here, but I am not going to ruin the fun by seeing how much weight I have gained! I am just enjoying the splendid food, and will starve myself when I get home!

 We absolutely love Shanghai and are sad to leave; it reminds us so much of New York; lots of fun and action day and night; great shopping, lots of people, interesting things to see and do. However, our time is up here, so we are off on the train to see Suzhou.

New Financial District

Nanpu Bridge

Street Market