Last Day in Shanghai

Nancy and I decided that we were going to tour until we dropped, so she had an itinerary planned out for us to go to the Pudong side of the city.  We just had to figure out how to get there.  I had seen a ferry crossing the river, so we headed to the ferry stop, hoping we would get on the right one.  We figured out how to but the ticket (for about 30 cents) and hopped on with the people and motorbikes. We got a quick ride on the river and were dropped off on the Pudong side.

This is the rich side of the river and it is filled with amazing architecture and with lots of new buildings under construction. The stock exchange is here, along with the aquarium, the performing arts center, banks and major hotels.  We were headed to the building on the left to go to the observation deck on the 88th floor.  Co-incidentally, the charge was 88 Yuan each.  It was a good call on the part of my tour guide (Nancy).  She gave me credit for the ferry ride, and she got credit for the observation deck.  After we got off the ferry, we walked along the river to find this building--along with a stop at Starbucks.

The views from the top were spectacular in spite of the haze of smoke from the previous night's fireworks extravaganza (and smog). The inside view down to to the atrium below did make my feet tingle, and they just tingled again as I typed this. The descent took 51 seconds, and our ears popped three times.  The height did give us a chance to scope out the next ferry station, so we go there pretty easily, and headed back to the old Commercial District

We grabbed a quick bite of lunch.  The first thing we bought was a couple of dumpling (kind of things).  They saw me coming a mile away and jacked up the price--anything on the street is negotiable. Then they tried to double it when I pulled out a wad of cash.  Two lessons there: just pull out in advance what you are willing to pay, and then try to bargain down, OR, stand to the side and see what the locals pay.  That worked on this delicious slice of fried bread/pizza with something veggie on the inside.  

 

Nancy got to be quite the bargainer and crowd pusher. We had learned in our pre-port that, in Shanghai, people just push their way, so we shouldn't take it personal. I haven't had that much body contact in my whole life.  Over breakfast this morning, people were exchanging stories of how they were offered something for 120 Yuan and countered for 60 and ended up paying 80 Yuan--a great deal.  I can only imagine the conversations at breakfast in Shanghai: "I tried to get this American lady to pay 120 but then she offered 60 and finally I got her to pay 80--a great deal."  It seems to be a game and a win-win in most situations. We did decide to skip the shop below.

 

    

I got to "people watch" and learned that Cotton Candy is a Universal food, and the family that bikes together stays together.

                                                                                                      
 

Bicycles, mopeds and other 3-wheeled carts like this one were everywhere.  This picture also gives a good contrast of the kinds of transportation you see in this city. The bikes and motorcysles intermingled with traffic and all were blowing horns as they wove about--seemingly not governed by any traffic regulations.  We heard the screeching of tires yesterday and a thumping sound and turned around to see that a bicyclist had been struck by a taxi.  The guy hopped up, assured the cab driver that he was okay and rode off.  A scene like that has to be replayed many times each day.

There were pros and cons of being in this city during the New Year's celebration.  In spite of the increased crowds and pressures on transportation, it was a beautiful time, and we got to see a lot of the vibrancy of the city and its people.

Onship time was 8:00 pm or 1000 hours as we've learned to say.  We stopped in some real stores and stocked up on foods to take home and some Pringles for ourselves.  You haven't lived until you've tried Mango-flavored Pringles.

And while everyone else slept in this morning, I got to see the sun rise.