My last post was written on Monday afternoon in Hangzhou. Monday night Michael had formulated a wonderful plan where we would go to a Mexican restaurant to get our North American food fix. We were all very excited, and in typical fashion over-hyped it and talked about the Mexican food we wanted way too much. As we normally do, we got the restaurant’s address in Chinese characters off the internet and saved them on Elizabeth’s phone. We showed the characters to our cab driver and he recognized the address. When he eventually pulled over, we were on the other complete other side of the city, looking at a dark gate that looked like no place for a Mexican restaurant. We called the restaurant and put the cabbie on the phone with the non-English-speaking hostess, and we listened as the cabbie barked angrily and rolled his eyes. We then retraced our steps across the entire city. Every turn was repeated, all the way back to a small bar/restaurant area that was about 5 minutes from our hotel; in fact, we’d eaten at an Italian place there the previous night. We walked around the pedestrian area for a few minutes, and still could not find this elusive ‘Pancho’s’ restaurant. We went into a Starbucks (usually a sure bet for English), but the employees hadn’t heard of the place. We went into a Haggan Daas ice cream store, and they hadn’t heard of it either. Once again we called the Mexcian restaurant, and the friendly employees at the ice cream store were willing to get on the line and try to decipher the place’s location. A man, apparently the owner of the store, was on the phone and his eyes suddenly lit up, he smiled, and told us to follow him out the door. Realizing that he must have been leading us to the restaurant, we cheered and thanked him profusely as we walked around the windy walking paths as he continued to talk on the phone. Finally he pointed at a restaurant that was now in sight, and said “that’s it!” with a huge smile. We all shook his hand and felt like crying at the incredible generosity of this random Haggan Daas employee, and practically jogged around to the front of the restaurant. Upon reaching the door, however, we noticed that it was not Pancho’s, not Mexican food, but actually the same Italian restaurant we had eaten at the night before. Subsequently we sat down in a Chinese place where we had seen a buffet; the buffet was closed so we left. We walked to a large, nice looking restaurant around the corner, and Elizabeth acted as if she had been shot when it was announced that the large, delicious-looking buffet there had closed as well. We ended up staying and ordering off the menu at that restaurant… what had been a failure of a dining experience turned into a delicious binge in which we ordered everything we could and spent 3 hours in the restaurant. Too tired to make anything of ourselves (the previous night had been a fun club adventure), we went back to the cluttered hotel and watched Cruel Intentions on Elizabeth’s computer.
Tuesday morning our spirits were lifted as the weather had finally improved; no more rain, no more fog, and slightly warmer temperatures. We went back to the beautiful West Lake and walked around, taking pictures and people watching. We
took a boat ride out to a small island in the middle of the lake. The views were awesome and we were happy to finally be outside and not feel as if our feet were going to fall off. That night we finally filled our strange Mexican craving by going to a small bar called Maya, and then returned to the club called G+ where we had been treated like American celebrities a few nights before. We called it a relatively early night when the cabbie did not understand our Chinese characters for the next club we wanted to visit, so we were well rested for our train ride to Shanghai the next day.Chinese train stations are strange places. One of the more bizarre moments of our stay in China to this point occurred when attempting to board the train. While all of the seats were assigned and there was plenty of time to get on board, a wild, shoving mob formed at the gate, and people pushed and scrambled as if it were a matter of life and death. My luggage probably could have traveled alongside me for about 100 meters without me having to touch it, because we were essentially carried through the gate by the crowd. The train itself was very nice and fast. It was a similar train and similar distance to the train trip that I took from London to Brussels last summer… that journey was about $190 USD round-trip, while the Hangzhou-Shanghai one-way trip was $9.
Upon arriving in Shanghai, I made a number of observations:
It was warmer. About 55 degrees through most of our stay, and the first time we had not had to wear coats in China. There were palm trees.
The city looks bigger than Beijing. Whereas Beijing is a maze of massively wide 8-story buildings, Shanghai is all towers and skyscrapers for as far as you can see.
Shanghai feels and looks much more western than Beijing. There were many more Europeans and Americans, many more western restaurants and stores, and way more English-speaking people.
To me, Shanghai represents all of the weird paradoxes of China on a grand stage. We saw some awful, impoverished neighborhoods, and then 5 minutes later would see a view that looked like something out of a science-fiction movie. At times it seems equal parts impoverished China, New York City, and the Jetsons.
Especially after the relatively sparse accommodations in Hangzhou, our hotel in Shanghai was an absolute palace. Located in the best couple of blocks in the city, the Majesty Plaza was a gorgeous tower with big, clean rooms, a beautiful lobby, and all the amenities. While each of us paid $40 USD per night, we imagined that a similarly located hotel in Boston, NYC or Chicago would have easily pushed 400 or 500 dollars a night.
The hotel was located on the Nanjing Pedestrian Road, a huge street of restaurants and stores…we were all too happy to cop out have a cheap Subway sandwich for dinner. Our first night in Shanghai was a bit of a bust, as most of the bars and clubs remained closed for the holiday. After multiple failed cab rides, we returned to the hotel and then walked around the neighborhood watching fireworks. It wasn’t what we were hoping for on our first night in town, but it was relaxing and I got some good photos out of it.
Thursday was a walking day, as we explored the main tourist spots in Shanghai. We visited the beautifully landscaped People’s Square, the European-feeling Xin Tian Di neighborhood, the historic Old Town of Shanghai, and The Bund, Shanghai’s historic waterfront that’s filled with European architecture (it feels more Salzburg than China). When Michael and Elizabeth decided to go up into the world’s highest observation deck, Morgan and I were left for a sunset walk along the riverfront and to take pictures of the awesome skyline. Thursday night was another interesting one. We started at a place called Bar Rouge, located high in an historic building on The Bund. The place was fun but rather empty, so we followed a Swiss friend we had made across town to an upscale club. Due to some Chinese phone issues, we ended up losing Elizabeth and spent the rest of the night trying to track her down; we were happy to find her safe and sound back at the hotel.
Friday was a shopping day, as we explored the area known as the ‘former French concession.’ That night was our best yet, as we visited a fun ex-pat bar called Beaver’s and then danced at a club called Sin, high up in a tower with awesome views of the city.
Saturday, our last day, we journeyed out of the city to visit the ancient water village of Zhujiajiao. Advertised to us as ‘the Venice of the east,’ there were parts of the small town that were very beautiful, but it was by and large a tourist trap. Vendors in every storefront tried everything to sell us the same cheap trinkets that are sold in every market in China, and we were left feeling somewhat disappointed by the lack of real Chinese culture at the self-proclaimed ‘cultural site.’ Still, the boat cruise (think Asian gondola) we took was very relaxing, and we loved the warm weather.
After taking a somewhat sketchy public bus ride back into Shanghai, we relaxed at the hotel before heading to a wine bar called The Vue. The Vue was located on the 32nd floor of the Hyatt hotel along the waterfront. It occupied the circular corner of the building, so inside the bar you could get a 270-degree view of the entire city. The futuristic skyline was incredible, especially from the outdoor observation deck. From there we visited a small club called The Velvet Lounge, which appeared to be an old house that had been refurbished into a very classy establishment. We headed back relatively early so we could rest up for our early flight back to Beijing the next day.
We were very frustrated in the airport at 8am by the lack of western breakfast food anywhere in this country. We discussed the horrible, awful things that we would be willing to do to have a Dunkin Donuts coffee and bagel, because there was nothing remotely breakfast-appropriate in the entire airport. The only restaurants were identical counters called Coffee Bar, where we saw Chinese people eating asparagus, rice, and pork at 8am, which made us want to gag. I ordered a coffee to go (you wouldn’t think that would be difficult at a place called COFFEE BAR), and after 10 minutes of watching a guy work a machine that looked like a professional chemistry set, I got a half-full Dixie cup of bad coffee. It felt like the Everlasting Gobstobber machine from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; a huge contraption with fire and bubbling and tubes that in the end spits out a stupid little product. We can tell that the Chinese are largely faking their interest in coffee because: A) it is impossible to get a black coffee here, B) many coffee shops don’t open til 9, completely eliminating half of coffee’s purpose, and C) it is advertised EVERYWHERE, yet rarely served.
Still, we really thoroughly enjoyed Shanghai, and already decided we'd love to go back. It's been our favorite city in China so far.
sounds like so much fun. you four are hilarious! at least you found a subway, so we know you are not starving. your blog and pictures are excellent, we enjoy that you are sharing your adventures with all of us.
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