A Day in Shanghai - Friday, 19th July 2013

Michelle and the driver picked me up at 9.30 a.m. and we made our way through Shanghai's always-heavy traffic to the Shanghai Railway Museum. It was almost deserted when we arrived but I didn't realise that it was school holidays and very soon two coachloads of extremely noisy schoolchildren arrived on a holiday visit. It became very crowded but I managed to record most of the stuff I wanted. I was quite impressed with their 'Cab Ride Simulator'.

We had some trouble extricating ourselves from the car park at the railway museum because of the coaches. They opened the rear gate and the driver patiently manoeuvred until he could reverse through this gate. We were now in the yard of the head office of the local railway company and soon we were back on the main road, tangling with the traffic.

Our next visit was to the famous Jade Buddha Temple. Although there were worshippers, both young and old, the place seemed devoid of any sense of spirituality with every room crammed with sales counters and crowds of foreign tourists swarming through (yes, I know, I'm a foreign tourist too).

Then we moved onto what I think was called the South Sea Center (they use American spelling). I had no idea what this was but it turned out to be a small demonstration of artificial pearl culture attached to a huge showroom of pearl products. There were quite a few tour groups looking round and they seemed to be buying, too. I left as soon as possible.

Next, we drove to the French Concession area which is now a fashionable place to lunch. Whilst most of Shanghai is modern and very tall, some of the older structures in the concession area have been retained and adapted. Our lunch was at the Zen Restaurant which features Chinese Cuisine. With help from my guide, Michelle, I chose a vegetable soup followed by what appeared to be sago with pieces of mango.

After a pleasant, relaxing lunch, our driver took us to the Shanghai Museum in People's Square. At Michelle's suggestion, I went round with an audio guide whilst she waited for me in the Tea Shop. The Museum has some very interesting exhibits and I spent well over an hour and a half going round the four floors of exhibits. It was rather crowded but well worth the visit.

We then headed for the river, where we visited the 'Silk Museum'. This is actually another big showroom but in this case they demonstrate the life of the silkworm and show how a silk thread for weaving is produced on a clattering, elderly machine. There were looms on show but they weren't weaving. What they did demonstrate, which I found fascinating, was how they make a silk 'felt', used in upmarket duvets and padded jackets. In contrast with the pearl museum, I enjoyed this visit.

We continued to the famous 'Bund'. This refers to the section of the western river embankment passing through the various 'Concessions' and it enjoys a similar iconic status to the London Embankment. It's been totally modernised but remains a magnet to visitors and local people alike. The original rather grand Concession buildings on the west bank have been retained and are now protected by Heritage legislation. These buildings now face the new, towering office blocks on the east bank. Michelle and I walked along a section of the 'Bund'.

I was then dropped off at my hotel and handed a ticket to the Shanghai Acrobatic show for that evening. At 6.45 p.m., the car picked me up and took me to the theatre in plenty of time for the 7.30 p.m. performance. The 90-minute show was a rather odd combination of acts – tumblers, balancing acts, juggling, comedy knife throwing, plate spinning (21 plates), slack wire walking, aerial ballet. They asked us not to take pictures of the show, so I didn't (although a number of members of the audience took both photographs and video). The 20-strong cast were each the best I have seen in their  various fields.

At 9.00 p.m. the show was over and we all came out into the brightly-lit street where about seven coaches were waiting to pick up some of the audience. But I'd agreed with Michelle that I'd make my own way back so I walked to the nearest Metro station. The ticket machines work in Chinese or English so the only problem was that the touch screens seem a bit erratic. Talking to Michelle afterwards (and by observation) it seems I'm by no means alone in having that difficulty. Armed with a plastic credit card ticket which works in a similar fashion to London's 'Oystercard', I made the journey without incident but got a bit muddled emerging from the station and headed in the wrong direction before I realised my mistake.

As promised by Michelle, I found the 'Bund' magical by night with the buildings illuminated and probably thousands of people, Chinese and foreign, milling about in good humour. Eventually, I made my way back to my hotel on foot, looking at more Heritage buildings on the way. Incidentally, my hotel is, itself, one of the Heritage buildings.

My Pictures

My pictures of Shanghai are here.
My pictures of Shanghai Railway Museum are here.
My pictures of the Jade Buddha Temple are here.
Pictures at the Shanghai Museum are here.
Pictures at the Silk Museum are here.
My pictures of Shanghai Metro are here.