Shanghai is indubitably one of the world’s great metropolises. Enormous but not intimidating, orderly and clean. Flower gardens and floral displays everywhere, flower lined avenues, walls of flowers and flower boxes on every street and corner.
Our hotel was in the Jing’an district named for the ancient golden Jing’an temple of which I had a great view from my hotel room window.
I was up at 6:00 am and ventured out for a walk along NanJing Road which stretches from the heart of the city east to the Bund, the section past Henan Rd is a wonderful pedestrian thoroughfare lined with tourists, sightseers and shoppers. High end luxury stores and fashion brands choc a block line NanJing with public art and sculpture at every turn.
Clearly China is growing a substantial middle class. It is often reported that China’s GDP (gross domestic product) at $13 trillion is second only to that of the United States at $20 trillion but the more important statistic which is seldom reported is that in terms of PPP (purchasing power parity), the Chinese economy is the largest in the world and has been for the past several years.
China’s GDP which has grown at an average rate exceeding 7 percent annually has been jet fueled by the growth of its exports market due to the low cost of labor for manufacturing but is now transitioning to an economy whose growth will be driven more and more by internal domestic consumer demand. The large and growing middle class has disposable income and a desire to spend. And the government has planned for and provided for the anticipated future prosperity by investing vast amounts in the country’s infrastructure.
After my walk, I hurried back to the hotel to meet the group by the designated 9:00 AM meeting time. I always like to be on time for a first meeting. After all, you only have one opportunity to make a good first impression.
In addition to my buds Justin and Mason, the group includes a dear friend of Yan Ping’s named Dina originally from Argentina now living in Boca Raton and another of her dear friends, Shayna, her husband, Aryeh, twin boys, Eli and Zev, and daughter Aliza.
The twins, Eli and Zev, just graduated from high school and at a mere 18 years of age are somewhat younger than me, Justin and Mason but the three of us nonetheless voted unanimously and magnanimously to adopt them into our band of brothers. And glad we did cause they are lots of fun.
Here’s a beautiful picture of our enlarged band of brothers enjoying very special pan fried soup dumplings that Justin and Mason brought back to the hotel for us to sample before our Shanghai departure from a favorite place near Justin’s grandfathers apartment. Thanks guys they were amazing!
Our first stop of the day was the Buddhist Daoist Jing’an temple with gold tiled roof and Tibetan architecture.
Next it was off to the Yu Gardens. Classical Chinese garden with its rockeries, pagodas and carp ponds.
The area around Yu Gardens is filled with lots of food stalls and shops. Serving food on a stick seems to be very popular.
And they have a really tasty juice from acai berries.
Then it was time for lunch at the iconic steamed bun restaurant Nanjiang. The restaurant established in 1871 has been in its current location since 1900. There’s a long line but it’s worth twice the wait for the really amazing soup dumplings. There are basically two varieties. A larger dumpling which is served one per person as a starter.
Justin instructed us in the proper technique which is to strategically pierce the dumpling in just the exact spot from where you suck the delicious broth into your mouth with a straw but carefully cause it’s pretty hot. For some reason the dumpling shell which is perfectly edible is not customarily eaten.
Then each person gets their own bamboo server with 6 smaller dumplings filled with soup and a delicious pork meat ball. For these you bring the dumpling to your mouth with your spoon (or chop sticks if you have the requisite skill) bite a small hole in the top while simultaneously sucking out the broth and then eat the dumpling shell and meatball filling. They are really an incredibly delicious delicacy unique to Shanghai.
Then it was off to the waterfront along the Huangpu River known as the Bund. The Bund was built by the British after the Sino British opium war in the 1840’s. The water front became part of the British Concession (later named the International Settlement) and has wonderful neoclassical and Art Deco buildings now referred to as “heritage architecture.” The most famous of which include the Customs House with its clock tower modeled after London’s Big Ben, the HongKong and Shanghai Bank Building with its beautiful dome and the Peace Hotel one of Shanghai’s most treasured heritage buildings.
The riverfront promenade offers spectacular views of Pudong, Shanghai’s incredible new financial center which in the early 1990’s was nothing more than a rambling collection of warehouses and farms but today is home to a trio of the worlds tallest towers including the 121 story Shanghai tower the second largest building in the world.
Then we took the tunnel under the river to Pudong to visit the Pearl Oriental TV Tower which recently added a glass floor to its 260 meter high observation deck. Of course, it’s no secret since the publication of my blog of Peru with Joven Guillermo that although I’m not scared of heights, I really don’t like them very much none the less we had fun clowning around and looking through the glass floor to the ground 1000 feet below.
And as if we hadn’t already had a full day, Yan Ping arranged for us to have a river cruise on the Huangpu before allowing us to retire for the evening. A great first day of what promises to be a fabulous Two Weeks In China.
This morning we began the day in Hongkou which in the 1930’s was home to a large population of European Jewish refugees. We toured the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum located in the old Ohel Moshe Synagogue. Seems China was one of the last places on earth that accepted Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis requiring neither entry visas nor proof of financial means.
Then we did some shopping and raced at break neck speed to catch the train for Beijing because we were booked on the 2:00 train and trains in China depart on schedule. We made it with precious few seconds to spare.
The comfortable spacious train we are on is traveling at 347 kilometers per hour (more than 200 mph) while the most advanced trains in the US, the Acela along Amtrak’s north eastern corridor from DC to Boston at times struggle to reach 100 mph.
I wonder where the US will be in 10 to 20 years with our crumbling infrastructure. And I wonder where we might be in 10 to 20 years if the current administration rather than passing a tax cut of 500 billion to 1 trillion dollars as its singular legislative achievement (which mostly benefited the wealthiest among us) had passed a 500 million dollar infrastructure package to provide for and support America’s future prosperity?
Beijing is China’s capital and seat of government. Its population is roughly the same as Shanghai but its footprint is nearly 4 times as large. I’m looking forward to seeing its wide boulevards, government and administrative buildings, the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City. But most anticipated of all, the Great Wall of China, my fourth Wonder of the World (but whose counting!)
So what a wonderful start to what promises to be an amazing Two Weeks in China.
Next up Episode 3 Beijing