Shanghai--Old and New

We picked up the pilot at around midnight on Wednesday to sail into the Yangtze River delta, then up the Huangpu River.  We woke up Thursday morning to this sight from our veranda!  After three days at sea from Manila, we had returned to the Northern Hemisphere's spring and temperatures in the high 40s.  It was like going from the frying pan to the freezer!  This is Shanghai, which means "Upon the Sea".

Like many cities in this very old Chinese civilization, Shanghai has been in this location since the 11th century.  Long an important trading center in China, it was one of five ports in the country that were opened to foreign trade as a result of the treaty ending the First Opium War.  It became a primary hub of the Asia-Pacific region in the 1930s, which is when many of the shoreline buildings in the photo above were built.  The region, known as "The Bund", lies on the west side of the river in the Puxi region.  The raised walkway overlooking the water is a popular promenade and romantic place for wedding photos.  In contrast, the high-rises in the top photo are on the east bank Pudong region where, according to our guide, 27 years ago was only farmland.  He said, "Look to the west to see the old, look to the east to see the new".

 With a population of 24 million, Shanghai is the most populous city in China.  It also boasts of the world's busiest container port.  The economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping in the 1990s reversed the decades of financial downturn due to Mao's cultural revolution.  It is the home of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, one of the world's largest. 

The currency, the Chinese Yuan or Renminbi has an exchange rate of 6.3 to 1 USD.  Every bill, regardless of denomination, has Chairman Mao's image on the front.  Our guide told us that the people still revere him because of the economic advancements he made.                                                                                   As we left the Viking Sun to go ashore, we had to pass through immigration.  The process required close to an hour of standing in line to have our passports checked.  One of our best on-board lecturers is a retired rear-admiral of the British Navy.  He was detained for quite awhile and we all wondered if his past (and the things he knows) would keep him from being admitted into China.  He was finally released and told, "we were just checking".

Our excursion on Day 1 in port was called "Modern Shanghai".  We went first to the Longyang Road Station of the "Maglev", or magnetic levitation train that takes airline passengers from the edge of the Pudong district to the airport.  At its maximum speed of 431 kph, (268 mph) it travels the 18.6 miles in 7 min. 20 sec.  It is the world's fastest commercial high-speed electric train.  It cost $1.2 billion to  build, and due to its limited route, it looses millions every year.  It was a very smooth ride and quite fun to see the countryside whiz by.



The station was well staffed and quite controlled.  We had to pass through a security checkpoint to get up to the platform.  Passengers getting off exited doors opposite to those used by the oncoming ones.  This guard controlled the loading door.

To conserve energy, the maximum speeds are used in the morning and afternoon rush hours, so we only went at 300 kph (186 mph).  It takes about 2 minutes to get up to speed and the same amount of time to slow down, so only the middle 4 minutes are spent at full speed.




Our guide on both days was "Andy", a forty-year-old single man with very good English.  He told us that because having a male child is so important in this culture, he is one of the 30 million more men than women in China due to the "one child policy" in place for 35 years.  In 2013 the policy was relaxed to allow a couple to have 2 children.







Andy took us to the 88th floor observation deck of the Jin Mao Tower.  It is the shortest of the three "supertall" towers adjacent to one another in the financial district of Pudong.  The next highest building is the Shanghai World Financial Center, nicknamed the "bottle-opener" due to its rectangular hole at the top.  They are both dwarfed by the Shanghai Tower which is 121 stories high.  In the observation deck of the Jin Mao Tower, I had to get right next to the window and twist my neck to see to the top of the Shanghai Tower.

Sadly, the sky was quite murky all day with a combination of smog and fog.  We know that the fog had quite a bit to do with it because the next day had blue skies and just a hint of smog.  That being said, smog is a very big problem all over China.  Shanghai's position on the coast is an advantage, but air pollution is enough of a problem that many young people wear surgical-like masks to protect them.  Andy told us there is an app that he uses regularly to tell him the levels of particulate matter.

 I liked the architecture of the Jin Mao Tower as it has a pagoda look.

In the middle of the observation deck is a windowed area that allows one to look down the hole in the middle of the building that goes down to the 53rd floor.

We returned to the ship in time to see some of the preparations for the special event to be held that night.  Viking Sun was to be christened and formally named by her god-mother, Ms.Yi Lou, the vice-president of China Merchant Bank Financial Leasing.  The stage and pavilion shown at left were built on the dock specifically for the evening.  We guests were taken by bus, (because the port authority didn't want us walking anywhere on the dock) to the Sun Chateau for a special dinner.  (It's the space-ship looking building at the left and with red in the windows on the lower photo.)

The dinner included a buffet of Chinese foods from eight regions which was a little too authentic for many of our passengers.  We were serenaded (?) by a local band of mature aged men playing swing music--their ears were not trained to our western scales.  The music, dance, and speeches from the pavilion on the dock were broadcast on screens throughout the huge dining room. Unfortunately, the simultaneous translation played over the speaker's Chinese and neither were intelligible.  The evening which was billed as such a special event missed on several notes and was further damaged by the struggle of getting hundreds of people, who had had enough of it and wanted to go back to the ship, loaded onto buses holding only 36 or so apiece.  It was frustrating to be able to see the ship and not be allowed to walk the 300 ft. to get to it.  Regardless, it was very memorable to be in attendance at this event.

Once back on board, I bundled up to go to the upper deck for photos of the amazing skyline.  The love message at the end of the video made me wonder if you could pay to have a personal message shown.  If that's the case, I wonder how many proposals are posted on that building.  It gives new meaning to "I want to shout it from the rooftops!".

On Day 2, "The Best of Shanghai" took us first to the Old City.  Although many of the buildings now house modern businesses, i.e. Starbucks, Haagen-Dazs, and KFC, I appreciated the traditional architecture.  

One of the most often photographed buildings in China is the Huxinting Teahouse.  It is built on stilts in the middle of a lake.  To get to it, one must walk the 9 zig-zags of the bridge.  It was believed that evil spirits could only travel in a straight line, so the 90-degree turns block their path.  

Adding to the fascination of crossing the bridge were these beautiful stone flowers beneath my feet.

Another zig-zag bridge lead to the entrance of the Yuyuan Gardens.  They were built over 28 years in the mid-16th century by Pan Yundan as a tribute to his parents.  Our guide told us that the pagoda at the top-center was the tallest building in Shanghai at the time.  He also said that the rocks had originally been cemented together using sticky rice.  If you've left your rice in the cooker too long before cleaning, you'll have a feeling for this concept!

In contrast to the wide open gardens found at places like Versailles, this garden was partitioned by many walls with doorways or windows that serve to entice one to discover what is hidden in the next area.  (The layout also serves to help one get lost when rejoining the group after a comfort stop.)  I saw two of these dragon walls with the body forming the top of the wall as it encircled a portion of the garden.  We were told that this dragon only had three claws because 4 is an unlucky number and only the emperor's dragon had five.  In deference to him, it is "better to loose two claws than your head."  

The paving styles were distinct in different portions of the garden.

I loved seeing this woman feeding the koi fish.  The gardens keep a balance of yin and yang with their water and stone.

At every turn, there was beauty and serenity tucked into this historical retreat surrounded by the ultra-modern city.

After exiting the gardens, we were given some time to explore the shops and handicraft markets.  I negotiated with one man to have him make a "chop" for me.  He asked for my year of birth so he could choose the blank stone with the proper Chinese zodiac sign.  1953 was the year of the water snake, which you can see coiled at the top.  It took him just 10 minutes to carve my name in English and in Chinese characters.  

Paper cutting is one of China's ancient folk arts.  

While I was having my chop made, David was having a conversation with a man who pulled out his scissors and paper and began to cut.  I think he was very successful in capturing David's profile!

Our next stop was to the Shanghai Museum.  Built in 1996, it sits in the People's Square.  It has five floors and holds over 120,000 pieces of bronze, ceramics, calligraphy, furniture, jades, ancient coins, paintings, seals, sculptures, minority and foreign art.  Needless to say, I did little more than race through most of the exhibits in an attempt to see a little of each.  

I took a little more time in a few sections that interested me.  One of our on-board lecturers told us about the evolution of Chinese ceramics, so I wanted to look a little more closely.  From L-R on the upper row: Jingdezhen ware with blue underglaze, Ming dynasty (1426-1435); same period with dragons and clouds on it; Wucai design of fish and algae, Ming dynasty (1522-1566).  Lower row: Jingdezhen ware, Qing dynasty (1662-1722); dragons and sea waves, Qing dynasty, (1723-1735); Fencai design of eight immortals, Qing dynasty (1736-1795).  (This was for you, Tanner Brown.)

Because I love traditional clothing and textiles, I had to take time in the ethnic minority arts display.  L-R: from Yunnan; Jinxiu, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region; Liangshan, Sichuan; and Mongol.

All the furniture was gorgeous and loaded with carving.  I ran through the other halls, but felt that this was a beautifully laid out museum well deserving of many hours to comprehend it all.  

We had a wonderful lunch on the 11th floor of the Jin Jiang Hotel.  The round tables had turntables in the center on which were laid out 7 appetizer dishes.  After filling out plates from those, the waiters started bringing the real food, and it kept coming and coming!  After a restorative lunch, we were ready to get back on the bus for our afternoon visits.  

David and I noted that everywhere in this city with so many people and so many tall buildings, there were also many green spaces and other places filled with flowers.  There was a long block with these planters of spring blossoms.  The bicycles in the background are part of an initiative to provide people with readily available and cheap non-vehicular transportation.  Their use is internet-based with an app on your phone.  After keying in your location and destination, an unlock code is sent to your phone--key in the code and away you go!  Another policy aimed to reduce traffic is the price of the automobile license plate.  First of all, only 11,500 plates are available per month.  Those go up for auction and can cost an average of $12,758! No wonder we found the streets downtown strangely quiet.   

I wondered if electricity or gas was very expensive, or polluting, because a good portion of the apartment buildings had these expandable solar clothes dryers as a standard feature just below the windows.  

Our next destination was the Jade Buddha Temple.  While returning from a pilgrimage to Tibet, a monk was given five jade Buddha statues.  He brought two of them to Shanghai and built this temple complex to house them.  The original temple was built between 1918-1928, but has been recently renovating replacing several demolished halls with new ones.  

The color red is considered lucky, so it is seen frequently.  I loved the pattern made by these lanterns hanging under the eaves.

As in the Yuyuan Gardens, picturesque views are seen at every turn.

No pictures were allowed of the seated jade buddha, but I thought this golden buddha was even more beautiful.  Offerings of fruit are common on the altars.

The contrast of old and new was especially present in this serene temple surrounded by the busy city.

As mentioned earlier, there are several superstitions about evil spirits and what is needed to keep them out.  Besides traveling in a straight line, they can't jump, so these very high thresholds keep them from entering the temples.  A third Chinese architectural good luck element in many of the skyscrapers is the presence of holes to allow evil spirits to go through, but not enter the building.  This is evident in "the bottle-opener" building seen in both the first and last photos.

This is a working temple.  We saw many worshippers both in and outside the halls including this young man with his bundle of burning incense...










and these monks working and studying.

What a change in architectural styles has come about over the years.

Our last stop was to a silk factory.  As we entered, we were welcomed and taught about the 2 month life span of the silk moth.  The silk cocoon is spun by the caterpillar as it goes into its pupa stage.  

The cocoons are boiled to allow the strands to be separated enough to be wound on spools.  The single strands from eight cocoons are wound together to form one thread.  Only single cocoons are used for this process.  Occasionally, two or more caterpillars spin cocoons so close together as to be like one, but the strands can't be unwound or used because they are intertwined.







These double cocoons are opened and stretched over a small apparatus like this, then as it stretches, it's put on this arch and layered with others.

The resultant web of fibers is then stretched using several pair of hands into a very thin sheet about the size of a bed.  Several hundred of these webs layered together then form a thick, but very light-weight comforter.  This factory sold these, plus duvet covers and ready to wear silk clothing as well as yard goods.

I think it will be hard to beat this night skyline for beauty and magic.  Maybe I've been Shanghaied.