Shanghai - Day 1

After our trip to Hong Kong and Bali we had about back at school before we headed back to China. This trip was anticipated more by me than Latanya. On the to do list was to visit Shanghai a modern metropolis and Xi'an the beginning of a unified China.
We left in the morning from Korea. We arrived by midday. It was really easy to find our way to the subway that led to the city. We quickly found out that we did not do too much research this time around on our itinerary. We decided that we would take our time see the top sites and go from there. The subway was nice and efficient. We started to notice a little more stares than we were used to. In Hong Kong we were never stared at. It makes sense seeing as it is only recently removed from British rule. In Beijing the stares were only in the touristy areas where there were more Chinese tourist from elsewhere in the country than locals. But here in Shanghai we had literally just stepped on the subway in the station at the airport, completely unexpected. We would later find this the theme of our trip.
After a couple of transfers we finally arrived at our stop. We made our way to our hostel. Because I am amazing at finding my way anywhere, it was rather easy making it to our place. The hostel is situated down a smallish street that smelled really bad. I think there is a fish market right next store. We would also discover there was a weird smell that was present wherever we were in the city. Back to the hostel. It was just fine. Big enough rooms. The cleanliness was almost up to Latanya's standards but not quite. There was also a restaurant and bar on our floor. WiFi was free and what more do you need.




After we got settled we headed out to see a little of the city. We knew that today would be the best day to get out and see the city seeing as it was going to be the best weather of the week. Rain was on the way. We walked down to an older renovated part of the city. The architecture was nice, the people not so much. The stares were continuing. It really gave us a bad vibe from the start. In Beijing the stares felt almost celebrity but here in Shanghai it's like we are zoo animals. We walked along the Bund which sits along the river. We were able to see the picturesque downtown skyline. At this point the weather was quite warm and the sun was really draining.

From the Bund we decided to go inside and checkout a museum. Shanghai is well known for its museum and one on my list was the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center. The center is several stories of urban planning. I was in heaven. I really enjoy urban planning a lot. I am interested in how huge cities are developed and the future of their development. On the top floor they had a model of the entire city of Shanghai in a room that took up huge amount of space. It was great just to walk around and read about all their displays.

After the museum we tried to find some local food but unfortunately did not see anything appetizing. I think the smell of the city prevented us from find anything that we would want to eat. Sometimes we forget that we eat with all our senses. Smell is a big factor. So we decided to have some Subway and then head back to the hostel. After a few happy hour beers at the bar we called it a night. The next day was going to be a marathon. We were going to the World Expo 2010!