Exploring Shanghai

Yesterday I went exploring Shanghai - I had a fairly quiet day with no set itinerary - just set off walking to see where I ended up.

My first visit was to the Peoples Square and the Shanghai Museum - the museum has loads of Chinese art, pottery and history in - it was well worth a visit (especially as I got in on student rates so it only cost about 30p!) but was a little boring.

I decided I'd be a bit more adventurous and try my luck at using the Shanghai underground - when I'd navigated the maze of tunnels and worked out what line I was supposed to be on I was fine - even the ticket machines were relatively simple to use. I went to Pudong - the other side of the river where the Oriental Pearl tower is that you can see from the Bund.

I was going to go up the tower but it was a bit cloudy and you could do with a clear day/night when you go up so hopefully I may get chance sometime this week. I did a little shopping and then caught the underground to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum - which for some odd reason was closed!

Catching the underground back to the Peoples Square I went back to the hostel for a bit and found out where Xin Tian Di was on my map with an aim to find it last night.

Xin Tian Di is a pedestrian area with buildings in the old Chinese Shikumen style - yet the shops, bars and restaurants are very international and modern. There was a fantastic atmosphere and buzz about the place with people from all over the world eating, drinking and meeting there - there was just one slight snag - it was quite expensive. I don't suppose it was expensive by western standards - but after being in Nanshan it was a bit of a shock. I went into a German style restaurant and had Sausage and Mash and a beer - it was 140 yuan - just less than 10 British pounds - when you consider this to the food market in Nanshan though I could have had tea 70 times over for the same price!!!

I have a tour booked for tomorrow to go to Suzhou and Zhouzhuang - both are water villages just outside of Shanghai.

Anyway, I should really work out what to do with myself today.

See you all later!