I started my first day from browsing the local sites of interest on the web and planning my day. I needed to buy train tickets to Suzhou, Nanjing and Xian. I found the closest office near Bund (near the corner of Beijing Dong Lu and Sichuan Zhong Lu - thanks, Lonely Planet). The railroad schedule is available on the internet and I found all trains needed. Still, it took about half an hour (and a passport!) to buy tickets despite all my homework. In the ticket office there was one person who spoke English. For some reasons, they had only one window opened and one can imagine the line created by the time I left. From the ticket office I took a stroll north of Suzhou Creek and then to the Bund.
Circular bas-relief depicting thousand years of Chinese history in the best traditions of socialist realism
After meeting the first of many con artists on the boardwalk (got an invitation to a tea salon after a short conversation), I went through the halls of several buildings in the Bund area. Peace Hotel, Bank of China, Custom House, HSBC building, Russo-Asiatic bank, just to name a few. Unfortunately, taking pictures was not allowed inside of the building (here are pictures from the net).
Inside HSBC building
Inside Peace Hotel...
and outside
Then I proceeded to East Nanjing Road all the way to Shanghai Museum. Surprisingly, the path that was less than 2 miles on the map took me at least two hours. East Nanjing Road is the main shopping street with a lot of street hawkers. Most of them had a laminated ad (the same?) with watches, electronics, handbags, etc - "Cheapo, cheapo", "Lookalooka". Smiling at them "Thank you, my friend" turned out to be the best repellent. Multiple working girls with excellent English were more insistent. They were like mosquitoes (leeches?) smelling the fresh blood. Shanghai Museum turned out to be above the expectations, I was most impressed by the collections of jade and bronzes.
Shanghai Museum - "the exterior of the museum utilizes the shape of an ancient bronze ding, specifically a Chen ding"
12th century jade
Tired after walking several miles I slowly retreated to the hotel. With the awful traffic the subway is the best mode of transportation in Shanghai. I stayed at the hotel (Renaissance) next to Yuyuan Garden subway station (there was a traffic incident there later just a month later with almost 300 injured). The hotel was brand new (3 years old at most) and it happened to be best hotel I stayed in China. I found that the great firewall of China is more annoying than I had anticipated. Seriously, what's next - jamming BBC and Voice of America? In the evening I had a cruise on Huangpu river. The passengers were mostly (99%) Chinese - this was the first tourist trap I encountered during my trip (the view from the Bund are the same with much less noise:)
Hotel room, internet firewall is included for free
View from my room, house on the foreground peacefully coexist with the skyscrapers for now
In the second day, I made another trip through the city - Yu Garden in the morning, then Jade Buddha Temple, then French Concession. I finished the day with a drink in the rooftop bar (New Heights) on the seventh floor of Casa Armani with magnificent view of Pudong's skyline.
Yu Garden - there will be more sophisticated gardens in Suzhou
The Museum of the First Congress of Chinese Communist Party - Mao is standing
(at the left of the table, back to us is Nikolski from Russia, to the left of him is a representative from Holland; both were sent by Comintern - tell me about export of the revolution!)
Modern face of Shanghai (not far from Jade Buddha Temple)
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