My last entry left us arriving in Shanghai....
Shanghai was inside-out when we were there - half the city torn up for construction and renovation in preparation for the 2010 Shanghai Expo. The riverside walk along the Bund - Shanghai's signature historic architecture district - was walled off to build a new esplanade, and nearly every intersection had at least one corner piled 10-feet high in rubble. It made it kind of a pain, and kind of exciting, at once - a city in the throws of renewal.
Our favorite parts of town were unaffected though - the "old towns" whose charm is in their timelessness and history, rather than their newness. While most of Shanghai is gloriously "shiny," the old towns' draw is in their narrow alleys, interspersed courtyards, tiny shops and food stalls, and roving vendors.
Our favorite was Qibao, far to the southwest of the city center, and cut through by a canal with boatman ferrying visitors up and down on pole-pushed, covered rafts.
Colin's new-found love affair with tea continued to grow in Shanghai, and as usual we ate our way through the city - dumplings on Yunnan "Food Street," Nanxing steamed buns in the central Old Town, unbelievable seafood at an otherwise nondescript Chinese cafe, chocolate mousse in the French Concession, and noodles, noodles, noodles...
Our low point was a half-day blown at the International Hospital on the advice of Colin's doctor to check out some stomach cramps - a full work up, x-ray, surgical consult.. and huge bill!.. later and he was pronounced fine, with a word of advice to lay off the spicy food. ;-)
The highlights were our hostel itself, immediately off of People's Square, where Colin learned to be a pool shark from the many resident backpackers, and a night at the Shanghai Circus - dancers, acrobats, contortionists, jugglers, hoop jumpers, chair balancers, magicians, and five CRAZY Evil Kneivel-type guys criss-crossing high speed motorcycles inside/upside-down/and every-which-way in an enormous wire mesh globe.
On our final day, as the rains came in, we toured the incredible Shanghai Museum before heading to the train station for the overnight train to Guilin, entryway to our target destination: Yangshuo and the Li River in southern China.
Next up: Shangai'ed! (but not in Shanghai)
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