Before we left on our trip I met a woman in Redmond that has a brother that lives here in Shanghai. She was extremely helpful to me in preparing for this trip and knowing what to expect. She told her brother, Alex that we would be traveling here with our family and he offered to be our tour guide this weekend. We met Alex and his family and went off to see many things. We started at the Pearl Tower in Pudong.
From the tower there is an amazing view of Pudong and Puxi. These two areas are separated by the Huangpu River. On one side of the river there are many, very old buildings 100+ years old (Puxi) and the other side is all very new and modern (Pudong), symbols of western commercial power.
It was lunch time and little did we know Alex had a feast planned. We ate in a local mall in a very nice restaurant where we were treated by Alex, Jennifer, and John (their very cute 7 year old boy) to an incredible amount of very yummy, very traditional, Shanghai dishes. I don’t know the names of any of the items. There must have been 15 dishes. Apparently, Shanghai area is known for its sweet flavors. We had at least three different kinds of tofu. Peanuts cooked in a yummy sauce. There was pigeon. Riley and Aiden couldn’t help but be very interested in the pigeon because there were cooked heads on the plate too. Claire couldn’t get enough of it. It was good. Most of these things I would have never thought to order and yet I liked every one of them. It was great!
Next we walked down to the harbor area along the Huangpu River called the Bund and got to see the view of both cities. I guess 10 years ago the river was so polluted that it was black, today it’s still really dirty and polluted and not very clear because it has a mud bottom, but improving all the time as far as pollution.
It was lunch time and little did we know Alex had a feast planned. We ate in a local mall in a very nice restaurant where we were treated by Alex, Jennifer, and John (their very cute 7 year old boy) to an incredible amount of very yummy, very traditional, Shanghai dishes. I don’t know the names of any of the items. There must have been 15 dishes. Apparently, Shanghai area is known for its sweet flavors. We had at least three different kinds of tofu. Peanuts cooked in a yummy sauce. There was pigeon. Riley and Aiden couldn’t help but be very interested in the pigeon because there were cooked heads on the plate too. Claire couldn’t get enough of it. It was good. Most of these things I would have never thought to order and yet I liked every one of them. It was great!
Next we walked down to the harbor area along the Huangpu River called the Bund and got to see the view of both cities. I guess 10 years ago the river was so polluted that it was black, today it’s still really dirty and polluted and not very clear because it has a mud bottom, but improving all the time as far as pollution.
Century Park was a subway stop away. What a great experience! We all needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Century park is only about 50 years old and one of the few places that has no history. It’s an amazing park. It has a large lake in the middle.
You can rent paddle boats. There is a small amusement park (I haven’t seen Riley this excited since we went to Disneyland last year). We followed the signs to the amusement park with a symbol of a child’s rocking horse, assuming to find a play ground, but instead we found a small roller coaster and other amusement park rides.
The park is really quite beautiful and different than near our apartment. There are trees and grass and walking paths everywhere. We found some beautiful blooming Lotus flowers along the water’s edge.
Century park is in Pudong which is the new part of the city and our apartment is in Puxi, which is in the old part.
Century park is in Pudong which is the new part of the city and our apartment is in Puxi, which is in the old part. A little Chinese language lesson here….dong means East and Xi means West and Dong means river…so if I ever get this all figured out I will know what these people are saying, at least for now I know if I am in the west or east based on the name. If I had to move to Shanghai I would chose to live in Pudong. Apparently, it is the wealthier and more educated section too. Apartments average about 300K and if you are lucky enough to find a home to buy with a very small lot it will cost you around 2 million. I guess we’d be living in an apartment.
I wanted to add some more pictures to this post, but it wont let me for some reason. I'll try again tomorrow.
4 comments:
Hollie,
You're getting about wonderfully. I'm pleased and proud of the kids for trying different foods. (Mine: Karl would; Erik probably not until he's falling down delirious with starvation.) My grandparents would not have been able to do much better getting about. They were from Guangdong, 100+ yrs. ago, and spoke only Cantonese. Thanks for sharing your terrific adventure. All the best, Jan1neP
Hello
Those are great pictures.
We told people if we needed to we would eat our pigeons. We have heard they are very good to eat.
Love the updates.
Heather
Hi Janine, Honestly I thought Riley would be like Erik, we were pretty sure he was going to eat only white rice while we were here and become lean.
I learned today that cantonese has 8-9 intonantions...I can't even hear the 4 here, I'd never figure cantonese out. Thanks for posting..it's nice to hear from people at home.
Heather, I was a bit worried what you would think about this post. I didn't include the picture that the kids took because I didn't want to upset you. :0)
Pigeon is pretty yummy!
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