Shanghai is a great city with rich cultural and historical
heritage and most probably a brilliant future. From a fishing village in the 5th
Century it became a global financial center, a modern metropolis with over 24
million residents that cannot stop to amaze.
Heavily influenced by the British and French settlements
from the 19th century, Shanghai was described in the 1920s as Paris
of the East, although I do not recall seeing much of French lifestyle in the
“Fist of Fury”, set in the same decade, with Bruce Lee kicking the ass of some
Japanese Karatekas. Today, definitely an ultra-modern city, it has a bit of
everything, from awe inspiring skyscrapers, Chinese food
stall and quite a lot of people.
After the first two days in the city I was trying to find
somehow to describe Shanghai… Not an easy task, but “Science Fiction today”
could be a good way to go around it. I would not have been surprised if I
bumped into Captain Picard coming out if an alley. After all, Star Trek was all
about new frontiers, and from an urban point of view, Shanghai has a lot of
those.
My trip was not too long, so I had no time to expand to the
outskirts of the City, but the 4 days where barely enough to scrape the surface
of the center. The Bund if, of course, a must see, with its’ amazing view onto
Pudong, although the best view I had was at the Hyatt on the Bund, at Vue. In
the evening, with the city blazing with lights, it’s quite a sight.
Peoples Park was a nice place to visit, Xintiandi was cool, as was Hongkou with the atmospheric Old
Film Café. A night out, or two, in the French concession, with so many
different international eateries and watering holes, were more than pleasant,
and you may basically find cool places everywhere you turn. Of course, speaking
of nightlife, I have to mention Bar Rouge, which is where posh and pretty go
to… obviously I was there (even made it on the guest list, helped by my
particular charm)
It’s also cool to be “artsy” in Shanghai. There is quite an interesting art scene and I stumbled upon modern art quite a few times, being it in a museum, sculptures on the street or a Modern Art Exposition. I just loved this part of the trip, as I was definitely missing cool visual stimulation... and here you have my own humble
attempts to do some modern art and catch some classical beauty.
attempts to do some modern art and catch some classical beauty.
Last but not the least, the food was amazing. From the small Chinese restaurants near Nanjing Road to modern Asian cuisine in places like Spice Bazaar, from a Russian restaurant to simple street stalls, Shanghai can be a foodie’s dream town…
All in all, I had a fantastic trip to Shanghai and will definitely come back as too many stones were left unturned... Cheers!
