Shanghai River Front

Shanghai has the Huangpu River (with Pu meaning river in Chinese), and this is where we spent our first weekend in Shanghai. The Huangpu River divides Shanghai into two parts, east and west and is also the most important shipping artery of Shanghai. Cruises along the muddy river are very popular. One thing I noticed is the advertisement boats which are equipped with large television screens that show nothing but ads. People spend alot of time down on the river front as it is a nice area to fly kites, walk and spend the holidays.
One one side is Pudong which is the new area of Shanghai. Pudong used to be rice paddys about 10 years ago. New construction is rising everyday. On the other side of the river is The Bund which is where Shanghai's cultural center began building after the Opuim Wars in the mid 1900's. Today it is a popular attraction with businesses, consulates, hotels and shopping within a few blocks. At night I have seen pictures of The Bund and it is spectacular with the flooding of lights.

We started the day off taking a taxi to a hotel in the Pudong area that was near the riverfront. We walked a few blocks fromt here to meet Tom's boss for lunch. Along the way we saw the Superbrand Mall which has many stores which we are familiar with in the USA, including the newly opened ToysRUs. We have also heard that Walmarts and Best Buy has opened it's doors in Shanghai too.

Across from the Superbrand Mall is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. This tower is the tallest in China and the third tallest in the world of it's kind only being surpassed by Toronto and Russia. The Pearl Tower houses many recreational interests including a history museum, a science fantasy center and at the top a viewing deck. See my links on the right for more information.

We met Tom's boss for lunch along the riverfront. Shanghai is known as New York for the variety of food offerings. We ate a very small German Restaurant which actually reminded me of the ones in Germany. The funny thing though, was the the whole waitstaff was Chinese. I think I was expecting some Germans working in there as Shanghai's expatriate community is very widespread. Emma had some spaetzle while we had sandwiches.