Today was our “Bund day”: the Bund is a famous waterfront
area in Shanghai that faces the Huangpu river and has beautiful views of
historical buildings (mainly the financial district) on the west side and shiny
new buildings on the east (Pudong). I was very excited about seeing the river up close but after a joke about us running and jumping in, Jen’s excitement
waned when she learned that I don’t really know how to swim. Cue a day of Jen
being Captain Buzzkill and trying to ruin ALL my fun. I received a lecture about
letting her take me on a boat (even though we had life jackets!) and her
encouragement of me climbing over the bridge to leap into today’s river.
Sheesh. She really never lets me have any fun ;)
First stop along the river was the Monument to the People’s
Heroes which was built in 1994 to commemorate 45 years of Shanghai’s liberation.
Nearby was a very informative exhibit on the development of the
area, where we learned about the surrounding buildings, dubbed “Oriental Wall
street” and the popularity of the opium trade as a source of revenue. The
beautiful architecture of this area was pretty stunning.
We were
able to locate the Telecom museum (a stop on our to-do based on Jen’s grandfather’s
history there) but unfortunately it was closed so we couldn’t explore.
As we stroll along the waterfront we were approached by a
guy who asked if he’d like us to take a photo together, a genuine act of
kindness from a fellow tourist. Jen’s immediate response: “oh no thanks, we
don’t actually like each other, we just travel together”. Cue awkward silence.
Quickly the fellow recovered to ask if we wouldn’t mind taking a photo of him
and his companions, which Jen happily obliged. No, we aren’t weirdos. Everyone
on the Bund must have thought we were crazy due to the non-stop laughter that
followed this interaction once we realised that not everyone knows us and our
silly humor. Bunch of goofs.
Next up was a river cruise which afforded some lovely views.
We continued the day by subwaying over to the (free!)
Shanghai Museum, the Chinese pot styled building referenced in Day 12’s blog.
This was a beautiful building with 4 floors of exhibits which we meandered
through. Highlights included:
- a section of buddha statues (Jade and stone
statues of buddha were popular in the first century when Buddhism came over
from India)
- a porcelain gallery
- jade works
- seals (which were used to mark
official documents as long ago as 1600 BC!)
- and scroll art
- and other special pieces
Final stop for the day was at Daga brewpub for the world’s
smallest serving of nachos, but some tasty local beers. Goodnight, Shanghai!
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