Shanghai July 2012

This was a big trip, China, Asia, intimidating. Shortly after returning from my trip to Mexico I received a phone call from my director at work. She wanted me to go to Shanghai and work with a team there on our business processes. Wow this was exciting, I was going to China in July.

First off let me say that when you go to China everyone will tell how bad its going to be. All I heard before this trip was "its a communist country" "you can't use the Internet". People were leaving me with a concern about going on this trip. Remember this is my first time in Asia, I didn't know what to expect. I did my research about proper business etiquette, places to visit as a tourist, and things to be aware of. I was going to be in Shanghai for 2 weeks so I made a list of places I wanted to see around the city. I gathered most of my information from popular travel sites like trip advisor and grouped attractions together based on location in the city. I had a plan....just didn't know what to expect.

The flight was the longest flight to date that I had ever been on. I was flying form Los Angeles to Shanghai and I was going to be on the plane for 12 hours. I brought a book, I brought music, and I tried to sleep as much as I could. Upon arriving in Shanghai my anxiety level started to climb. I'm here, what if they don't let me in, I'm sure they are going to stop me and go through my bag, will I have to answer a ton of questions, are they going to follow me? My head was swimming with all the information people back home were telling me before I left. Here I was, an American in a communist country, I was sure it was going to be difficult.

I got off the plane and the first thing I am hit with is the smell. For anyone who hasn't traveled to Asia, it has a unique smell. The best way I can describe it now is a mix between the super potent durian fruit and Chinese spices. The humidity is thick enough to cut with a knife. Here I was, about to  be questioned, it smells, and its humid and hot. As I followed the crowd to Chinese customs I started to get really nervous. I rounded the corner and stood in a small line, I was asked no questions and the customs lady stamped my passport across from my Chinese visa. I walked directly into the baggage claim, I gathered my bags and prepared for the worst. As I approached the exit I follow the signs for individuals with no duty items to claim. As I walked through the door I realized I was outside the airport where the taxi's were. Had I slipped through and the army was going to track me down? I quickly got into a cab and gave them the name of my hotel and off I went.

I landed on a Saturday evening and I was staying at the Radisson Blue in the Pudong district. Shanghai is cut in half by the Huangpu river, on the east side is the new Pudong district and on the west is the old Puxi(pronounced pu - she) district. Pudong is where all the modern sky scrapers are located and what most people will associate with Shanghai. I still had my reservations about China for the first few days. I did not venture very far from the hotel. The first night I decided to walk to the shops around the corner of from the hotel. From my room it looked to be an outdoor mall. Once outside and around the corner my fears of "what will I ear" quickly went away. Burger King, McDonald's, KFC, Subway, and Starbucks. It wasn't what I expected being in a "communist" country, but at least I had some options. As the weekend went on I explored further and further. I went through my list of attractions and started with the ones closest to my hotel and branched out every day.

One of many ponds in Century Park

I'm going to skip the boring parts of my story but there were big chunks of time I spend in transit to and from work or sitting at work. Every week day I left the hotel at 7am and returned at 5:30pm. I would quickly change then head out to see something new and get something to eat.  As I said earlier I had a circle that grew by the day. My hotel was the center of the circle and every time I would go out, I would go farther and farther. My first sight seeing adventure was  Century park and the Shanghai Science museum. Century Park is like the Central Park of New York City, it is a large open park surrounded by sky scrapers. The park was filled with ponds and gardens was was a great place to get some quiet in the bustling city.

Confucius Temple
in the Confucius Garden 

Exploring the Pudong(new side) of Shanghai is much different than exploring the Puxi(old side). The Puxi side has many old gardens, temples, and complexes that really take you back to old world China. I visited a number of places on this trip but a few stood out and I continue revisit in my mind a subsequent trips. I spent one afternoon at the Confucius Temple and gardens. It was amazing how you are transported to another time. The temple is located in the center of a busy, loud neighborhood. I was expecting to go in take a few pictures and move on to the next attraction. I was shocked when I walked through the gates at how quite and peaceful the temple was. The architecture was old world China and the grounds were perfectly manicured. It was amazingly quiet and just what I needed to escape the big city for a short time.

Yuyuan Bazaar 

As I worked north visiting different attractions I made sure to go the the Peoples Square and the Yuyuan Bazaar. The Peoples Square is another large park but located on the west side of the river. It is similar to Century Park as it is filled with gardens and ponds. This park was much busier however, it was a gathering place for old me to play Mahjong on the weekends. Yuyuan Bazaar is an old shopping district that has been transformed into an out door mall with modern day stores. The buildings are beautiful old world architecture and give you a sense that you are shopping a thousand years ago. That feeling does pass quickly as you spot a Starbucks!

View at dusk of Shanghai new skyline
 from the Bund side of the Huangpu River

I was pretty loose with my site seeing plans with one exception, The Bund! The Huangpu river splits Shanghai into to districts, the new district Pudong to the east, and the old district Puxi to the west. On the west bank of the river is the Bund, a collection of old European style buildings that are beautifully lit at night. On the east side of the river is all the modern sky scrapers that light up at night. When you see pictures of Shanghai you are most likely seeing one of these two areas. I needed to get my own pictures. The plan was to be on the Bund at dusk to catch the lights of the sky scrapers coming on, then take a ferry across the river and photograph the Bund. This is by far the busiest attraction you will encounter in Shanghai. Thousands of people flock here nightly to take pictures of the Shanghai Skyline. Even though there are massive amounts of people it is easy to find a spot for great picture!

View of the Bund at night from the
Pudong Side of the Huangpu River

Food was an adventure the first time I was in China. First off I was on a business trip and using a corporate Master Card....Guess what not all Chinese merchants take Master Card..or Visa meaning, my personal card was useless too. This was a struggle for me for the first week I was in Shanghai. I
could not find places to eat unless I wanted to

Dumpling and noodle soup, Xiaolongbao, and a Sprite
at Din Tai Fung in the World Financial Center

spend my own cash or eat at the hotel. I generally opted for eating at the hotel, but this got old quickly. As I mentioned before my exploration area grew as the trip went on, leading me to more and more places that has restaurants. It was simply trial and error, I would walk up to the hostess and pull out my corporate card. Most of the time she would shake her head no and I would continue on to the next place. I did get lucky over the weekend I was there. I was in the Shanghai World Financial Center and I walked up to a restaurant and pulled my card out. The hostess greeted me in English and said they welcome my card, so I sat down and ordered. This restaurant was a dumpling restaurant named Din Tai Fung and has become my favorite restaurant in the world. I crave the Xiaolongbao dumplings. They are steamed dumplings with pork soup in the center and are amazing. Once I found this place I must have revisited 4 times on this trip alone.

Restaurants in Xiantandi

An alley in the Xiantandi Shopping and Dining Neighborhood

The rest of the food I tried in Shanghai took some getting use to. It is much different that anything we have in the United States, but all of it is worth a try. I was lucky enough on some nights to have dinner with work colleagues and they would generally order for the entire table leaving me to try new things outside my comfort zone. One evening we went to a restaurant in the Xiantandi neighborhood of Shanghai. This neighborhood has been renovated and caters to the wealthy of the area. The exterior of the buildings are from the original buildings but the interiors have been modernized. It is a great area to grab food or drinks and watch the expensive cars drive by.

Group Dinner at Jade Palace

Here are some tips and things I learned that I can pass on to you
1) China is an amazing county! Yes it is communist but you will soon forget while you are there. I was never stopped, searched, or bothered by anyone. You will not see the military and will rarely see the police.
2) China is very clean in the popular areas. There are no homeless people in the larger cities, no beggars, and the streets are cleaner than most places I've seen in the United States. No trash, no graffiti.
3) Eat at Din Tai Fung. It is actually a chain restaurant in Asia, I have eaten here in multiple countries. The best part...there are some in Seattle and Los Angeles...Must do!!
4) Carry Cash as most places won't take western credit or debit cards
5) Always ask upon walking into the restaurant if they take your card, if you eat and get to the end you may end up paying entirely in cash.
6) Try new food, order different things, if you don't like it don't finish but be adventurous and get outside your comfort zone.
7) If you have seafood or selfish allergies be careful!!! Inspect your food before eating, I have a mild allergy to selfish and I was constantly finding shrimp in my food.
8) The subway is great, in my opinion better and more convent than a cab. Best part is the announcements are in Chinese and English and the ticket machines have an English option. Cab drivers do not speak English and it is very difficult to navigate without the address already written down in Chinese characters. Plus the subway is much cheaper and always running.