Shanghai

25^th March 2012

We woke early to see some of the Sea Princess’s progress up the Huangpu River towards Shanghai, having entered the river just after 11pm last night. It was a hazy and cool morning, but fine and should warm up during the day. The extent of development along the river is staggering, with very little land without something built or being built and major shipping related operations everywhere.

                                                      Sunrise on the Huangpu River

Sea Princess docked in Shanghai at the Cruise Terminal at 6 am, starboard side to the dock, so we were looking out over the dock and the city just downstream from the famous Bund. Chinese immigration clearance was a bit more of a drama than previous ports, with every passengers having to clear immigration individually and passports had to be carried ashore.

                                                Approaching the wharf in Shanghai

                        Pudong  ( the other side of the river) from the deck of Sea Princess

By 8.30am, we had completed immigration clearance and were off to explore Shanghai on foot. We had not booked an organized tour, as we have been here before and we are reasonably close to the places we wanted to go.

                         
                                        Views of the Area Adjacent the Cruise Terminal

It is Sunday, and at 8.30am, there are not a lot of locals out on the streets yet, other than those doing their Tai Chi, in parks near the Bund. It is a bit cool, around mid teens C, but very pleasant walking along the Bund taking in the busy river traffic, and magnificent old buildings that line the Bund at street level. We decide our first stop will be Yu Garden, about a km walk from the Bund.

                                                          Tai Chi in The Park

Buildings along the Bund

Yu garden is a large and busy place, with beautiful Chinese architecture everywhere, bustling streets full of street vendors, shops and restaurants everywhere and, of course the garden itself. We spent a few hours there wandering around taking it all in, trying the food from some of the stalls (the deep fried crabs were terrific), walking through the garden, checking the shops (but not buying anything). By midday, the tour groups had started arriving and the locals had got out of bed and were here in bug numbers as well. You could hardly move around, so we headed off back towards the Bund, to catch a ferry to Pudong.

                                                          Scenes from Yu Garden

The Food at Yu Garden was Great

The ferry had just left as we arrived at the terminal, but they run every 15 minutes, so it was only a short wait. The ferry ride cost 2 yuan ( about 30 cents Aus). We wandered along the Pudong waterfront, amazed at the amount of construction that is still taking place there, despite already having some of the World’s tallest buildings. Lunch was at a café on the waterfront where we had a light local meal, before heading back to the ferry terminal to go back across the river. On the way back we passed the Shanghai Yacht Club, a very exclusive looking club.

                                                               Pudong Ferry

The Shanghai Yacht Club

The Pudong Waterfront

Ocean Pearl Tower

On our way back to the ship, we decided to have a look at the Peace Hotel, a bit of a Shanghai Institution, that has been closed for the past 3 years for renovation. They have done an excellent job, and it is a vast improvement on the pretty tired place it was when I went there to see the old jazz band, or for many banquets with the Shanghai Construction Group.

The Peace Hotel

Back on our way to the ship, we had one last problem, what to do with the Chinese currency we still had. There was a small family mart not far from the ship, and we thought we would be able to buy a few things there to get rid of the rest of the currency. As we walked in the door, we soon realized that a good number of other passengers had the same idea, and I suspect they had their best trading day for a long time. The problem was, we had about 160 yuan to dispose of, and no matter what we bought, the amount didn’t seem to go down much. It was then I spotted the Asahi Super Dry Beer in the fridge, (in 500ml cans), so after purchasing 7 of those we were down to our last 16 yuan. I could have bought another 2 cans, but already had enough to carry.

We were supposed to cast off at 5pm, but many of the tour buses arrived back late, so we got away about 45 minutes late. Once we pushed off the pier, we reversed for about 30 minutes back down the river until we could find an opportune spot to do a 180 turn, to head back out to sea.  Even then, we didn’t seem to have a lot of room at either end of the boat when we were halfway through our turn.

The trip back down the river was very interesting and despite the cold, we were on our balcony until about 7pm, still amazed at the scale of shipbuilding, dry docks, shipping terminals, factories, residential development etc that lined the riverbank. It really gives a different perspective on what a powerhouse this place is from what you see from the land side. It was like travelling down the Rhine through some of the most industrialised sections in Germany.

                                                          Leaving Shanghai

Lots of activity along the river

Tonight we went upmarket for dinner and went to the Sterling Steakhouse, which is an optional dining experience that you pay a cover charge of AUD 20 pp for, but get better food and service. It turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, as whilst the steaks were very nice, the total experience wasn’t worth rushing back for.

Overall, we had a great day in Shanghai, it would have to be one of the most spectacular cities to enter from sea.