Let me start this entry with:
The Bund, Shanghai's Symbol
For hundred of years, the Bund was considered Shanghai's symbol, it was the center of Shanghai's politics, economy and culture. What used to be a muddy narrow lane of tall reed before the 1840's is now composed of 26 various buildings of different architectural style, Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism and the Renaissance to name a few.
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| The Bund, Shanghai |
If you are just like me, you would wonder, why name such a beautiful place, the Bund, sounds like a horror flick about bread doesn't it? Well according to my ever reliable and all knowing wikipedia, the word " bund" actually means an embankment or an embanked quay.
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| Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Shanghai Custom House |
I have to be honest, I was captivated by the magnificence of this area, I am a civil engineer so that makes me somewhat inclined to architecture, just believe what i say :) I mean even if the entire area is buzzing with swarms of tourists, speeding Audi Q7s ( apparently that's their " fortuner" in china) and tourist guides with portable sound system with microphone, you could still feel the immensity of the beauty of the buildings.
whatever that means.. Like you feel their presence, its like they are breathing creatures, don't let me scare you but that is how I felt. Or maybe I was just on a high that time since my friend and I had to walk back to
Nanjing road from the Bund going against a million pedestrian!!
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| Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Shanghai Custom House |
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Huaxia Bank
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Midway on our 2.5-km walk back to East Nanjing Station, I almost felt a nervous breakdown coming, I was on the verge of maxing my credit card by checking in to one of the five-star hotels in the area.
Before you judge me, just imagine this, you just had a 4-hr sleep last night from a Shanghai Expo walkathon, you haven't had a decent meal in days, you woke up 6 am to take a 1hr and 45min bus-train-transfer-transfer-walk trip to get to Yuyuan Garden by 9am, walk around the 5-acre Yuyuan Garden, find Xintiandi, then Explore Nanjing Road before it hits its peak hour, only to find out the cruise ticket you got doesn't bring you back to Nanjing Road!!
In short, I was dead tired, hot, thirsty, exhausted, irritated, lost, confused, frustrated just to name a few and we had to walk through a million people going back to the station!! I mean just rethinking and writing the experience is tiring. I had to take a break!
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The Bund, an astounding sight at night.
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So yeah prior to my almost nervous/mental/physical breakdown along the
World's Busiest Nanking Road we had a super relaxing, almost romantic Huangpu River Cruise experience. Qing and I opted to take the cruise offered at Nanjing Road, we figured it was one the highlights we listed down for our trip so we couldn't pass on the experience, sure enough while on the cruise, Qing and I decided that if we were to propose to our future wives, The Bund Cruise would be one our considerations, hehe I know Qing and I are losers, I think the exhaustion had to do with this episode! A clear manifestation of lack of oxygen in the brain.
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| The Bund Skyline |
If you are surrounded by these views, plus there's the wind and you are on a cruise with Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World playing in the background, wouldn't you feel nostalgic, romantic perhaps, come on be a human and admit it.
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| The Bund Skyline, at least part of it. |
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| Breathtaking you would think you were somewhere in Europe |
While the Bund is situated on the west side of the Huangpu River, the modern and futuristic, Pudong New Area is located on the east side. I think this is a valid example of the the past meets the future, in Shanghai's case it is literally facing each other. Quite amazing if you ask me, not a lot of places has both the past and the future present in the same place.
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| The east side of the Huangpu River. Modern, 21st century Skyscrapers |
Pudong houses the Luijazui Finance and Trade Zone, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and boasts a skyline that comprises the symbolic Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Building, the Shanghai World Financial Center all reflective of Shanghai's or so of China's rapid economic development.
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| The Oriental Pearl Tv Tower and other Modern Buildings around the area |
The Oriental Pearl Tower's design is said to be based on a verse of the Tang Dynasty poem Pipa Song by Bai Juyi about the wonderful sound of a pipa instrument, similar to pearls, big and small falling on a jade plate.
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| The Oriental Pearl Tv Tower |
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| The view, from the dock while getting off the boat |
Sure I almost lost it during this particular side trip, but now that I reminisce the entire experience, I can proudly say it was worth it all. I think it's normal that at some point we will have to push ourselves over what we consider our limits, you might be surprised at what feats you can overcome.
Will post The Shanghai Experience Video over the weekend :)
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The losers - loveless in Shanghai. Qing and I.
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