Jet lag in a funny thing, especially when you think it is working in you favour. It's our first full day in Shanghai, I'm excited to get up and start exploring through the city. I woke up grabbed my iPad to check some emails and saw that it was 6:30am. After checking my emails I got up and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. I was confronted by 6 half naked boys, obviously still intoxicated from their night of partying. They asked me why I was up so early - by that time it was near 7:30, I was a bit confused. I don't think 7:30am is that early... "um, it's 5am..."
It turns out the only clock I forgot to change to Shanghai time was my iPad... I was in fact up at 5am... Wide awake.
If you're a shopping person, don't worry if you Do the opposite of me and sleep in. Most of the shops here don't open until 10am. This is a great time though to get up and out walking about as the crowd levels are pretty low. We walked close to 12km today. Starting from Nanjing East Road heading towards the People's Square.
People's Square was originally a horse racing course that was converted by the government when the communist party took over. It runs along side Nanjing Road, which is basically a pedestrian strip with giant shopping malls running its length (well, nearly the complete length of the street.) It's a nice break from the concrete and lights, lush green grass and gardens, manicured trees and hedges, and beautiful ponds.
In search of the Huangpu River, we decided to jump on a bus. A great way to rest our feet and take in the city sights. The City Sightseeing red bus will set you back 30RMB (about $5 AUD) this ticket will last you a full 24hrs and take you through the entire city and under the river across to the financial district.
Located in the east banks of the Huangpu River is Pudong, Shanghai's financial district. Don't dismiss this side of the city - its actually hard to dismiss it. Sticking out of the heart of the east bank is the Oriental Pearl radio and TV tower. The giant tower with its massive purple spheres strategically placed, is the 5th largest in the world standing tall and proud at 468.0m (1,535ft). Make sure you hang around the area (on the other side of the bank) at night as the light show is impressive. Well, its not a light show - but its close to it. The city comes alive. There are restaurants, shopping at lookout points in the Oriental Pearl, to go all the way to the top, it will cost you around 180RMB (about $30 AUD).
OK, so I'm a little hungry for some veggie food, lucky our friend found vegan restaurant Jujube tree (www.jujubetree.com). The food was amazing! All vegan soy protein and all very very tasty. For 4 people it cost us 136RMB (about $23) total! Not each... Total! So cheap and we were all extremely content, I was very very content indeed.
