Tianzifang

The French concession area of Shanghai gives you a little taste of french-chic style. Tianzfang actually reminds me move of Melbourne Degraves street and small arty alley ways than Parisian streets. Regardless, it has flavour and the buzz and I LOVE it!

Fairy lights hang flippantly from the roof of the entrance dazzling you with the sense of stepping into a new world. A world full of cafes, art spaces and boutique shopping. You really do forget that you are in Shanghai.

We spent the afternoon here getting lost in the alleys and window shopping looking at all the trinkets and art (it is an expensive area to shop in, so if you're on a budget - put the wallet away and just look. If your here to splurge...then indulge!) I recommend coming towards the end of the day - only because I found the atmosphere to be buzzing.

This area of Shanghai is home to some amazing restaurants. Normally, when traveling, I like to stick with the local food, but...we couldn't help it. We had to experience some French dining (we did have one french citizen and two ex-residents of Paris in the group...). Our friend Emma, took us to a French bistro called Le Saleya.  The food was amazing! The wine - beautiful. The service - spot on! It you are every here make sure you order the Chocolate Fondant for dessert - TRUST ME!

Yuyuan Garden - Shanghai

In the Old Town of Shanghai you will find Yuyuan Garden (it also goes by the name of Yu Garden) The garden / residence started it construction in the Ming dynasty around 1560 by the Pan family. The garden is guarded by a 'dragon wall' that snakes its way around the tops of the 6 different sections.

1. Inner Garden
2. Huijing Hall
3. Yuhua Hall 
4. Wanhua Chamber
5. Sansui Hall
6. Dianchun Hal

When you're in China, gardens can tend to get boarding after looking at the 6th, 7th and 8th one... but I really enjoyed walking through this one and seeing the beautiful ponds, architecture, design and the 'living fossil' trees, hundreds of yeas old that stand tall and proud. The garden is also well know for the large jade boulder which sits in front of the hall. The gardens are inexpensive to visit and great for photo's We paid 40 RMB (about $6AUD) for entry and it took us a good 60-90min to stroll through.  

Steping back in time

飲茶 - or Yum cha is a traditional Chinese late morning/afternoon tea - Its basically the Chinese equivalent of high tea - and its super yummy! If you have never been to Yum cha, I suggest you go. It is very popular in Western countries and often found at many Chinese restaurants. Yum cha is traditionally more Cantonese and can be found more prominently around the southern areas of China and also Hong Kong.

We are in Shanghai's 'Old Town'. As the name implies it is an old part of the city that is encased in a somewhat circular wall and is home to some impressive architecture dating to the Ming and the Qing dynasty. Inside you will find a bustling commercial hub of market and food stalls. It buzzes with atmosphere, and while some tourist do not like this area, I found it to be sensory stimulating and taste bud tantalizing.


We had yum cha in a local restaurant over looking the water in the centre of the small city. Everything is in Chinese characters - so If your happy to point and eat, then go for it! Lucky for us, out friend, Emma, was able to communicate for us - ordering me some vegetarian dishes and Rani and Jarreth some steam soup pork buns (pictured with the straw below) It was very inexpensive for 4 of use our total Yum cha bill was well under 100 RMB ($15AUD total. If you love shopping and love a bargain - then you will also love this area! The markets are full of trinkets and souvenirs for you to purchase and barter for.


Getting there is easy - there are plenty of buses that go past here. The red tourist sight seeing bus goes through this area also. Taxis - CHEAP! To get a taxi from East Nanjing Road was about 15 RMB ($2.30AUD) I recommend a Taxi purely because we came here towards the end of our stay in Shanghai and I was tired - Lazy I know!

 

Shanghai at night

The main cities in China seem to be awake all the time! At night the city transforms from an actuarial sculpted city into an amazement park of light. The colours bounce off the reflective surfaces and blend into the low cover clouds. Its almost a magical experience! 

Jet lag is a funny thing...

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.