In China - 3

woo hoo!  60,000 visitors just passed while I was preparing this!  thanks to everyone to has stopped by!    I am back in HK, but lots more to blog about from my china trip:

After two fun days in Xiamen,  it was time to go to Shanghai.  With Jojo's help, I booked a ticket on China Eastern airlines.  　木曜日あさ、アモイに二日後、上海まで行った！

I was a bit surprised to see how small of a plane it was though.  rather than the drive-up ladder truck, it sticks out its own ladder...  and amazingly enough they had some people board on the back stairs!?!

(is this the same type of plane that DB Cooperused for his great escape? Oh wait, that was s 727, This is an MD-80... )

小飛行機よ！後ろから入っている？

In Shanghai I decided to splurge and rather than get the typical 2 star super-cheap local hotel,  to go for something a bit fancier.  I found a good deal online for the Astor House hotel ( website),  which apparently was one of the first hotels opened by a Westerner in Shanghai way back in 1846. Supposedly the first electric light used in China was here back in the 1880s.

僕は中国のホテルで泊まります、普通は安いのホテルを選びます。でも今回上海にもと面白ホテルを選びました。１８４６建てましたのAstor House Hotel.1880年時中国の初めて電気ライトがといいました。

Its restored to some degree:

'Are you ready to go back to Titanic?'

They have 'celebrity' suites downstairs where some famous historical figures have stayed (including Einstein, Charlie Chaplin and Ulysses S Grant). but even the 'regular' rooms were pretty nicely renovated.  I'm sure this place was turned into an anti-reactionary movement brigade headquarters during the Cultural Revolution,  but they don't talk about that chapter in on the hotel's website and they've done a decent job making it at least hint at what you'd imagine a luxury hotel in Shanghai might have looked like 70-100 years ago).　とてもタイタンイクの感じが有るよ！たくさん有名なゲストはここで泊まりました。Einsteinとか。。。

The other good thing about the hotel was the fact that its right near the Bund ( 外滩), like a 5 minute walk across the Waibaidu Bridge ( 外白渡桥).  ブンドからあまり遠いじゃない、5分の散歩だけ。

  Despite being the middle of winter, there were some people filming a wedding video of some sort on the bridge...  You don't want to think about how filthy her dress and train are getting from dragging down the sidewalk here. :-o

汚い！

The view to Pudong ( 浦東) was great though, lucked out with relatively clear weather (smoggy but clear!) Its starting to give Hong Kong a run for its money (starting only!) :-P

浦東の景色！すごい！

One weird thing i've never seen before:  giant TV screen advertisement boats. Someone had a good idea:  Boat + Jumbotron = business opportunity! ;-) 

宣伝船ですよ！

Here's the actual Bund...  As a white person walking through a tourist area in China,  these kinds of areas are like running a gauntlet. 

I am always getting harrassed by people convinced that I'll buy a fake Rolex from them if they ask me 4 or 5 times in a row, despite the fact that they've just seen me turn down 3-4 other people in the last 10 seconds!  One of the most tiring things about China for sure. :-P

They had a special lane for motorcycles to pull into at traffic lights. Keeps them from running all over the street like in Saigon or Taipei,  a good thing!

vs

Looks a bit familiar doesn't it?　何ですか？とてもコーピーですよ！

Nanjing Lu ( 南京路) - half the fun here is counting the McDonalds and KFCs that you pass along the way.　 南京路です。ここでKFCとマック一杯が有る。

Next stop was the Jinmao Tower( 金茂大厦). They have an observatory on the 88th floor.  Last time I was in Shanghai a year ago, I wanted to check it out, but didn't have the chance, so this time I made sure to include it in the plans.  次はジンマオタウワーへ行った。88階の観光デークから景色見たかった。

The view was quite nice.  Now that I know how to change the exposure time on my Canon, I was able to get a few good night pictures, even though i forgot to bring my mini-tripod.

How's that look?  They've got some fancy lights on the Oriental Pearl Tower now too.

綺麗でしたか？フアンプー川。

more of the Puxi scenery, including the Bund.

The design of the building is similar to a pagoda, must have been a pain in the ass to build this thing. :-P

The top 31 floors of the building are actually a fancy pants Grand Hyatt hotel.  But having a hotel room at 53+ stories up is not enough...　ジンマオ中グランドハイアトホテルも有る。54階から87階まで！

It also boasts a giant atrium inside. Thats the lobby down at the 56th floor I think. A bit scary for those afraid of heights i think. (115 meters = 377 feet!) 中はとても高心房が有る。115m高さ!

Last stop,  Xintiandi for dinner:　新天地で晩御飯食べた：

Looks nice at night...

I enjoyed it so much the last trip, I wanted to grab dinner at one of the Dintaifung( 鼎泰豐) locations here in Shanghai: 　ディンタイフォンで食べた。美味しそう？

We were seated in the back area w/ Jackie, Jet, Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh's pictures.

Upstairs they have a fancy multiplex theater.  I think they must do a lot of premiere events for movies here.  Like Mann's theater in Hollywood, they have a 'celebrity hand impressions' area here too, except in this case in fake gold - stuck on the wall.

Can you guess who's hands these are?  mine are bigger. :-P

More Tomorrow! 明日もと上海の写真！