Two and a half hours on a plane to reach Shanghai. First question at the airport: what do we do next? Remember, we haven’t thought of where we are going once landed. Our guides (we are both, Lonely Planeted and Guide du Routarded) say: Captain Hostel cheap dorms in downtown. Let’s keep it movin’.
Our first attraction in Shanghai is the machine called Maglev. As we did, you probably think the nephew of Mendeleev made some molecular research and modified humans in the city, but Maglev stands for MAGnetic LEVitation. This high speed train is supposed to take you from the airport to downtown in less than 8 minutes; reaching 430 km/h and without touching the ground. It works pretty well, since you don’t have time to enjoy the view of the highway and the ghetto.
Settled in the Captain Hostel, we are heading to the Museum of Shanghai, well known for its classy atmosphere. Traditional costumes, jades, bronzes, calligraphies, paintings, furnitures from Ming and Qing dynasties, the museum is awesome. We even have the chance to see a temporary exhibition of precious stones, absolutely amazing. In museums, you usually don’t pay attention to other people, do you? Each visitor makes his own way trough exposed items. But what if the following happens: you are quietly reading a vase’s description when you barely notice that one Chinese father & son are approaching the same object. I wonder, how does a vase from de Ming Dynasty inspire Chinese youth? Well, this kid just freed his stomach of its disturbing gases. Laffin’ loud with Julien, we watched the father congratulate his son for his effort. How lovely. In China, you can freely free your mind, stomach, butt, nose and mouth.
Once the museum tour was over, we walked in famous Nanjing Donglu looking for some nice place to have a drink. Shanghai and its streets: a very pleasant melt of many unmixable concepts. Imagine the buildings of Gotham city (the hometown of Batman & Robin) in the chaotic and tiny streets of London; add kilometers of electric wires (you should imagine enough wires so that you can’t see the sky), rushes of bicycles at each stop light and store names written in Chinese. The final touch is tons of people getting busy around you. Oh and I almost forgot, you should also have 8 municipal employees at each street crossings. Their job is to contain the pedestrians and to prevent them from crossing the street when the light is green for the cars. Now you got Shanghai! We finally ended up in a shopping mall for the so wanted drink. The only interesting detail here is the young people of Shanghai. You know, when you watch some fashion shows on TV, you wonder who would wear such clothes, how anyone could feel comfortable with a transparent shirt or with a one meter diameter solid skirt. Well, in Shanghai, it seems like there is a rave party going on in every single street. Every one is top fashion dressed and all the colors of the nature are there. Neat!
Unpack, have a rest, meet your dormmates, day is over.
Our first attraction in Shanghai is the machine called Maglev. As we did, you probably think the nephew of Mendeleev made some molecular research and modified humans in the city, but Maglev stands for MAGnetic LEVitation. This high speed train is supposed to take you from the airport to downtown in less than 8 minutes; reaching 430 km/h and without touching the ground. It works pretty well, since you don’t have time to enjoy the view of the highway and the ghetto.
Settled in the Captain Hostel, we are heading to the Museum of Shanghai, well known for its classy atmosphere. Traditional costumes, jades, bronzes, calligraphies, paintings, furnitures from Ming and Qing dynasties, the museum is awesome. We even have the chance to see a temporary exhibition of precious stones, absolutely amazing. In museums, you usually don’t pay attention to other people, do you? Each visitor makes his own way trough exposed items. But what if the following happens: you are quietly reading a vase’s description when you barely notice that one Chinese father & son are approaching the same object. I wonder, how does a vase from de Ming Dynasty inspire Chinese youth? Well, this kid just freed his stomach of its disturbing gases. Laffin’ loud with Julien, we watched the father congratulate his son for his effort. How lovely. In China, you can freely free your mind, stomach, butt, nose and mouth.
Once the museum tour was over, we walked in famous Nanjing Donglu looking for some nice place to have a drink. Shanghai and its streets: a very pleasant melt of many unmixable concepts. Imagine the buildings of Gotham city (the hometown of Batman & Robin) in the chaotic and tiny streets of London; add kilometers of electric wires (you should imagine enough wires so that you can’t see the sky), rushes of bicycles at each stop light and store names written in Chinese. The final touch is tons of people getting busy around you. Oh and I almost forgot, you should also have 8 municipal employees at each street crossings. Their job is to contain the pedestrians and to prevent them from crossing the street when the light is green for the cars. Now you got Shanghai! We finally ended up in a shopping mall for the so wanted drink. The only interesting detail here is the young people of Shanghai. You know, when you watch some fashion shows on TV, you wonder who would wear such clothes, how anyone could feel comfortable with a transparent shirt or with a one meter diameter solid skirt. Well, in Shanghai, it seems like there is a rave party going on in every single street. Every one is top fashion dressed and all the colors of the nature are there. Neat!
Unpack, have a rest, meet your dormmates, day is over.
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