(C) We were met by our next local guide, Jerry, after disembarking from the Yangtze 2. Our tour in China has been a bit different to a usual tour as there have only been the 4 of us. Consequently rather than having a tour guide for the whole trip we have had different English speaking guides in each province. As we have departed trains, planes and boats our new guide in each destination has been waiting with our names written on a piece of paper. Thank goodness for this because it is a bit hard to hide that we are tourists in China as there are very few foreigners so you get swamped by Chinese people offering to be your taxi driver, tour guide etc. We are now in Yichang which is in the Hubei Province, we are not staying here however just passing through on our way to Shanghai so Jerry and our drivers job today is to take us to the airport stopping for lunch on the way. We are then met by our very enthusiastic Shanghai guide Kevin.
We arrive at our hotel in Shanghai, which is quite a let down after our luxury on the river but in a good location just around the corner from Shanghai's pedestrian shopping street Nanging Road. After checking in we head out to Nanging Road in search of a nice drink and are presently surprised to find a bar for a beer for the boys and a mojito for me. Then we find a Starbucks for a coffee. While strolling along we were approached by at least a dozen hawkers trying to sell us disco rollers that you attach to the bottom of your shoes to turn them into instant roller skates. Others were trying to entice us into their shop down side alleys to buy handbags and watches. Something I have noticed in all of China so far is that if you go into a market area there will be from 1 to 5 different types of shops only. They are just repeated over and over again in the one street for as long as the street goes. Very strange.
Apart from our dumpling lunch Kevin took us on a full day walking tour of Shanghai visiting Peoples Park which also had an area called Marrige Market similar to Beijing where parents would meet up to do some matchmaking for their children. It was in Shanghai we discovered that their were more females in China than males. We thought it was the other way around. Apparently the prospect of marriage is very slim for women once they have reached the age of 27 and are so referred to as Leftover Ladies.
We also visited the French Concession (French quarter), a museum of national treasures, a museum where the first communist party in China was started and a nice Chinese garden. Later in the afternoon we walked along the popular Bund beside the river before our evening cruise on the river. Shanghai is a spectacular city at night. As we cruised along, on one side the river was lined with colonial buildings that were adorned with monochrome lighting making some of them look quite golden and some look a little eery. While on the other side in the pudong area, which has pretty much been built in the last 25 years, the skyscrapers and modern buildings were very vibrant and colourful. Our pictures don't really do it justice. Overall Shanghai caters a lot more to westerners and is a very vibrant city which would be nice to visit again in the future.
As I mentioned before our hotel in Shanghai was very below standard, this also included the breakfast which was included. John and I decided to skip this on our second morning. We had been watching a lady from our balcony cook on a barbecue in the street below and frequented by many many people. First she browned some flat bread a bit similar to Malaysian roti, cracked an egg on the hot plate, scrambled it up a bit, put the golden brown bread on top so that the egg was attached to the bread, cooked a piece of bacon which was then put on top of the bread, added some tomato sauce and pepper then folded it all in half and put in a bag. This Chinese version of an egg and bacon roll was most delicious. Might have to try that one at home.
(J) Kevin was a very unusual guide. I think he had a lot of fingers in a lot of pies. He is not a regular tour guide for the company, as Cheryle mentioned, we have been allocated a local guide in each location as we are a small tour that does not justify a fulltime tour guide (apparently). Kevin is a only a little guy, very thin, but eats like a horse. He was the only guide to tuck in with us at every allocated meal. I suspect we also covered his bill when he organised a dumpling lunch for us on one of our days together when lunch was not included.
He took us to different shops on our walking tour where I am pretty sure he was receiving kick backs. He was agitated if we told him we didn't want to go in to a particular shop. We did do all the things included on the itinerary...and more. His English was very good, his delivery when discussing history and other facts entertaining and intense. Julie thought he was a bit asperges....and I suspect she was correct.
He called Julie Julia and I am not sure he was kidding when he asked if she was related to Julia Gillard. He rated Shanghai the number one shopping, number one finance, number one eating....pretty much number one anything you could think of.
We did go on a nice river cruise during our second evening in town, unfortunately we were somewhat unprepared for how cold it became as Kevin had told us the weather would be beautiful, when in fact it was freezing by the time evening came around. Because our itinerary was a bit light on our last day, Kevin thoughtfully put together a half day tour at a local water town, including "gondola" ride and evening meal (of which he once again partook with great enthusiasm). This was clearly a premeditated arrangement and his argument as to why we should spend the extra money well rehearsed. It was hard to say no. Kevin called the place the number one "Venice of China" which I am sure you can appreciate lived up to our expectations.
Footnote : The final morning of our stay was free time roaming the city before moving on to our next destination. A typical sort of morning when travelling like this. After negotiating a new pair of earphones (down from a very best price just for me of only 280 yuan to 120 yuan...and still probably being ripped off) and buying some staples such as water, Chez and I returned to our hotel to finish packing our bags. Standing in the lobby waiting for the lift I had a second look at a gent standing patiently. I said to Cheryle that I thought the fellow looked like Frank our guide from Beijing, Cheryle said no, but again I looked and this time he responded with a quizzical look at us. Sure enough it was Frank waiting for his tourists (some of whom were seated in the lobby and noting our little exchange) to take on their days adventure in Shanghai. We exchanged pleasantries and had a bit of a chat. Just as we were finishing up I remarked what a small place China was, for which I was rewarded with a few gawfs from the tourists and a smile from the ever relaxed Frank.
Observations of Shanghai in the morning.
Running on the Bund at 7am: about 20 other runners (incl a few foreigners) mixed with 500_plus tai chi practioners & dancers. All with their own group uniform and music machine,
Walking on Nanjing Road : walking with female companion at night, maybe 3-4 times offered a watch, some kind of barely useful gizmo. Do so as a solo foreign male mid-morning: offered "sexy massage" (complete with no-holds-bared photos) maybe 20 times. That's Shanghai!
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