Asia Holiday 2014, August 12 (The Pearl)

I fashioned a quick breakfast out of leftover fruit and bakery items from Beijing, then headed down to reception to book train tickets for a day trip to Hangzhou tomorrow. I asked about tickets for some Shanghai soccer matches as well, but the responses of "foot...ball ?" and "sock...er ?" weren't so encouraging, so I promptly gave up on that.

With that taken care of I took the train down to People's Square. The subway came out in the middle of People's Park, where I walked around and can confirm that it was a park with people in it. There was a pretty cool looking Shanghai Grand Theatre just outside the park, and across the road was the actual People's Square, which I think had the Shanghai Museum.

The best I could come up with at People's Park.

The Grand Theatre.

Yesterday I walked along Nanjing West Road, so today I tried Nanjing East Road pedestrian street. It was better in the sense there was no traffic, but all the good shopping seemed to have been left over on the west side. The road ends at the Hangpu River - the area is known as The Bund which is a Persian word if Wikipedia is to be believed. It started raining just as I arrived, so I had to try an juggle an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other to take photos, not easy but somehow I manage - and the umbrella worked. There were a number of interesting looking buildings across the river, including the Jinmao Tower, Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Shanghai World Financial Centre Tower.

A poor man's Nanjing West Road.

Pudong New Area.

Pudong New Area in the rain.

One good photo without an umbrella creeping into the shot - not my umbrella at least...

The Bund.

I went to the north end of The Bund and reached the Monument To The People's Heroes, but my shoes and socks were already starting to get damp and I didn't want to get blisters like on my previous trip, so I jumped back on the train to get out the rain. Since it was getting towards lunch time I chose a shopping mall called Thumb Plaza - as it was a fair distance away I hoped the rain might have stopped by the time I got there, and I also thought it might be an outlet mall of some sort. The plaza was pretty empty, there was a kind of sports mall where a number of brands each had a miniature store with various discounts, but I did not come across anything worthwhile - although a pair of dry socks probably would have been a great idea. I took a break for lunch and then got the train back to The Bund as the rain had cleared up.

Obelisk Of Light.

Next I went south along The Bund, past the Customs House and various other expensive old buildings that I don't know the names of. Not far away was Yuyuan Bazaar. I had to walk through a small garden that I thought was Yuyuan Gardens, but turns it is was just a small garden... The bazaar is like a market for anyone unfamiliar with the word, pretty busy with lots of small shops like you'd expect in a market, I even found a place selling magnets. There was a big line to get take away steamed buns from one store. I think the store is famous for their buns, but they had a window where you could see them being made and they didn't look any different to the buns you see on every street corner and in every convenience store - I would have bought some but they never have English descriptions for what is inside each bun.

Every financial district needs one of these.

Not Yuyuan Gardens.

Yuyuan Bazaar.

It was only 3pm but my feet were already hurting again, it seems like each day I can last a little bit less than the previous day, so I took the train over to the China Art Museum and had a break for half an hour next to the Mercedes-Benz Arena and Hangpu River - the arena looks pretty futuristic but apparently there are no sports played there, only occasional concerts and a preseason NBA game in October, I was a couple of months too early for that one.

Mercedes-Benz Arena.

It wasn't until I started back to the train station that I realised how cool the China Art Museum looked. There was also a River Mall across the street so I took a look inside. It was a flashy and brand new mall, a few water features, but no people. I think the location was bad and it was full of high end stores, so I don't think it will survive.

China Art Museum.

The only worthwhile stop at the mall.

I was planning to stop at Middle Huaihai Road next, but my feed had done enough, so I went in search of dinner instead. I found this nice place where I was able to get something like a vegetable curry and a banana milk drink, the curry was good but the drink was a bit sad.

CoCo Chibanya Curry.