Old meets New

Shanghai like Beijing has the old areas and the new, however most in China believe Shanghai is the modern city of China.  Having now been to Beijing as well I would agree that this is correct.  Shanghai feels more modern, it looks more modern and I believe the people here like not only the influence of the western culture but they want it.

The buildings have to be seen to believed.  The tallest here in Shanghai which was, as was the case with the Taipei 101 building, once the tallest in the world stands at 101 floors.  It looks like a bottle opener, it is build with a huge square cut out along the top floors so that the wind can pass through the building and ensure it does not sway.

We went out and had the most amazing dinner last night, my vegan and animal loving friends may want to skip this post, but I tried bullfrog and it was delicious.  We had duck in the tradition of the Peking duck, pork, many vegetables, which are always beyond delicious and as usual the meal ended up costing around $15 a head.  Never would you find a feast like we ate for the money in Australia.

We then headed out to the river to look over at the ‘Modern’ Shanghai this is where the TV tower (very space aged looking building) and the big bottle opener are.  Many visitors come to this river every night and do the sightseeing thing.  It is called the Bund area and as with Australia it basically is a bund for the river to ensure it doesn’t overflow.

We also visited a memorial, which we interpreted to be for all the fallen men, it was in the shape of three rifles leaning on each other and stood at least 20 floors in the air, it was really beautiful.

As usual we walked and walked and walked, Shanghai is easy to get around, the back streets are not at all what you would call dingy or have you worried who you will meet.  I have always felt safe here in this city, a city I am growing to love as much as Beijing.