Expo 2010

Expo 2010 is a big thing for Shanghai. All construction projects are going full tilt to complete the work in time. Jackhammers and other construction equipment can be heard late into the night, even on weekends. It's no surprise the city is so focussed on meeting their deadline with Haibao (the official Expo mascot, pronounced High-Bow with the ow sounding like wow) everywhere to remind them of what is coming.

They even set up a bunch of timers to press the urgency of the coming expo
Haibao can be seen here in his traditional form:
There are hundreds of these types of sculptures around town at office buildings, malls, hotels and other attractions.
Haibao even grew out of these bushes here
And here he is inside the urban planning exhibition hall
He even takes precedence over some of the Buddha's in this temple
Needless to say the cute little Haibao is easy on the eye and I got attached to the blue creature enough to get my own souvenir keychain and one of the plush dolls.

Back to Old Town

I have to admit that after almost 3 weeks in Shanghai, I've pretty much seen all of the sights I wanted to see and then some. I've also shopped enough to empty my wallet twice over and any future shopping trips are becoming dangerous since everything here looks so good and is so cheap (if you haggle for it), my sense of restraint is definitively being challenged!

So today, I went back to Old Town and the Yuyuan Bazaar.
I never get tired of the contrast between traditional chinese architecture and the modern skyscrapers in the background.
I wanted to pick up a few items that we weren't sure about the first time we visited and there was also some wandering around that I wanted to get done without the weekend crowds in the way.
I went up and down Old Street and saw this delivery bike for McDonald's.
I visited a few of the stores with knick knacks, chinese arts and crafts as well as other interesting items.
I came across this temple of the town Gods.
Apparently, it is common in China to have a designated God to oversee the town's resident's health and prosperity. Shanghai's God is Qin Yu-Bo (jinshi in Zhizheng period) from the Yuan dynasty. I think this is his statue.
Also in the Temple of the town Gods, I saw these Gods of the Sexagenery Cycle to Safeguard one's health and well-being.

There are a lot of these Sexagenery Gods so I guess you can pick your favorite one to ensure your health and well-being. My favorite one was this one.
I know that my rabbit loving readers would pick this one for their worships.
I like the lions protecting buildings and businesses in China. This cute fellow was protecting the worship hall.
While I was at the temple, I was lucky enough to witness a musical service. It felt a bit noisy and out of tempo by western standards but it was very interesting.
I think I also saw the Buddhist equivalent of Cupid in this room.
Just outside the temple, I found this interesting square where a few folks were resting and some ladies practicing their dance moves. Cool!
I also saw these crabs on a stick, deep fried. Alex told me they weren't safe to eat and after last week's experience, I am definitively not as bold as I was to try "unsafe" foods, otherwise I would have tried it, looked crispy and delicious!
On my way back to Nanjing road where I was to meet Alex for dinner, I stumbled upon this park/garden. I swear I didn't look it up. I couldn't resist to go in for a short walk and some r&r. I got another rockstar picture taken with some chinese youths. I love this country :)

The garden features all the traditional elements with some water works
Some nice gardens with flowers and tress
And some walking paths
There's even some kind of tea shop / observations deck where you can look at the construction of what I think is an expo 2010 site
There's also this bamboo forest that was interesting, it's the first one of its kind that I noticed
I also saw some of Shanghai's feline population enjoying a nap in a comfortable looking spot
After that it was back to Nanjing road to meet up with Alex. Only thing is that he was delayed at work, so I had time to kill. I walked around a bit and listened to this balcony saxophone player for a bit
Then, I got a tea and sat down to watch the wildlife. And let me tell you, Nanjing road is a perfect place to watch Shanghai's busy residents, visitors and hawkers interact with each other. In the half hour I was sitting down, I was offered every type of good and services except maybe for insurance. Chinese people seem to see a foreign visitor sitting on a bench alone as an opportunity to a) sell you something or b) get to know you better (while maybe having ulterior motives of selling you something?). I had girls approach me to go for a beer (suspicious if you ask me!). I had the same laser guy come by half a dozen time to show me how powerful his laser was and why wouldn't I buy a bundle off him? One of the "come to my market for watches, bags and DVDs" guy sat beside me and told me his whole life story. He's from Hangzhou (1 hour train away) where he has a little girl that does really well in school and he comes to Shanghai for the tourists. He couldn't believe I didn't want any of his goods or services (don't ask what kind!!).

If you are looking for luxury, vices or a good time, Nanjing road is a good place to start. And for anyone that is new here, those guys are not being helpful warning you of pickpockets by telling you to watch your bags. They are offering to sell you watches and bags. Took me a while to figure it out 8)

When Alex got here we found an off the main road place for dinner and had a pretty decent if a bit spicy dinner.
Check out this massive bowl of hot and sour soup, enough for a whole dinner party.
Tomorrow is my last full day in Shanghai. I'm not quite sure what to do of it yet. I booked a trip on Friday to Suzhou (a water town 1 hour away) and Saturday is our travel day to Xi'an. We decided on flying since we found this website ctrip.com selling air tickets for less than $100. It takes less than 2 hour in a plane as opposed to about 14 hour on a train. Even if we get to see less of the country side, it will be easier to coordinate. Plus we get to see and ride the Maglev train if I can convince Alex that we can manage all the luggage in the subway.

Maple Street

Just a block away from the hotel here in Pudong is Maple Street.
One interesting tenant of Maple Street is Dream Home Canada.
I understand that they are here to showcase Canadian building techniques to Chinese so they can benefit from our experience building wooden houses. They have setup some model homes as well.
The maple trees here in China have much bigger leaves than their cousins in Canada. Look at this leaf next to my foot.

Hangzhou part 2

On Sunday, we got up somewhat early (we are on vacation after all!) to head off and have a nice walk around the west lake in Hangzhou.

The area is very tourist friendly and features beautiful sights in every direction. There's gardens everywhere
The obvious attraction of the lake itself
The architecture is traditional style chinese
With some exceptions
Even the boats are scenic
Not to worry if you get hungry or thirsty along the way, there are plenty of options for a pit stop, from the more formal restaurants and tea houses
to friendly little stalls with drinks and snacks
A series of causeways have been built to better admire the beauty of the lake
And a bunch of scenic crossings
Rest areas are easily available
And there are beautifully kept gardens all around the lake
As well as this pond full of giant red fish
Some statues as well to commemorate important Chinese figures
And even a turtle lake
There is attention to detail everywhere with beautiful carvings
Overlooking the lake is this temple/observatory topped with a golden spire
Some more pictures of the lakeAnd this one at a nice garden
On the way back to downtown from the lake, we saw a few nice properties. It seemed to be no admittance so I assume they are either reserved for private functions or cottages for the ultra rich.

Hangzhou was definitively a bit more difficult to navigate than Shanghai with signs very often having no picture explanation or English subtext.
We took one last look at the lake before heading out for dinner
Dinner was difficult with the city being so busy with the tourists hanging around after the fireworks from last night. Our first choice restaurant made us wait for over half an hour until we gave up (we had a train to catch after all!) and found one tucked away in a more residential neighbourhood. It was much cheaper than our first choice anyways and most probably just as delicious

Shrimps with walnuts
Tender beef and vegetables
Delicious eggplant
And this cut up green veggie (bokchoy?)
On the way to the train station (on foot tonight!) we stumbled upon this night market offering anything from electronics to DVD/CDs, foods, clothing, underwear, handbags and watches.
We also saw that Shanghai doesn't have a monopoly on buildings with science fiction lights
At the train station, this little stall had everything for the weary traveller. Look at this double fried sandwich, looks delicious!