Leaving Shanghai

Hi all and greetings from Beijing! I have finally arrived at my last destination before heading back to the US, the capital of China. I just arrived a couple of hours ago and I will hopefully get some good sleep tonight. The Forbidden City, Tiannanmen Square and many other things are out there waiting for us tomorrow.

The visit to Shanghai is over. It's been short but intense. We have spent two and a half days walking around.. I feel like we did not need much more time there. I have kind of liked it but my expectations have not been met, though.

Our hotel was pretty well located, near "The Bund", the "golden mile" where many luxury boutiques, fancy restaurants and trendy clubs are located. Right by the river and in front of Pudong, the rather new district where many companies are headquartered in Shanghai. We were also rather close to Nanjing Road, the main shopping street in town. A good hotel at a more than reasonable fare...better than HK!

On the day we arrived we just went out to Attica, a club by the river that we have been recommended. It was ok but nothing great. The high point of the night was running into Sir Richard Branson! We wanted to take a picture with him and eventually ask him for a job but he was enjoying the aprty with a couple of girls. He seems to be such a great guy. I recommend you his biography, called "Losing my virginity".

The day after we basically visited the Old City, including the Yu Gardens, City God Temple and some other traditional venues. The Old City is rather curious, surrounded by walls, without traffic allowed in and full with stores (both multinationals and locals selling souvenirs) and "independent salepeople" selling "watches, purses, shoes" (sic) to every westerner. Quite hilarious. We had a not very good lunch at an amazing place. It was kind of a self service with dozens of types of Chinese food. Our choices were not the best, unfortunately. But I enjoyed the experience and laughed at the waitresses' small talk about us, haha. It's amazing how Chinese people stare at foreigners.

After the Old City we walked on Huahai road to the French Concession, another must-see in town. Quite disappointing. It somehow reminded me of the NY village, full of small buildings and clothing stores. But, that was pretty much it. After that we went out for dinner to "M" with three girl friends from Stern who had also traveled to Shanghai after spending a couple of weeks in HK with us. A great dinner at one of the best restaurants in town. 60 bucks a piece, expensive but affordable. Now I have and idea of how well must expats live in Shanghai if this is the priciest stuff you can find...

Our second day was more relaxed. A long walk including the People's Square and a couple of temples and some low-profile shopping at local markets. At least I bought the first season of "Californication" (Showtime's new show starring David Duchovny) and the first four seasons of "Entourage". 25 bucks for the whole thing...and with an amazing packaging. And surprisingly, the discs work!! Oh, and we finally found "Superbad" and watched it straight away. It was good fun but after so much buzz about it I was a little disappointed. But "McLovin" is hilarious!!

Before leaving today we had dinner with a friend from high school of my travel mate's and her boyfriend. They had not seen each other for 12 years and it was quite funny to see how they first did not recognize each other. The dinner was amazing (the best food so far in China!) and we also got some insights about how expats leave in Shanghai.

Anyway, as I have said before, Shanghai has been ok but I expected a little more. I expected more cosmopolitan stuff, more venues to be seen, more vibe... A good experience but I am definitely looking forward to seeing what the traditional China that we will face tomorrow in Beijing will bring to us.

Ciao