Hey Hey and a Big G'Day Toya
 
After a noisey night and bugger all sleep I rose around half eight and sat with my three in one coffee and located where we were in Shanghai. I had my LP map from about four years ago and the hostel card that had three streets on it. I found out that we were just around the corner from the corner from Renmin Gongyuan and the Peoples Square. A very cool location indeed. We are staying in the Summer Hostel on Yongshou Road which is about twenty meters from Yan'an Donglu which is a huge main artery in shanghai. Just up from where we are is the corner of Xizand Lu and Yan'an Donglu.
 
Head down Xizand Lu and around five to ten minutes later you will find the world famous Nanjing Lu.
 
After meeting up with Daniel and Alexa we decided to begin our walking day at the Peoples Square. We were all hungry so we joined the thousands heading down Xizand Lu and entered a huge department store to find some food. We filled ourselves on breads from a bakery and went from floor to floor looking at strange foreign things we hadn't seen for a long time. After leaving we made our way to Nanjing Road.
 
What else can I say mate, too many department stores and too many people. Of course I was amazed at everything in my view but from first glance I doubt that I would want to be in this area more than several times. Once during the day and once at night to see all the neons and then just a quick passing through..
 
I'm sure that walking this crazy road at night time would be an amazing and colourful experience.
 
Nanjing Road is about one and a half kilometres of neons, people and department stores. I had seen pictures and some film of this street but it really didn't prepare me for the actual experience of walking down it. I've been to a lot of cities in the world and in China and they are all crowded, but this street is actually like walking amongst the cities entire population on the one street.
 
Stoopid Stoopid Crazi Stoopid!
 
There is one thing that is does have going for it and that is the fact that one side of it is for walking one way and the other side is for walking the other way. There is a small amount of people who spend their time fighting the on coming crowds. They are either oblivious to the fact that there actually is some structure going on or they are just plain stupid! Nanjing Road is actually a very long road. I guess most would probably think that it is only the pedestrian section but the fact is it is much longer than that. It runs from Huangpu River all the way to the Jing'an Temple where it turns into Yu Yuan Road. The crowds really only gather in the pedistrian only section between Zizang Lu (near the Peoples Square) and He Nan Road (down towards the river). Anywhere else is pretty much comfortable to walk.
 
How do I know this?
I took my sandals for a walk along the entire road all the way to the Changnng District.
I know, Stoopid Stoopid, Crazi Stoopid Walking Boy!
 
After entering Nanjing Road we decided it was time for a beer and coffee. We found a little side street not far from the beginning of the road. Here we found a group of shops offering cold beer, coffee and western food. It was time for western food and beer and....oh my gawd! They all had real salad. It was time for a salad. We decided on a cafe called Jamica Blue and I ordered the chicken salad. The first real salad I had had in nearly two and a half years a it was totally the most delicious thing I had tasted for some time   Along with my salad I ordered a capachinno and a tiger beer.
 
But to have 'real' things like a real salad and a real coffee one must be prepared to pay the price.
These babies cost me around 100 Yuan which is more than I spend on food in a week in Shaowu. Unbelievable!
You can't take it with you and I am in Shanghai.  
 
The street we chose seemed very popular with foreigners and every one of them had a lovely Chinese girl in hand. Sadly I didn't so it was a bugger for me. I guess that's the down side to living in a small mountain city. After lunch we continued our battle down Nanjing Road. We finally made it to the end and across from us was The Bund area.
 
The Bund area of Shanghai is just as crowded as Nanjing Road. Thousands upon thousands of people line the river bank trying to find a spot to take photos of the Pudong area across the water. At one stage in Shanghai's past, this area was just like Wall Street. Alot of money changed hands, smiles came and went in tears and I'm sure in this town many years ago lives came and went to. The architecture was pretty much like a movie set in either New York or London. If one was drunk enough I'm sure one would have no bloody idea where they were.
 
The term 'The Bund' is actually a western term meaing an 'embankment of a muddy waterfront'.
This Bund is muddy no longer!
 
Using the underpass was an insane experience. So many people trying to enter and exit such a tiny place. Stoopid Stoopid, Crazi Stoopid! Once at the water front I joined the thousands fighting for a spot to capture views of the Jetsons like world across the river.
 
Across the river Huangpu Jiang was Pudong.
 
When this area first comes into fiew it is hard to believe that around fifteen years prior it was a huge vegetable patch that supplied Shanghai with green leafy vegetables. Now like Shenzen and Hongkong it is another of China's 'Special Economic Zones'. In fact China wants Shanghai to surpass Hong Kong economicly as soon as possible and I'm sure it is doing a great job at it too.
 
We decided against heading across to Pudong today as we were leaving Shanghai from the Pudong International Airport so we decided on a river cruise instead where we were sure to get the best views of both the Bund Area and the Pudong Area. From what I can gather there are several companies offering cruises. All offer different comforts and prices but our decision was made pretty easily. The fact that there was a ticket booth right next to us as we were walking sold us all. The ticket booth is right on The Bund across from Nanjing Road. Take the underpass (if you dare!) and as you exit it it will be right in front of you. The cheapy costs 40 Yuan for a one hour cruise. A bus will collect you out front of the ticket booth and take you across the Walbaiou Bridge. From there it's a thirty minute cruise down river to the Nanpu Bridge and then a thirty minute cruise back. Simply grab a seat on the side of the boat and watch one side one way and the other side on the return.
 
After the river cruise we headed back to our hostel for a rest and for an hour or twos sleep.
 
Around seven or so we decided to head over towards the Bar Area which is south west of where we were staying. The main reason for finding a bar was for the big screen to watch the soccer (yeah yeah I know, It's Footbally! Australia its own footy so it's Soccer!). Daniels a big fan of 'footy' and I'm a big fan of beer. On the way we dropped into Judy Q's for dinner. Another expensive choice but hey, we were in Shanghai! I had the Tom Yum soup which is my most favourite soup in the world and this one was close to being one of the best Tom Yums ever.
 
Along with my soup I had a huge mug of Tiger Beer. Lurve Tiger draught on tap. Awesome!
 
We then continued walking down Huaihai Zhonglu over Chongqing Nanlu, Ruijin Erlu and finally made it to Shanghai's Bar District. The bar area runs down Huaihai Zhonglu. First stop was at Oscars Irish Pub. And how good was it to have a pint of cold Guiness, in a Guiness glass and poured from a frosty Guiness tap. Oh the things you miss..like Friday night Happy Hours at PJ O'Briens at Melbournes 'South Gate'. After a few New Castle Browns we moved onto the British Bull Dog as Oscars big screen was buggered. The British Bull Dog was another cool environment. Where Oscars was brightly lit 'The Dog' was dark, but the beer was cold and just as expensive. The big screen was big and the footy was on.
 
There was only one problem!
 
The problem was the match Daniel wanted to watch was actually on the night before. Argh China! It reminded me so much of when I missed one of Australias matches in the World Cup when I was living in Tianyang. Some one told me it was on at 12 o'clock Sunday night. So I turned up at 12 o'clock Sunday night. What they really meant was 12:01am Sunday morning. So I too was a day late. It was a great night/mornng and the only reason it ended was the fact that Daniel walked past a window at the end of the bar and noticed that it was full light outside. The owner of the pub noticed the same thing and we all decided it was time to go home.
 
We grabbed a cab and somehow we ended up at a noodle bar.
We both actually don't remember walking there.
We got out of the cab at the hostel and I'm buggered if I remember walking to get noodles.
Shanghai mate, it does strange things to your mind!
 
Beers N Noodles to ya...shane
 
The soundtrack to this entry was the George Thorogood anthology
No comments needed for this guy. If you don't know him or don't have anything by him put your sandals on and head to the cd shop. If you have his stuff, don't you think its time you put some on.