My parents’ visit is coming to an end, and they will shortly fly off from Shanghai Pudong Airport back to the US (via Seoul), and Siqi and I will return to our home and respective offices Hangzhou. But we have time to see a few more sights before we part.
See below for photos of The Bund and Yu Old Street (including some from 2010!), plus a couple of Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, where Siqi and I caught the train back to Hangzhou.
The Bund
No trip to Shanghai is complete without a visit to The Bund (the river bank promenade where all the, uh, banks are). The changes on the far bank that have taken place over the last three or four decades are nothing short of breathtaking, and serve to represent what’s happened all over China: development that happened over centuries in the West was unbelievably accelerated here.This is Gutzlaff Signal Tower, whose purpose was to warn ships on the Huangpu River about typhoons. Lighthouses and chiming municipal clock towers already seem silly to me… imagine what Gen Alpha and Gen Beta will think of such analog communication methods.We didn’t do it this time, but someday I’d like to go up in the Pearl Tower. For longer than the 2007 “bottle opener” building, and certainly longer than that newer taller tower (which is called, unimaginatively, Shanghai Tower), the 1994 Oriental Pearl Tower has symbolized Shanghai. I figure it probably jumped the shark years ago, but surely it now has some whimsical retro charm?My dad was amused by the giant inflatable floating duck.Siqi is being Sleeping Beauty, pricking his finger on the spindle. (Either that or my right arm is realllly long.)Here we all are! (We didn’t stay long on the Bund. It was too hot.)
Yu Old Street
Gates are important symbols. They show that You Are Entering Some Specific Place, even when they serve only to decorate rather than to control entry.Old Phoenix Jewelry. (Not that old, by Chinese standards… only been around since 1848.)There are no cars, but we waited for the pedestrian light anyway (???).See, both streets are currently pedestrianized.Shops all piled up together. Some old Chinese businesses, like a place selling scissors since 1628, and some new foreign ones, like KFC and Dairy Queen.Decorations. They must look cool at night when the lights are on!Pointy roof corners.Just about lunch time, we went upstairs into this noodle shop. When we sat down, it started to rain furiously outside. When we had finished eating, the downpour had already stopped. Perfect timing!Now we’re back at the gate of Yu Old Street, trying to catch a taxi. I’m fond of the building on the left with the crown of leaf shapes. (Apparently it’s called The Bund Center and was finished in 2002.)
DEJA VU!
I’ve been to the Bund and Yu Old Street before… Here are five then-and-now photo pairs.
Spot the differences! One is pretty obvious…I wonder how often they repaint the gate? Might be time to do it again.Same phoenix brand!Same narrow shopping street!Same pair of buildings!
Goodbye (until next time)!
Siqi and I arranged a ride to the airport for my parents, and got in a taxi ourselves, to go to the train station and return home.
Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station is just beside Shanghai Hongqiao Airport on the west side of Shanghai. This is where the trains from Hangzhou wind up. So if you want to get to the much larger Shanghai Pudong International Airport, you still have to cross Shanghai.Interior of the railway station. Huge place!
