Davis in China: Shanghai

Last month my Dad came to China to visit me. I took two weeks off work so we could travel around eastern China together. Computer troubles kept me from publishing this post sooner, but without further adieu, here is China's greatest city:

SHANGHAI

The Shanghai skyline as seen from the top of the Jin Mao tower, the fifth tallest building in the world (second tallest in Shanghai).

Shanghai is the largest, wealthiest, and most international city in mainland China. There are many foreigners living in Shanghai, so English is much more widely understood here that in Xi'an. The local Shanghainese dialect is in the Wu family of languages and is mutually unintelligible with Mandarin Chinese. Shanghai people have an air of superiority over other Chinese people due to their city's prosperity. They view Chinese from outside the city as backward farmers. Being unable to speak Shanghainese is the easiest giveaway that you are an outsider (unless of course you dress like a backwards farmer or aren't ethnically Chinese).

Shanghai's Tallest buildings: Jin Mao (L) and Shanghai World Financial Center (R)

Currently under construction is the Shanghai Tower, which will be the world's second tallest building

Looking down the inside of the Jin Mao tower. The building is 88 stories, and I think you can see 30 of them here.

Shanghai's Pudong financial center skyline. 20 years ago that side of the river was just muddy fields.

Looking north along 'The Bund' where many of Shanghai's colonial architecture resides

Looking south along The Bund. The clocktower is the world's second largest (after Big Ben)

Nanjing Dong Lu, the most famous pedestrian street in Shanghai

Nanjing Dong Lu at night

YU GARDEN

The Yu Yuan Garden of Old Shanghai is the best surviving example Chinese imperial wealth in the city. It was built during the Ming dynasty in the 16th century by a bureaucrat of the imperial court and governor of Sichuan province. He built the lavish 5 acre estate for his father. At the time of its completion, it was the largest and most prestigious private estate in Shanghai.

The Yu Gardens served as the British headquarters during the First Opium War and as the Small Sword Society's headquarters during the Taiping Rebellion. The estate was badly damaged by the Japanese during WWII.

The winding and crowded path to the Yu Garden

There are many Yu (fish) in the Yu (happiness) garden

The porous stone in the center is highly valued in Chinese culture

XINTIANDI -- THE FRENCH CONCESSION

For a country that was 'never colonized by the western powers', there sure are a lot of colonial relics left behind from the west. In the nineteenth century, China was forced to open its ports to the western powers after a series of wars and 'unequal treaties'. In cities along China's coast, and Shanghai in particular, western countries carved out 'concessions'--in essence, neighborhood sized colonies. The largest of Shanghai's concessions is Xintiandi, the french concession. During the colonial era, the concessions famously posted signs "NO DOGS OR CHINESE ALLOWED". This humiliation is not forgotten by the people of Shanghai, however, the high end shops that now populate Xintiandi maintain an exclusivity in the french concession not unlike that of the colonial era.

...another expensive restaurant

Xintiandi attracts many foreigners, many of whom may be french

Din Tai Fung...best Tang Bao (soup dumplings) in the French Concession

Dad had his first authentic Tang Bao. I think he liked it.

ZHUJIAJIAO WATER TOWN

On the outskirts of Shanghai municipality the massive industrial zones and residential subdivisions give way to rice paddies and ancient settlements. Among these settlements is Zhujiajiao, famous for its canal dominated infrastructure. Although the tourism industry has hijacked the economy of Zhujiajiao, the village still offers a lens into Chinese life pre-Deng Xiaoping.