Scenes from Shanghai

(Click on any image for a larger version)

Here you see the three tallest buildings in Shanghai, not counting the Jetsons-style Oriental Pearl Tower. To the left is the Shanghai World Financial Center; in the middle is the Jinmao Tower, wherein the Grand Hyatt (highly recommended—be sure to request a river view) is located. These two stand a full head above the other buildings of the city—except for the Shanghai Tower (the shadowy shape to the right), still under construction, which towers over them in its turn.

The view from our hotel room.

Conversely, the wall over the bed was inscribed with this nice bit of calligraphy. Mrs. Gorodish and I puzzled over this, and could make out some of the characters, but no, I can't tell you what it says.

The hotel rules, as displayed on the TV screen. I like to think that every rule exists in response to an actual incident, such as the rule against domestic animals or radioactive materials. It's the romantic in me, I guess.

At breakfast one morning we met a Russian gentleman who had lived in China for twenty years. He expressed some surprise that we had Shanghai to visit, because "there is nothing here"—by which I think he meant it has nothing like the Forbidden City, but I was quite interested in what we found. One area not to be missed is the Old City. I liked this because it was the most unlike anything I had seen before.

One of the more picturesque streets:

A wall:

The Chénxiānggé Nunnery is quite picturesque (as are the nuns):

Then there is the Temple of the City Gods. I found it interesting that apparently the City Gods are a multiracial group:

Architectural detail from the temple roof:

The prize for most interesting City God goes to this fellow, who for some reason reminds me of a scene from the movie Pan's Labyrinth.

A large portion of the Old City is given over to a large shopping area, built in very solid and detailed faux-historic style. It is a favorite spot for both Chinese and foreign tourists to pick up souvenirs.

The cheerful guy in the photo is yours truly. The woman on the right is in the midst of a vigorous sales pitch for something that was never clearly specified.

More scenes from the arcade:

Random street scene:

I was amused to see that YOLO is apparently the name of a manufacturer of electric appliances:

A second area of interest in Shanghai is the Bund, a zone of historic Victorian buildings built by various Europeans when they set up shop in Shanghai.

Various skyline views:

The smog on our first day in town. It was not always as bad as this. We suffered no ill effects.