Visiting the Bund and the Luxury Train to Nanjing

We woke the next day (Friday) and lounged in our comfortable and spacious Marriott Executive Apartment at Tomorrow Square.  This building splits between the apartments and the J.W. Marriott (the J.W. is on the upper floors).  However, we were way up (about the 35^th floor) so we were plenty high. 

We stored our luggage and took a taxi to the center of the Bund, the most iconic area of Shanghai.  We walked along the river and took in the view to ultra-modern Pudong across the river.  We then walked the main stretch of the Bund admiring each historic building, most built by European powers as either banks or trading centers.  The buildings mostly dated from the 1920’s or 1930’s though a few were older.  The best part was the interior of a main bank which was an awesome mosaic ceiling of the zodiac and the top world financial centers of the time.  Unfortunately the guard there would allow no photos so I can’t share these with you.  

Squeezing in a taxi to the Shanghai Bund..  Taxi rates in China are very reasonable by U.S. standards.

Randy walks across from the Bund.  Note the white haze, which is the only color of sky we saw during daylight hours in Shanghai.

Nick and Tianqi take a selfie on the Bund looking towards the modern Pudong area

The Huangpu River and the Pudong area

Panoramic of the Shanghai Bund

Randy and Alice on the Bund with Pudong in the background and Nick and Alice with a Communist era statue below

 

The trio at the concrete boardwalk across from the Bund

An architectural detail from one of the Bund buildings from the first part of the 20th century

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A European type building behind the Bund

A wonderful Art Deco metal gate opens to a dirty garage area behind the Bund - an interesting combination of historic beauty with ugly modernity

 We had spotted a brewpub, The Bund Brewery, on our walk and circled around to it.  We settled down to some pre-lunch beers and snacks.  The beer (either light or dark) was very drinkable and the setting was pretty much classic brewpub.  Next we headed to a premier French restaurant on the Bund.  They could not take us as they said every table was booked.  Across the way, also on the Bund, was another recommended Western style restaurant – M on the Bund.  We were seated in a corner table with a great view of the river and the Bund and Pudong beyond.  The food was amazing – fresh, healthy and delicious (and expensive).  We really enjoyed this lunch.

The Bund Brewery - please much describes it

At the brewpub

The tasty light beer in the colorful glass

Nick tries the dark beer

A very good place to eat (but pricy) on the Bund

Nick and Alice on the balcony area of the M Restaurant

View of some of the iconic buildings of the Bund from the M balcony

The delicious juice concoction that started the healthy set meal wich Alice and Nick both had

The second course of the Healthy Menu was gazpacho

The main course of the Healthy Menu was a grilled fish.   The Healthy Menu finished with a sliced, peeled peach.

The group at the M Restaurant

The Chinese flag flies on the M Restaurant balcony.  We did not see that many flags on display in China.

We grabbed a taxi, picked up our luggage from the hotel and went to the train station for our 2:30 PM train to Nanjing.  Unfortunately, we went to the wrong train station.  But, the situation was saved (and even improved) as Tianqi traded in our other tickets for ones from this station on a 2:50 PM train.  The only seats left were business class, which were pricier but super comfortable.  So, it worked great.  The high speed train was smooth and we relaxed with the mostly rural scenery.

The crowded Shanghai Hongqiao rail station located next to the domestic air terminal

We were all relieved to get the train tickets straightened out

Randy and Alice get ready to go to Nanjing

We say goodbye to Shanghai as the train takes off.  The train hovers along the track making it super smooth.

Randy relaxes in the Business Class seats of this luxury car

A snack bag was passed out to each of us but the snacks did not look very appealing to us.  The newspaper is the big English language one for southern China.  Up north we read the China Times.

A view of rural China between Shanghai and Nanjing on this rainy afternoon.  Lots of farming and lush vegetation.

We arrived in a rain shower (it is the rainy season in China now) and Tianqi’s mom was waiting for us.  We split between her car and Tianqi’s dad’s car and went to the hotel – the Jingling in downtown Nanjing.  This is a highrise and a five star and recommended as the most comfortable hotel in Nanjing.  I had booked an executive room which was very large with walk in closet, walk in wet bar area and a living room area (although it was all one room – not a suite).  The Gao’s hosted us to a multi-course Chinese dinner at the hotel restaurant.  Some of the food (like pig feet) were not what we were used to (I passed on those) but it was interesting.  We then visited the Gao apartment for a little TV and conversation.  They live in a three bedroom (one bedroom now an office), two bathroom fourth floor apartment in a gated community.  The living and dining area were combined with a small balcony and the kitchen was a galley style just off the dining area.  It was furnished in the modern style.  Still massively jet lagged we headed back to our room at the Jingling leaving Nick to stay at the Gao’s (where he had visited since mid-May).  

The group at the Chinese restaurant of the Jinling Hotel in Nanjing included the Gao parents, Jun and Chunhua

Family Gao and Nick

The shrimp dish was very tasty and the broccoli yummy

Nick loves the Nanjing food and is adept at chopsticks

One of Nick's favorites - roasted pork fat - Randy and Alice passed on it

The elaborate river fish presentation

Nick enjoys local fruit at Casa Gao

Arrival in Shanghai

We arrived around 6 PM local time on July 4 to Pudong Airport in Shanghai on Thursday, July 3.  Pudong is a huge and modern international airport.  Going through customs and getting our luggage were a breeze and we met up with Nick and Tianqi outside the baggage claim area.  We found a good sized taxi and took the long trip (over an hour) to the downtown area where our hotel was located.  The traffic was good by Shanghai standards but it is a very big city and the main city area is far from Pudong Airport.  

Our hotel is the Marriott Tomorrow Square Executive Apartments.  It is an interesting set up.  A huge skyscraper (over 50 stories high) set in the upscale shopping and restaurant area, the lower 36 floors or so are these apartments and the upper twenty or so floors is the J.W. Marriott Hotel.  Both are very upscale properties and our two bedroom, two bath apartment on the 35^th floor is quite large with full kitchen and big living area.  The AC worked well which is good since it is hazy, smoggy, humid and quite warm here.  The internet is good too but China blocks Facebook, Blogger, Twitter among others.  It would be nice if they joined the 21^st century.

Nick and Tianqi looked well after six weeks of living at Casa Gao in Nanjing

Alice was happy to be reunited with her "baby" and to finally arrive in China after countless hours in the air

We walked to a nearby restaurant serving American / Continental food called Kathleen’s 5.  It is interesting because it occupies the top (5^th) floor of the 1930’s Shanghai Horse Racing Club building.  It was nice to be in a historic building from Shanghai’s glory days as an international trade center and the evening air was just right – not too hot and not too cold.  The food was expensive (as were the drinks) but it was tasty.  We relaxed and caught up after not seeing Nick and Tianqi for more than six weeks.

The weather was nice as we walked a block or two from the hotel to the restaurant

Our hotel - the Marriott Executive Apartments - were on the lower floors of this impressive building in the "Tomorrow Square" area of Shanghai while the J.W. Marriott occupies the higher floors

We enjoyed the al fresco dining and the view of Shanghai lit up during at Kathleen's 5.  Shanghai definitely looks better at night.

 

 

 

 

View of the venerable clock tower as seen from the rooftop terrace of the restaurant

We watched some live Wimbledon at the apartment while Nick and Tianqi ate their take out desert extravaganza.  They headed for bed and Randy and I stayed up a bit later due to the Jet Lag thing – worse for me than for Randy.  But we slept enough and are currently watching CNN and drinking coffee (Alice) and eating pop tarts from home (Randy).  We plan some sightseeing in Shanghai today before we take a mid-afternoon train to Nanjing, Tianqi’s home.  It is about two hours away.

Nick and Tianqi enjoyed a plateful of desserts from Kathleen's 5 which we brought back to the apartment

So far, the impression of Shanghai is that it is a truly international city with lots of money.  The area we are staying includes shops of pretty much every international high end luxury brand and all the world’s elite car shops (Lamborghini, Maserati, etc.).  The city here seems safe and orderly and clean (other than the crappy air pollution).  Our hotel’s bathrooms and beds were equivalent to those found in U.S. Marriotts.  Of course, we are paying plenty for it all too.

A view from the hotel apartment at night

A view from our apartment at the Marriott

Another view shows the short and tall of Shanghai

Note that this post and the following were quite delayed until I could figure out how to connect to Blogspot with the VPN.  Anything Google related (and Facebook and Twitter) are blocked in China.  Also, I will not be posting pictures until I get better connection to upload them.  

On the Way!

We are currently in the Seattle airport waiting to board our very long Delta flight to Shanghai.  Don't know what I will be doing for 12+ hours - catching up on a lot of movies I guess.  Hopefully Nick and Tianqi will be waiting for us when we arrive.  The plan is one night in Shanghai then an afternoon train to Nanjing where we will spend two nights.  The weather all over that part of China is supposed to be very rainy during the time we are there.  Maybe that will keep the heat down.  I am trying to be positive :-).  

I am not sure I will be able to Blog from China as I know they block some websites so if you don't find anything for a few weeks until we get to Hong Kong, that is why.  But I will do the Blog posts on Word and upload them whenever I am able to.

We were happy to share an Italian dinner with Alexander, Ash and Jackson last night to bulk up on carbs before we head to the land of no bread (China).  Also, had some wine as I understand that wine is not commonly found in China though beer abounds.  

 I don't know Good Bye in Chinese or any other word except Hello which is Ni Ha or something like that (Nick tells me that is actually two words!) - so Ni Hao China!

The mountains just east of Seattle as seen from our flight from Atlanta

A clear day enabled us to see Mount Rainier from the airport

Taking off for Shanghai gave us a great view of Seattle