silk | Laura's Blog

July 15, 2013

Shanghai

Our two days in Shanghai went by far too fast.
On the first day I woke up around 5am partly because I went to bed so early and partly due to jet lag. After laying around in bed for what seemed like ages, I finally got sick of playing solitair and got up to start the day. Breakfast was held on the eighth floor of the hotel in a beautiful dining room that branched off of the ballroom. Me and Abby ended up sitting with a lovely little couple from the States (it’s normal to mainly see older couples or alumni groups on these small cruises like Gohagan.) It turns out they were also on the Gohagan tour and we made small talk while we muched on our delicious buffet breakfast. I must say, the Chinese don’t really have breakfast food. There was eggroles, cooked fish and pork, fried noodles and also some pancakes, eggs, and bacon to cater to the Americans, I’m sure. After breakfast Grandma, Grandpa and I went to a little factual lecture about the history of the Fairmont Peace Hotel but ended up ducking out early. One of the little facts I caught, though, was that the hotel used to be a mall, and restaurant, and a hotel back in the early 1900s.
Anyways, in preparation for our tour that day all the Clarks met up with our personal tour guide-a very nice man named Shen- in the lobby around 9. We boarded our bus and headed off for a part of Shanghai called the French Corridor.

Before I go any further, I have to say Shanghai is unlike any other city I have ever been in. Here are a few key aspects just to get an idea of what it’s like. Shanghai is the business capital of China. Hence, the factories are numerous and the apartment complexes are even more so, with more being built every day. It truly seemed to be an ever expanding city, yet there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of space. Surprisingly, everywhere we looked there were mini forests and trees and small fields. Furthermore, it takes two and a half hours just to drive from one side of the city to the other. The time it takes to drive across minneapolis is less than half of that. As for pollution, it doesn’t seem that bad. Although the newspapers proclaim it as a huge threat, which I don’t dount, it’s just that I pictured it to be far worse that it actually was. No gas masks for us (although there were luxury gas masks in the closet of our hotel room for us to use. They came in a velvet bag and everything.)

Also, I later learned that Shanghai is roughly split up geographically based on nationality. Shanghai, being the massively huge city that it is, can allow for ghettos, of sorts, to form. There’s the French section, the American, the Chinese, the Japanese, and I’m sure many more.

Anyways, driving through the tree lined French corridor was beautiful. We only drove about 15 minutes before we stopped at the Yuyuan gardens. Yuyuan gardens is an absolutely beautiful little pocket of old Chinese culture surrounded by the bustling city. I swear, stepping into those gardens was like stepping out of Shanghai and into a completely new atmosphere. It was all natural, with trees and ancient structures that featured dragons, unique architecture and different shaped doorways. (Its actually a trademark of Chinese design that no two doorways are the same shape.) We spent an hour or so in the serene gardens taking pictures and really enjoying our first taste of old Chinese culture. After the gardens, we went to a place called the Old Chinese Corridor. Its basically a big outdoor shopping center or market that is absolutely overflowing with activity. The best part was that, like the gardens, it also featured traditional Chinese architecture. There was nothing modern about this place, except for a few chain boutiques like Starbucks. There wasn’t much for us there so we only made a few stops, but we enjoyed walking through the winding and endless streets of cheap souvenir stores, small curbside restaurants and the occasional jade or jewelry store.

Shen eventually led us to a little silk shop in the basement of a building. Here we got to see the process of making silk garments; from the single threads of silk to blankets and scarves and comforters. A raw silk blanket, not woven or anything, is one of the most heavenly things I have ever laid my fingers upon. It was glorious. There was a nice store down there in that silk shop basement so the whole family loaded up on silk scarves and blankets and boxers. It was a really fun experience. After we left the little shop, silk souvenirs in hand, we made our way back to the Clark Coach and eventually back to the hotel.

Me and Abby ended up eating lunch in a little café at the Fairmont with an Australian couple who said they had been traveling around the world for 7 weeks. They were adorable. We also planned on going to a little cocktail party on the roof, but when the time came we were all snoozing. Oops.

After that it was a bubble bath and bedtime.