Shanghai is a two hour plane ride east and south of Beijing.  It sits on the Huangpu River, and is only about 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean.  According to 2011 statistics, it’s the largest city in China with an actual city population of more than 16 million.  So, it’s coastal and it’s COLOSSAL and… it’s really a neat city.  I was so surprised by this.  While I knew, intellectually, that it’s a huge modern metropolis… somehow the image I had in my mind of Shanghai was of a curious, odd, dark harbor town with garish shopping in seedy neighborhoods (no idea why; something I read once??).  But it’s not like this all.  At least the Shanghai we saw is not.  As cities go, it’s really quite pretty.  The 25 minute ride to our hotel was a little overwhelming with row after row after row (after row after row after row) of 20 and 30-story apartment buildings stretching for miles in every direction… but once we arrived downtown, there really was sunshine glinting off gigunda metal and glass skyscrapers, plus an ocean breezy, sprawling city-with-a-history feel.  It felt like we’d landed in an asian fusion version of San Francisco and Paris.  I was immediately happy.

Because it was occupied territory for so many years, you can see and feel the colonial French and British influence everywhere.  Gorgeous buildings the likes of which they just don’t build any more…  plus flower boxes, ornate metal railings, street cars, detailed brickwork, sidewalk flower vendors (never see these in Beijing), some art deco … and a more touristy feel, adding to the whole San Francisco kind of city feeling.  We stayed on the “old” side of Shanghai, in the oldest (western) hotel in China: the Astor House Hotel which is about 160 years old.  No pool for the kids, and we had to get two rooms to accomodate the four of us, but what a neat, neat place… with nooks and crannies, long fancy corridors, highly polished, wide plank wood floors (three cheers for uncarpeted hotels),  lots of blue and white china pots with purple orchids, and a decent breakfast buffet in the beautiful Peacock Ballroom…  It was also a quick walk over the wooden sidewalk of the Garden Bridge to get to the Bund, Shanghai’s famous touristy walk along the river.  We took this walk several times…

On Thursday eve we took an obligatory (and chilly) Huangpu River cruise, watching the lights come up on both sides of the river… the east side a wall of modern skyscrapers, some with bizarre light displays 50 stories tall… the west side more like a night scene in Paris, with elegant old buildings highlighted by strategically placed spotlights.  You’ll see which side I preferred below, as I got almost no pictures of the skyscrapers of Shanghai…

On Friday we walked over to the shopping areas of the famous Nanjing road… then past Tomorrow Square and the grand Shanghai Theater… eventually landing in a nearly empty amusement park, where the four of us had a roaring time on the bumper cars.  Twice.  Strange, but true.  Later in the afternoon we hung out with fellow Fulbrighter Julian Ku, his wife Winnie and their daughter Lyra.  Together we hit the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium (always fun for kids, and this one has penquins) and then Winnie turned us on to the Japanese noodle chain Ajisen Ramen (which, it turns out, can be found in California), followed by smoothies at the hip chain Element Fresh.  Great company for the afternoon… we really like this family and wish we could see more of them.  (note: We did not eat a single fancy Shanghai meal.  Constant travel with a 7 year old and an 8 year old requires a lot of simple, good food and that’s what we focused on in Shanghai.  That said, we will eat at both of these places again and again.  Great eats!  Thanks Winnie!)

On Saturday, Art led us on one of his “walk till you drop” touring days.  We started early in the morning with the French Concession which I absolutely loved: just walking around these streets… tree lined and quiet… with amazing old buildings, brick work, doors, house numbers, alleys.  Kind of like walking around Shadyside on a Saturday morning.  We toured the home of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen (startlingly similar to the turn of the century homes back home in Redlands) and covered a history lesson with the girls (the “father of modern China”… his devotion to China, how he worked to overthrow imperial rule, and his dying hopes for the principles of “democracy, nationalism, welfare of the Chinese people” … held too by Chiang Kai-shek… but… too much to cover, so little time…) before heading off in search of Tianzifang Street.  This really isn’t a street, but rather a series of skinny brick walkways between old, old buildings… with everything from high end art galleries and studios to wine boutiques and chic cooking schools to souvenir shops… and even an excellent new york pizza restaurant (couldn’t resist; see note above about food).  Cece found some wonderful handmade felt animals… and Elle got a Chinese dress (naturally).  We totally resisted the art galleries…

The true highlight of Saturday, however, was making our way to the “Shanghai Lan-Lan Hand Printed Blue Nankeen” shop.  No easy feat.  It took several cab drivers, one bi-lingual friendly passenger in another taxi, one iPad, one paper map, plus Art to figure it out… but eventually we landed in a lovely sunny neighborhood… where we wandered down our umpteenth alley (though this one was quite pleasant!)… until we found this backyard:

Love at first site.  I already know where I am having the poles cemented into our backyard in Redlands so I can run a bunch of clothes lines, then dye fabric like this that I can pin up and dry all over our backyard.  Could have stayed put here for hours.  (note: Tell me… does this not look exactly like our backyard!?)

Birthday boy Art scored the prize of the day at this shop: a beautiful indigo jacket that those of you who see Art regularly will be seeing regularly for years to come.  It looks like this one seen here drying on the line:

The shop specializes (obviously, in case you haven’t gathered already) in producing hand dyed indigo cotton fabrics, traditionally worn by “ordinary” Chinese.  Primitive, natural, beautiful.  Our short visit there was such fun, I think we would return all the way to Shanghai just to stop in there again…

Here are a few more shots of Blue Nankeen…

Later in the day, we took the girls up to the highest observation deck of Shanghai TV’s funky Oriental Pearl Tower.  After our glorious time in the French Concession and the blue nankeen shop, this “highlight” was sort of a bust.  Like everywhere we’ve been so far, it wasn’t crowded at all, and yet for some reason we waited in line for more than an hour (with two hungry kids) to finally get to the top (350 meters)… and once there, the double paned windows were so clouded over that the view was hazy.  Impressive, nonetheless:

Getting there and back from our hotel, however was a hoot.  We took the “amazing, mind bending” tunnel ride under the river.  This entailed the four of us riding in “a capsule made in France” (this was carefully pointed out to us) through an otherwise ordinary subway tunnel transformed by a psychedelic light and pulsing music show.   In a word: Weird.

In other Shanghai notes: the girls scored a bunch of new release DVDs at less than $2 each… while dessert at Haagen Dazs for the four of us (which totaled 7 small scoops of ice cream in cups) cost almost $40.

And so… here’s the first set of Shanghai pix (or whatever my internet access will allow me to upload today)…

More Shanghai pictures yet to come…