Sights of Shanghai . . .

This is the world's largest city, by population.  And is the largest Chinese city by population. 

I took metro to the heart of Shanghai and walked off a subway to this. Wow.

And this was the other direction.  This photo was taken on a Tuesday at 2PM.

Shanghai is very decadent.  Lots of shopping.   Lots of familiar name brands.  

This one is for my God-Sister, whom I affectionately call E-Money.  She would go crazy in this store!!

I saw five Dolce & Gabbana stores.

Lots of Prada stores too.  They are in lots of malls.

Speaking of malls.  Every time you exit a metro station you are in a mall.

I've seen about five Forever 21 and H&M stores.

I changed hotels and moved into a neighborhood called the Old French Concession.  From 1849-1943, this was a neighborhood only for foreigners.  The concession came to an end in 1943 when the French government signed it over.  The area then became the centre of Catholicism in Shanghai. Despite its re-development over the last few decades, the area still retains a distinct character from that time period.

Not so crowed.  Very beautiful.

I can walk to everything. Lots of Mom and Pop restaurants and shops.

Here is a bus bench in the French Concession.

I walked to the movies.

Look at this super cute cafe in the theater lobby. You can get food, tea and beer.  Notice the ceiling - film reels. I love it!

I saw Jurassic World in 3-D.

KFC has this country on lock. The commercials make the food look soo good. LOL

This BIG blockbuster film felt small in scope and uber "American" to me.  And all of the jokes fell flat.  I guess they got lost in translation.  Lots of people talked incessantly throughout the film, which cause a lot of shhh'ing, and some arguing, which was FUNNY. 

FUN FACT:  The number 4 in Chinese means "death" and this country is VERY superstitious.  So my hotel (and many other buildings) often do not have a 4th or 14 or 24 floor.

Another day I took metro to Old Shanghai.

This is the only neighborhood in Shanghai that still has the old style buildings.

This is the area where you find the street food.  I was NOT going to try this, but all of the locals who could speak English told me not to anyway, as my stomach probably couldn't handle it.  

This is the "mystery meat" that people mean, when they say you have no idea what you are eating in China.

Lots of shopping in this area.

FUN FACT:  Most Shanghai residents are the descendants of immigrants from other providences in China.  The vernacular language spoken here is called “Shanghainese", which is a mixture of Wu Chinese (very old language), Suzhou dialect (a romanticized dialect of Wu Chinese), and Mandarin (which is spoken nationwide).

 This city has lots of bright lights.

This area of Shanghai is called The Bund.  It is the most photographed area of the city.

The Bund stretches one mile along the bank of the Huangpu River.

Very pretty.

Another selfie!

Lots of people had the same idea as me to go to The Bund. This is 10PM.

Most Starbucks here are two-story.  I usually go to a Starbucks every other day for coffee and for the wifi. I pick a different one each time.

They have very different items than we do.

Fresh juice!  We need to get out game up in the States.

This triple coffee mocha Frappachino was NASTY.  Here in China it has a jello-like consistency. Yuck. I will stick to my lattes, thank you, very much.

Another day I walked to a Shanghai Tea Ritual class.  It was pretty pricey, but worth the money.  The evolution of Chinese tea is so very interesting.  Every tea leaf has a detailed genesis story.  When I get back home, I want to have a Tea Party for my friends. 

Part of the mystery is the preparation of the tea.

Brewing tea is an art in China.

I tried six teas. They all needed different tea pots and different temperatures of water.

I still don't know anybody here, but I am having SO MUCH FUN!!  I really like Shanghai.  Okay, off to explore some more.  More pictures later.

Oh, one last thing.  The weather here has been rainy and cold.  But now it is getting very humid.  They say a typhoon is coming in 4 days.

Peace!

~SS