Shanghai, China
I should have brought my Nike+ chip because I’d love to know how many miles I walked today. I’m guessing the over/under is 10.
I made it out of my room this morning shortly before 11AM. I didn’t have much of a plan in mind other than that I wanted to explore the city by foot and look for hoops. I also knew that I wanted to venture across the river towards the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
Eric told me the best way to cross the river, or at least the most efficient way, is to take “the tourist tunnel”. It was hilarious. It cost roughly eight dollars for a roundtrip ticket on what Frohmer’s describes like this: “For a look at Shanghai kitsch at its worst, you can take a trip across—actually, under—the Huangpu in plastic, capsular cars. The accompanying light show is part Disney, part psychedelia, complete with flashing strobes, blowing tinsel, and swirling hallucinogenic images projected on the concrete walls. The five-minute ride will make your head spin; you'll wonder if the Chinese central government isn't giving Shanghai just a little too much money.”
Upon arrival on the other side of the Huangpu I instantly spotted some tennis courts I had seen on Google Maps. Often times tennis courts have a hoop hidden at one end and I was hopefully in this case that would be true. Unfortunately it was not. Had there been, it would have been a great shot with the Oriental Pearl Tower.
After failing to find a hoop on the tennis courts I decided it might be beneficial to go up in the tower to look for a hoop from above. I had read on Trip Advisor that lines are often insane to go up, so I decided to purchase lunch which includes a stop on the viewing levels. This worked out very nicely. I didn’t wait more than two minutes for the elevator.
The revolving restaurant which is located some 269+ meters above the ground was a nice little respite from the hustle and bustle of the streets of Shanghai. The food was only okay but the expedited access to the elevators and the view made the exorbitant price ($45) worth it (it cost $20 to go to the viewing levels). Something I’m still bitter about, however, is having paid an additional $13 for 750ml of water! I swear the guy told me it was 18 RMB ($3) but he ended up charging me 80 RMB!
I spent my entire rotating meal and an additional hour on the viewing floors of the tower looking for a basketball hoop. I spotted several more tennis courts but not a single basketball court. One neat part of the Pearl Tower is the viewing level with a plexiglass floor. I walked an entire lap around the building looking down some 250M. Below is a photo of the view I had while doing this.
Since I didn’t spot any hoops from the tower I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon walking around Pudong to see if I’d just stumble across a hoop. I walked for over two hours and didn’t see a single court. In a country as basketball crazy as China I can’t believe that it doesn’t have more outdoor courts. I have to believe that more will be built in the future. I guess that just means I’ll have to come back to Shanghai soon.
Even though I didn’t spot any hoops I did see all kinds of fun things on my walk. The architecture in Pudong is phenomenal. There are skyscrapers galore. The designs are quite varied, with the only common denominator being that most buildings appear to be seventy stories or higher.
One funny sight on my walk was the “Shanghai Hooters”. I fully realize writing this next bit that I’m a terrible person. I couldn’t help but wonder when I saw this, “Where do they find the waitresses to work there?” In general Chinese woman are a very flat chested bunch.
After riding back though the magical tunnel I had another funny inappropriate encounter, this time with the Shanghai Financial District Bull. Like the Wall Street Bull, this a large copper statue located in the financial part of town. Unlike the Wall Street Bull there is a cop constantly manning the statue to make sure no unsatisfactory behavior takes place. Touching the side of the bull, leaning against it, and almost sitting on its legs all seem like perfectly fine actions. Grabbing the bull’s balls, however, is greatly frowned upon. I saw a kid, probably in his late teens, go to the back of the bull and cup its balls with his hands. The previously stoic guard started blowing a whistle like crazy and running toward the kid. It was really quite entertaining. I hate to say it but I fear my dear Robin would not be welcome here.
I walked an additional couple hours around Puxi. I finally found a couple basketball courts. The courts had decently fun Chinese scenes around them but no iconic buildings. By the time I made it back to the hotel I was beat. I put my feet up and watched a bit of the Royal Wedding before heading back out for a little more evening exploring.
Around 11PM I met up with my cousin Eric who had arrived for the weekend from Wushi where he is currently during the week. We checked out the impressive views from the bar on the 66th story of the hotel and then decided that we both were too tired to get a drink. We made plans to meet up at 9AM for breakfast before exploring the city.
It is a shade passed midnight now and being that I have to be ready to go at 9AM I’m hitting the hay.
Until tomorrow,
Katy
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