Shanghai's Heart
Written: Oct 26 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Taste of old and new Shanghai, great shops and food
Cons: Hua hai road is better for real bargain shopping
The Bottom Line: This is the real Shanghai...cosmopolitan at the heart, but touches of China clinging on at the fringes.
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| titaniumtommy's Full Review: Nanjing Lu |
Nanjing Lu is the heart of Shanghai. It runs from east to west dividing the heart of city in two. In the center of Nanjing Lu is a group of high end shopping malls centered geared towards the noveau riche and expats. Bi Feng Tang across from the Ritz serves delicious albeit expensive Dim Sum. Also the Pudong airport bus stops just a few steps east of Bi Feng Tang making it a great place to wait for the bus.
On the Bund end of Nanjing Lu you will find a lot of "Gap" like stores that are filled more with pumping music and clerks than shoppers. You can also find the Peace Hotel near the very end of Nanjing Lu. For you travellers tired of trying to find a decent bathroom in China, this place is it. Just walk all the way to the back of the lobby and you will find a staircase leading to the 2nd floor where the bathrooms are. They are clean and nice, unlike most of the disasters of indoor plumbing I have encountered all over Shanghai. At the intersection of Nanjing Lu and the Bund, you will find a Plus system friendly ATM that will work with most ATM cards that are Plus friendly (look at the back of your card, if you see the Plus logo, then you're in luck). The caveat is that the network does go down every now and then and you will be unable to get cash for a day or two. The upside is that you get a much better rate than changing cash (usually about 8.15-8.17), but your bank will usually hit you with a $3 international ATM fee. ICBC banks and
The real secret of this end of the Bund is to explore the smaller streets that intersect Nanjing Lu. These streets will lead to interesting places and more "Chinese"-esque shopping and also through some great turn of the century Shanghai architecture. Who wants to travel all the way to China and eat at McDonalds and buy clothes at the Gap? You can walk all the way to Yu Yuan from here and you will pass by some lesser known streets that have more of a real Chinese flavor, rather than the
Just west of the Bund along Nanjing Lu, you will find a promenade that is off limits to cars. A welcome reprive if you're tired of being chased around the streets running for your life. This area is also quite touristy, the shops are filled with very very overpriced trinkets that could be found away from Nanjing Lu for half the price or outside of Shanghai in smaller towns (where these things are actually made) for less than 1/10th of the price. My advice is to avoid actually buying the trinkets here...it's great to look around though.
If you're interested, there is a sex museum on this part of the Bund. It's a great look at the history of sex in Chinese culture, something that is usually hidden in the "virtuous" Chinese society. No mention of Mao's many concubines though.
As you walk past the promenade, you will come to The People's Square. This is immense and something that is almost incomprehensible to Westerners. Here you find the Shanghai Museum and various other halls. Spend at least half a day at the museum and you will see artifacts of all kinds from all of Chinese history. Branching off from the square are various thoroughfares that are filled with shops of all kinds. Around here there is also the very large Shanghai book store. There aren't that many foreign language books here, but it's still nice to hang out at.
At the western end of Nanjing Lu you will Jing An Park...where I met my fiance! It's a great place to hang out and welcome patch of green in the concrete infested Shanghai. You'll also find the Shanghai convention center.
Nanjing Lu is a definite must for any visitor wanting to see the real Shanghai. You will see the many eras of Shanghai blended together along Nanjing Lu and it's surrounding streets.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
titaniumtommy
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Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 1 member
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