HANGHAI
— In the 1920s, this was one of the most cos-mopolitan cities in
East Asia and was in fact dubbed as the Paris of the East. It
was home to some of China’s wealthiest and most patrician
families. Stately mansions and elegant buildings in the style of
Old Europe lined the Bund, the embankment along the Huangpu
River that was also the city’s financial center. It was the
center of commerce between East and West.
Shanghai’s dominance ended in 1948 with the
communist takeover and the cessation of foreign investments. In
the 1990s, economic reforms saw intense development in Shanghai
and its emergence as the showcase of the world’s fastest growing
economy.
Today, Shanghai deftly straddles the old
world and the new. On the Bund, early 20
th
century architecture from neo-classical to art deco flourish and
enclaves in the former foreign concessions are well preserved.
Across the Huangpu river, modern towers of glass and steel
dominate the Pudong skyline on the east and Puxi in the west.
Recently, Cebu Pacific and Chery Automobile
Co., Ltd., brought a group of media people on a tour of
Shanghai, Wuhu and Suzhou.
The first item on our itinerary was a tour of
the Bund. Thick fog shrouded the city as the group strolled down
the embankment and posed for the obligatory group shot with
Pudong in the background. Then we crossed to the other side of
the Huangpu River on the Sightseeing Tunnel, an electronic tram
that sped through a tunnel with neon lights on its walls.
The 468-meter tall Oriental Pearl TV Tower
looms in Pudong district on the bank of the Huangpu River.
Located in the center of Lujiazui, it is the highest TV tower in
Asia and the third tallest building in the world. It features 11
ornate pink balls inspired by a famous Chinese poem which
describes the most beautiful sound when pearls of different
sizes fall on to a jade plate. Ball No. 2 at 263 meters and its
outdoor viewing platform at 259 meters is a good vantage point
from which to see the Shanghai skyline.
Other notable structures nearby are the Jin
Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. At 492
meters, it is the tallest skyscraper in mainland China and the
second tallest building in the world.
The Shanghai History and Urban Development
Museum offers a glimpse into Shanghai’s past. Housed in an area
about 11,000 sq. m., the museum with life size wax figures
presented in tableaus Shanghai’s development in the 19
th
century as a commercial port, the hub of finance and business
that linked China with the rest of the world.
A cruise of the Huangpu River is best done at
night when the buildings along the Bund look like bejeweled
structures glowing against the black sky. The Huangpu River
originates in Dianshan Lake and empties into the Yangtze River
at Wusongkou, the mouth of the Wusong River. A cruise down the
river also gives a spectacular view of two suspension bridges,
the Nanpu and Yangpu, which seem to arch over the Oriental Pearl
TV Tower, like "two dragons playing with a ball."
Shanghai is also noted for being a shopper’s
paradise. Nanjing Road is the most famous shopping area in
China. From the time it was developed in the early 20
th
century, Nanjing Road has become a mecca for shoppers who want
the best of both world class brands and fine Chinese
merchandise. There are pedestrian shopping areas here where the
art of haggling is both a test in persistence and endurance.
Pinoys, who have turned haggling into a fine art can test their
skills here where our guide said the best way to do was to start
at 80 percent less than the tag prize, and to stop at 50
percent.
Huaihai Road, just as popular as Nanjing
Road, has boutiques selling designer brands from all over the
world.
Next: The gardens of Suzhou and the Chery
Automobile plant in Wuhu.
(Cebu Pacific departs from Manila to Shanghai Mondays,
Wednesdays, Friday and Sundays at 8:20 p.m. It departs from
Shanghai to Manila on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays at 12:30 a.m. The lowest Go lite fare for Shanghai
starts at P2,799 for one-way tickets. For more details, visit:
www.cebupacificair.com)
