China Spring 2016 Part 15 and Final

Shanghai: Our last stop on this trip was Shanghai. Wiki-travel says Shanghai is a fascinating mix of East and West. It has historic shikumen (石库门）houses that blend the styles of Chinese houses with European design flair, and it has one of the richest collections of Art Deco buildings in the world. As there were so many concessions (designated districts) to Western powers during the turn of the 20th century, in many places the city has a cosmopolitan feel. There is everything from classic Parisian style to Tudor style buildings that give an English flair to 1930s buildings reminiscent of New York or Chicago. There is a saying that goes, "Shanghai is heaven for the rich, hell for the poor." People from all over China flock to Shanghai — everyone from farmers seeking jobs in manual labor to university graduates seeking to start a career or wanting to live in a cool up-tempo city. Even well-off people, though, complain that buying a home is becoming impossible; prices have skyrocketed in the last few years.

Our final hotel was one of the nicest we encountered. The lobby had lavish displays of real orchids like this one.
There was a wonderful buffet for our breakfasts and there was a lobby area on our floor where some of us gathered
on the last night to drink up and eat up everything we had bought and didn't want to take home as we visited for
the last time and bid each other a fond farewell since everyone was taking different flights back to Canada.

Our view from our room at night.

The same view in the daytime

.

We essentially had one very full day in Shanghai visiting a fascinating museum, 

Shanghai Cultural Museum

Fanciful figures outside the museum

Ancient carved jade funeral mask

An extensive display of traditional costumes highlighted the
incredible diversity of people and climatic needs in this huge country.

Artifacts in the museum include bronze pieces from 12,000 BCE

seeing a silk factory, 

These are the tiny looms where one cocoon is meticulously spun into single silk threads.

Silk thread

We all had a chance to "pull" the flat tight pad out to the size of this table. Many layers of the
delicate piece are placed atop each other to form the fill for a duvet or quilt.

and walking on Bund Ave. which runs along the Huangpu River. There you can see the skyscrapers of modern Shanghai. Walking on the Bund is very popular among residents and tourists. 

Old river signal tower along The Bund.

The very modern skyscrapers across the river from The Bund.

Older, more traditional buildings on the side of The Bund.

Shopping near Nanjing Road

No bundle is too large for the mighty scooters.

We also spent time shopping on Nanjing Road. You could find about anything you wanted there but we spent far more time there than we wanted; we would have been much happier with more time at the Museum. In the evening we went to see the famous Shanghai acrobats. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures there but it was a nice way to end our trip. We left China the next day, flying direct from Shanghai to Toronto on Canadian Air and then on to Detroit, where our car was waiting for us and we drove home. It had truly been the trip of a lifetime and all at a very reasonable rate. 

Old Town Shanghai is a labyrinth of alleys and passageways. It was easy to
imagine some young man being drugged. kidnapped, and pressed into service--Shanghaied--
in these dark places long ago. Modern lighting and busy shopkeepers have transformed the area. 

It was always important to remember to Look Up for some of the
best and most interesting features in the cities we visited.

Modern skyscrapers in Shanghai at night