The city of contrasts
12 of 12 Ciao Users found the following review helpful
Advantages Lots of activity all day
Disadvantages Little english spoken and the drivers leave a lot to be desired
Well here I am at the end of another great holiday which this time is in Shanghai. The first thing that strikes me is there is not too much difference between Shanghai and any other major city in the western world. The place hums with life almost 24 hours a day. Its only once you start to scratch under the surface of the place do you see the difference between western and eastern life.
Arriving at the Shanghai Pudong international airport we were greeted with lots of smiling faces and very clean environment. The time taken to get through customs was very quick especially compared to some of the time it has taken me when I have visited the states. The bags were there shortly after exiting customs and all in all it took us a total of 20 odd minutes from leaving the plane to leaving the airport.We had an advantage by being met by my old school friend who guided us to the nearest taxi to be whisked away to the centre of town. The journey time was around 60 minutes on a Sunday morning. Even though it was first thing in the morning you soon realised what the drivers were like over there..... bad. It was like a free for all but you soon started to ignore that and realised that the taxi driver was used to such habits. The humidity was high when we arrived and thank goodness for air conditioning is all I can say.
Later that day after unpacking we proceeded to an American Cafe called Malones for brunch. My friend’s wife took our family on a two kilometre walk to this cafe and you needed to be aware of where you were walking. The first thing you notice walking around the place is there smell of the streets, when compared to the rural setting where we come from it can certainly make your nose turn up a bit. The second thing to look out for is all the drips of water, its not until you look up that you realise that this caused by peoples washing being hung out to dry. The final hint when crossing the roads is be very aware of traffic coming from the left as they can turn tight on the red. The best advice is walk across at the same speed as the locals and move out with them at the same time. There will be times we you are caught in the middle of the road but that is what is expected around here so I have found.Anyway we finally get to Malones all hot and bothered but enjoy the cool air conditioning that they have turned on. It is a great place which looks like a typical sports bar. It has a pool table upstairs at the best price I have ever seen. (free) but the strangest thing is the table football cost 10RMB (which is about 70pence at the time of writing). The food was presented on huge plates and was plentiful. The meals were quite expensive when compared to the local fair on the streets but that is the price you pay by wanting western food instead of the local 'fare'.
After this we hail down one of the many taxis that are available and proceed to cheap out what some of the shops have to offer. There are taxis all over the place and you would be best to have a taxi card with your destination written in Chinese if possible.
Attention, this is the first review from this author
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jayin 30/01/2007 01:31
VC81 03/11/2006 13:41
Alison3 05/04/2005 16:34
petitesquirt 26/08/2004 02:27
Certainly a holiday with a difference.
Multtinems 25/08/2004 12:26
Great first review.....Keep em coming Sonia xxx
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