Shanghai China! We enjoyed our stay in the worlds 2nd largest city.
Shanghai is the largest city (proper) in the world with a population of over 24.1 million people. It also happens to be the financial center of China. The size and wealth of the city is unbelievable. We walked past so many high-dollar brand named stores such as Gucci, Tiffany’s, Hermes, Prada, etc. Wandering in large malls that had just as many floors below ground as above ground was another education in the buying options of the wealthy. After seeing many jaw dropping screens on the sides of buildings, it becomes the norm and you just notice the ones that consume the majority of the building. The most amazing high-rise buildings, city landscapes and pedestrian infrastructure left a big impression. This time we could experience the 100th floor of the world’s second tallest building. While we were enjoying the view, we could look down upon the world’s 6th tallest building. We wandered around the Bund on New Year’s Eve, ate pizza on a roof top patio while chatting with two USA teachers who now live and work in Shanghai. The Bund is a walkway that runs along the Huangpu River. One side of the river is the financial center with so many modern skyscrapers that have sprung up since 1996. The other side is the older downtown and residential part of Shanghai. Two years ago, during New Year’s Eve 36 young people people were killed in a stampede just before midnight. We witnessed some of the 50,000 police, firefighters and volunteers that were out this New Year’s Eve to protect against a repeat disaster. At this point in our travel we have been to so many extremely large metropolitan cities that I fear when I return home to Portland Oregon I might mistake it for country living. To put it into perspective Shanghai’s (proper) population is 24.1 million vs Portland (proper) populations is 632,309. That is a big difference.
Following is what we saw in Shanghai China….
We really enjoyed the Shanghai Museum. We saw one of the oldest pieces of pottery that I can remember seeing. It is just so amazing to see and learn about the history of China.
Shanghai Tower is the 2nd largest building in the world. 632 meters tall or 2073 feet or 137 floors. Completed in 2016 at $2.4 billion dollars. Contains 24 hours offices for worldwide business, high-end retail, 5 star hotel, and conference rooms.
I enjoyed looking at all the high-end stores and great city gardening. We even saw the highway lined with flower/plant boxes. The pedestrian infrastructure was just amazing. There is just as much activity below ground as above ground. There are also many raised walkways above the traffic. Underground is home to some of the lower priced retail stores, grocery stores and metro stations.
The Bund, the cityscape and some of the police we saw before it began to get crowded.
And then there was New Years Eve!
