I am incredibly thankful you and your family got to walk about without something happening to you. Traffic lights and road lines are mere suggestions there, and pedestrians seem to be the motorists' daily entertainment - much like the game whack-a-mole. For that, a hundred hugs your way. You're too brilliant of a person and writer to be lost to the streets of Shanghai =).
Shanghai... can't say I miss that city. It's not all bad, but most experiences still make my teeth grind. I just want to say as a general warning for anyone visiting China, if there's someone coming up to you to ask/beg for money, avoid the person - at all costs, even if he/she is a child. I was lucky my father and a company driver was around to get me out of that mess as the child's entire family appeared out of nowhere and ambushed me. This was 1999. I haven't had anything like that happen again, but the memory made me avoid it at all costs, so... it may not be as bad anymore. *shudders*
The city itself is huge and too densely packed - sole contributor to how dirty it is, over done through the economic boom, and now falling apart or abandoned as the economy tanked and then tried to right itself. The biggest project of Shanghai during the last decade, I think, is its subway and the highways (one of which shortens travel between Shanghai and Suzhou so we visited, often). I wouldn't recommend the subway for a tourist during the busiest hours as the possibility of coming out maimed is about 80%. I used it to get to and from work when there so I'm used to the abuse, but urgh.
Driven by that horse statue many times. There are a few places known for its "glorified flea markets" where you can get some very neat collectibles. Now most of them are machine made, but I've loved the few small stalls that still sell hand made beauties. Best to have someone native do the haggling though.
no subject
*a hundred hugs*
I am incredibly thankful you and your family got to walk about without something happening to you. Traffic lights and road lines are mere suggestions there, and pedestrians seem to be the motorists' daily entertainment - much like the game whack-a-mole. For that, a hundred hugs your way. You're too brilliant of a person and writer to be lost to the streets of Shanghai =).
Shanghai... can't say I miss that city. It's not all bad, but most experiences still make my teeth grind. I just want to say as a general warning for anyone visiting China, if there's someone coming up to you to ask/beg for money, avoid the person - at all costs, even if he/she is a child. I was lucky my father and a company driver was around to get me out of that mess as the child's entire family appeared out of nowhere and ambushed me. This was 1999. I haven't had anything like that happen again, but the memory made me avoid it at all costs, so... it may not be as bad anymore. *shudders*
The city itself is huge and too densely packed - sole contributor to how dirty it is, over done through the economic boom, and now falling apart or abandoned as the economy tanked and then tried to right itself. The biggest project of Shanghai during the last decade, I think, is its subway and the highways (one of which shortens travel between Shanghai and Suzhou so we visited, often). I wouldn't recommend the subway for a tourist during the busiest hours as the possibility of coming out maimed is about 80%. I used it to get to and from work when there so I'm used to the abuse, but urgh.
Driven by that horse statue many times. There are a few places known for its "glorified flea markets" where you can get some very neat collectibles. Now most of them are machine made, but I've loved the few small stalls that still sell hand made beauties. Best to have someone native do the haggling though.