One of the major sights in Shanghai is undoubtedly the Bund. I dare say that it's the No. 1 spot for tourists, because it's always crowded. I visited the Bund a few times last summer, but mostly in the late afternoon / early evening, when it was about to get dark, because it was unbearably hot and humid and a central-European like me is not used to such extreme weather conditions and suffers a lot. Despite the great view over the river and Pudong, I didn't really enjoy the stroll down the promenade. It is worth going at night to see Pudong's colourful skyline, but you won't really see much of the actual attraction, the colonial-era buildings on the other side of the road, opposite the promenade.
The Lonely Planet Shanghai says about the Bund: It is the first stop for visitors, and the historic architecture houses a profusion of exclusive restaurants, bars, shops and hotels.
The thing is that the visitors stroll down the promenade and look at the towers across the river. Nobody really pays attention to the beautiful colonial buildings. You see people coming out of the metro, walking to the road where the historical buildings are and crossing the street to the promenade. The few people walking along this side of the road, either have some business to do, or walk to the next traffic light to cross the street or are some newly-weds who take photos.
This year, the Bund was my first destination on my first Saturday morning in Shanghai and it was a whole different experience. Why? Well, this time I went alone and became a target of fraudsters. It starts when you get out of the metro station East Nanjing Road and walk a few yards in the pedestrian area. Some women approach you and seem to be interested in you. They ask for your name, where you're from, how long you've been or are staying here, and much more. Their intention is to rip you off. My first encounter was seconds after I stepped on the pavement. A Chinese lady in her forties approached me and asked many questions in a very friendly manner. I told her that my name is George and that I was from Uganda. She couldn't pronounce the word Uganda, nor did she know where it is. She asked what language we speak there and I told her Swahili. She wanted me to say something in Swahili, so I told her "Cacavi et culu non extersi" which is Latin for: I shat and didn't wipe my arse. She smiled and asked what it means. I told her that it means "you are a beautiful lady".
I once read in the German magazine 'Focus' that the Romans liked to scribble things on walls of public toilets and this is one of the things historians found on walls. An ancient 'status update' if you like.
I got suspicious and asked the lady what she wanted and why she was asking so many questions, and she showed me some business cards with naked ladies, like the ones I found on my door in Guiyang. She mumbled something about massage and mentioned a few numbers, but I told her that I'm married and walked off.
When I got to the road with all the beautiful buildings, I turned left towards the British Consulate and consular mansion. I marvelled at the buildings and enjoyed my stroll on the empty pavement. There was music coming out from the garden of the consulate, so I went inside to see what was going on. There was a garden party with classical music, nicely dressed people and the entire setting took you back to Victorian times. There was an entrance fee to get in and included in the fee were some drinks and something to eat. I didn't go in, but continued my walk.
I reached a metal bridge and crossed the street to the promenade. The corner to the metal bridge is a popular spot for newly-weds. What surprises me is that they prefer to have the metal bridge and a huge ugly building, like the ones in Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' in the background, instead of having let's say the Russian embassy, a lovely old building next to the bridge on the other shore. But then, the Chinese love new architecture.
There I stood for a minute until a young Chinese lady approached me. She was all dressed like a tourist and started asking the same questions like the lady before. I told her the same story and she gave me an old mobile phone asking me to take a photo of her with the bridge in the background. Then she came out with her intentions. She wanted me to go to a restaurant with her somewhere nearby. I said that I had already eaten and she walked off without saying goodbye. I walked a few yards and turned around to see where she was. She was talking to the next foreigner.
I began to walk down the promenade and watched people instead of looking at Pudong's skyline. Amazing how many people try to rip off foreigners. It's women, men, couples, sometimes they act alone, sometimes with a partner in crime.
I took some stairs and walked along the pavement to marvel at the colonial buildings and walked up the stairs to the promenade somewhere at the end of the beautiful buildings. There I stood for a few seconds to gaze over the river and two young men came next to me and started taking selfies. I knew instantly that they were fraudsters and turned around to leave. This is when one of the two asked me if I could take a photo of them with their crappy mobile phone. I refused and left.
I walked back to East Nanjing Road metro station and while I was looking for one of the entrances, a Chinese lady came running towards me shouting 'sir, sir', but I said "not interested' in an icy-cold manner and continued towards the metro entrance.
I did this walk a week later and continued to Yu Yuan gardens and the area around and had similar experiences. Another week later when my friend and colleague Leslaw arrived, we went on this very same walk, but no one approached us, until we were in the Yu Yuan bazaar. There an older man tried his luck on Leslaw.
Yesterday, Gerasimos, my dear friend from Guiyang arrived in Shanghai and we went along the Bund, but since it wasn't very crowded, no one wanted to rip us off. But many people approached us outside East Nanjing Road station and in the Yu Yuan bazaar saying 'watches, watches' showing us brochures with fake Rolex', Omegas, etc..
Gerasimos wanted to have a coffee in a rooftop cafe, so we Baidu'd (Google is banned) and found Captain Hostel Bar. Unfortunately it's closed due to renovations, but the owners showed us the way to another rooftop bar nearby. That was closed too, because it opens at 6pm and we were there at 5.20pm.
So we went down a floor, where a really posh restaurant is housed, waited a few minutes for it to open, sat at the bar, had a look at the exorbitant prices (coffee 7 pounds, coke 4 pounds, cocktails starting from 16 pounds, etc), so we stood up and left.
We finished our day at Maya's Bar around the corner of SISU university. Drinks are cheap and dodgy, but the bar is cool and the owner is friendly.
The Lonely Planet Shanghai says about the Bund: It is the first stop for visitors, and the historic architecture houses a profusion of exclusive restaurants, bars, shops and hotels.
The thing is that the visitors stroll down the promenade and look at the towers across the river. Nobody really pays attention to the beautiful colonial buildings. You see people coming out of the metro, walking to the road where the historical buildings are and crossing the street to the promenade. The few people walking along this side of the road, either have some business to do, or walk to the next traffic light to cross the street or are some newly-weds who take photos.
This year, the Bund was my first destination on my first Saturday morning in Shanghai and it was a whole different experience. Why? Well, this time I went alone and became a target of fraudsters. It starts when you get out of the metro station East Nanjing Road and walk a few yards in the pedestrian area. Some women approach you and seem to be interested in you. They ask for your name, where you're from, how long you've been or are staying here, and much more. Their intention is to rip you off. My first encounter was seconds after I stepped on the pavement. A Chinese lady in her forties approached me and asked many questions in a very friendly manner. I told her that my name is George and that I was from Uganda. She couldn't pronounce the word Uganda, nor did she know where it is. She asked what language we speak there and I told her Swahili. She wanted me to say something in Swahili, so I told her "Cacavi et culu non extersi" which is Latin for: I shat and didn't wipe my arse. She smiled and asked what it means. I told her that it means "you are a beautiful lady".
I once read in the German magazine 'Focus' that the Romans liked to scribble things on walls of public toilets and this is one of the things historians found on walls. An ancient 'status update' if you like.
I got suspicious and asked the lady what she wanted and why she was asking so many questions, and she showed me some business cards with naked ladies, like the ones I found on my door in Guiyang. She mumbled something about massage and mentioned a few numbers, but I told her that I'm married and walked off.
When I got to the road with all the beautiful buildings, I turned left towards the British Consulate and consular mansion. I marvelled at the buildings and enjoyed my stroll on the empty pavement. There was music coming out from the garden of the consulate, so I went inside to see what was going on. There was a garden party with classical music, nicely dressed people and the entire setting took you back to Victorian times. There was an entrance fee to get in and included in the fee were some drinks and something to eat. I didn't go in, but continued my walk.
I reached a metal bridge and crossed the street to the promenade. The corner to the metal bridge is a popular spot for newly-weds. What surprises me is that they prefer to have the metal bridge and a huge ugly building, like the ones in Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' in the background, instead of having let's say the Russian embassy, a lovely old building next to the bridge on the other shore. But then, the Chinese love new architecture.
There I stood for a minute until a young Chinese lady approached me. She was all dressed like a tourist and started asking the same questions like the lady before. I told her the same story and she gave me an old mobile phone asking me to take a photo of her with the bridge in the background. Then she came out with her intentions. She wanted me to go to a restaurant with her somewhere nearby. I said that I had already eaten and she walked off without saying goodbye. I walked a few yards and turned around to see where she was. She was talking to the next foreigner.
I began to walk down the promenade and watched people instead of looking at Pudong's skyline. Amazing how many people try to rip off foreigners. It's women, men, couples, sometimes they act alone, sometimes with a partner in crime.
I took some stairs and walked along the pavement to marvel at the colonial buildings and walked up the stairs to the promenade somewhere at the end of the beautiful buildings. There I stood for a few seconds to gaze over the river and two young men came next to me and started taking selfies. I knew instantly that they were fraudsters and turned around to leave. This is when one of the two asked me if I could take a photo of them with their crappy mobile phone. I refused and left.
I walked back to East Nanjing Road metro station and while I was looking for one of the entrances, a Chinese lady came running towards me shouting 'sir, sir', but I said "not interested' in an icy-cold manner and continued towards the metro entrance.
I did this walk a week later and continued to Yu Yuan gardens and the area around and had similar experiences. Another week later when my friend and colleague Leslaw arrived, we went on this very same walk, but no one approached us, until we were in the Yu Yuan bazaar. There an older man tried his luck on Leslaw.
Yesterday, Gerasimos, my dear friend from Guiyang arrived in Shanghai and we went along the Bund, but since it wasn't very crowded, no one wanted to rip us off. But many people approached us outside East Nanjing Road station and in the Yu Yuan bazaar saying 'watches, watches' showing us brochures with fake Rolex', Omegas, etc..
Gerasimos wanted to have a coffee in a rooftop cafe, so we Baidu'd (Google is banned) and found Captain Hostel Bar. Unfortunately it's closed due to renovations, but the owners showed us the way to another rooftop bar nearby. That was closed too, because it opens at 6pm and we were there at 5.20pm.
So we went down a floor, where a really posh restaurant is housed, waited a few minutes for it to open, sat at the bar, had a look at the exorbitant prices (coffee 7 pounds, coke 4 pounds, cocktails starting from 16 pounds, etc), so we stood up and left.
We finished our day at Maya's Bar around the corner of SISU university. Drinks are cheap and dodgy, but the bar is cool and the owner is friendly.
River view. Pudong is on the right.
Well, it's not Liberty...
Monument to the People's Heroes
Class of 2017?
Newly weds
Skyline of Pudong
Pavement under the promenade
The British Consulate
Colonial-era buildings
Doesn't it look like The Bundestag?
(Red) Bull
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