A good, good day

We set off for NanjingLu, Shanghai's famous shopping street. Surfacing from the subway we have lost our East-West bearings. NanjingLu is all neon adverts and masses of noisily milling people. We get accosted by one of the fake brand hustlers offering sunglasses? bags? shoes? When we just stare back blankly, he encourages us with a 'What are you looking for?' 'The Bund' is our sheepish reply and he rolls his eyes and, against his better judgment, points us in the right direction. Looking for the river promenade we have just outed ourselves as a lost consumer cause.

The Bund isn't necessarily less busy. It's a sunny day and everyone struts their stuff. The walking fashion statements compete with the sights of the early 20^th century architecture. But Pudong, 'East of the Pu' river, with its futuristic skyline, takes the cake. We have to queue for a place at the railing to have our photo taken against the popular backdrop. None of the iconic skyscrapers here is less than 420m in height, currently the tallest is just under 500m and the Shanghai Tower under construction will be 630m. Otherwise nothing much has changed in the 100 years since the two riverfronts have been constructed: The buildings on both sides house banks and hotels, and, architecturally, that they could be anywhere in the world.

say 'tofu'

Although the HuangPu is a river with plenty of freight ships, we are not surprised when we see the Shanghai Yacht Club. Spotting a golden motor yacht being polished by a lone worker under the bored eyes of a guy in a tailor-cut black suit, Jeannine goes into secret agent mode. I, on the other hand, am not so sure that we should be photographing the triads at work... 

We turn back inland to visit YuYuan, the traditional Chinese Yu Garden. Stepping from sci-fi financial center architecture into Ming landscaping is a mind-bender. Although there are plenty of people here as well, the maze-like arrangement makes it feel very tranquil and we take most of the afternoon to enjoy the views.

yin....

...and yang?

garden doorways...

 

We walk across old Shanghai and have cocktails in XinTiandi, an trendy area of redeveloped stone tenements. It's next to a small park with lake where we meet some cats. Unlike the many petted pet dogs we have come across, cats are tolerated vermin hunters around here, so I admire them from the distance. The water has a yellow line around it saying 'Danger – Donot [sic] cross the line' and there is a whole gaggle of security officers to back up the painted 'yellow tape'. We watch them taking their job very seriously while Jeannine tries her first ever Margarita.

 

Wayne's friends take us to another trendy place for supper- the Boxing Cat Brewery. We have European style beers and food but the outstanding thing is the company we're in. 

After sustenance, Kent and Hanrich takes us to the Shanghai Studio, a gay club in a former underground bunker. Apart from the stylish non-smoking room, the club is a series of hazy, comfortably small and dark interleading rooms and Wayne and Jeannine follow the lure of the beat to the dancefloor. We are not sure if it is because it is Easter Saturday or because it is the year of the rabbit, but the DJ is in bunny costume. The Black Eyed Peas I gotta feeling is a hit in Shanghai, too. And we agree that tonight's gonna be a good night.

doesn't look straight? That's because it's at the gay club!