magnificent view from our hotel room
The (super nice!) hotel was
conveniently located on The Bund,
within walking distance to the Swatch Art Peace hotel, so
we checked this out on the first evening... Lots of
interesting things to discover during our walk (now I know
how the chinese / japanese tourists feel in Europe
:-). Here we see the interestingly lit Waibaidu
bridge ("The Garden Bridge", the first
all-steel bridge
in China). I can assure you that every time we passed
that bridge during our visit in Shanghai, we could see a
nicely dressed bride (or "soon to be bride") and groom
taking pictures for a photo book (chinese tradition, I
have been told).
getting close to the Swatch Art Peace Hotel
view from the open air Vue Bar of the
hotel (33rd floor)
The Xmas event started in the
evening of the next day, so we had a full day for a city
tour on our own (together with Michaela and Markus).
Another bride in the next
morning...
Probably due to Expo 2010, there were lots of
English / Chinese signs on the street, so Shanghai really
feels like "China for beginners".
We visited the "fake market" near the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, lots of interesting stuff to be found there :-)
"it is not allowed to sell fake Prada, Piaget, Montblanc,
..."
Afterwards, we walked back to Huangpu
river, through the new financial district.
Some leftovers from Expo
2010...
It is absolutely stunning to
see the following pictures from the last 20 years, showing
the view of the river and the buildings being constructed.
The picture below shows the
tallest building of Shanghai: The Shanghai World Financial
Center. The height is 492 meters and
it was the second
tallest building of the world in 2007 (currently [in
2011], it is ranked at #4). But at least, it has the
world's tallest observation deck, at 474 m. You can
also see the construction of a new skyscraper
nearby. It will be the Shanghai Tower
with a planned height of 632 meters, to be finished in
2014.
We did not spend the money for
the observation deck but settled for a nice coffee and
drink at the bar of the Park Hyatt Shanghai
in the 92nd floor. An overwhelming view of the city
and the river. And free Wifi!
On the other side of the river,
you can see "our" Hyatt
On The Bund hotel (a little right of the Oriental Pearl Tower
(468 meters)). The hotel really looks tiny.
Yes, I live in a very small city so I am really impressed
by so many large buildings :-)
Oriental Pearl Tower
We took the metro to the other
side of the river where the buildings looked a little bit
more "normal".
very clever: a motorbike with integrated gloves!
Click here to read page 2
("Welcome to the Xmas Event / Shanghai city tour") of my
Shanghai / Hong Kong Xmas 2011 Event report.
Back to Stay tuned to Swatch.