Shanghai (September 2019)

We took a car from Shanghai Disneyland to our rented apartment in Shanghai where Gong Gong and Po Po were waiting for us. First thing when we got there, we went to Elodie’s house to play (Elodie is my 5 year old cousin). After that, we went to dinner at a place near Elodie’s house.

After dinner, Elise had a sleepover at Elodie’s house for that night.  In the morning, we went to the Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, where the first meeting of the thirteen people pictured below took place on July 23, 1921, marking the birth of the Communist Party in China. The site also has a museum showing the history of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

When we finished the self-guided tour, Kowfu (means Mom’s brother) brought Elise to have lunch with us. Lunch was crab, crab, and some more crab! I’m surprised that I didn’t turn into a crab! We ate a very specific type of crab known as hairy crab, which is famous for it’s sweet flesh and golden roe and can only be eaten at a certain time of the year.

After lunch, we relaxed in the apartment then went and had dinner. After dinner, we saw some karaoke boxes, where you sing karaoke and get scored on your singing.

Finally, we went to bed. We woke up the next morning, and watched some tv. Then we went and had brunch with Elodie and her parents in the French Concession, which is a part of town with European style buildings and beautiful tree-lined streets. The French quarter in Shanghai was the earliest, the largest and most prosperous French concession in China. In the 1920s, it was the best and richest residential area in Shanghai. In 1943, the Chinese government took it over and after nearly 100 years ended its status as a French concession. The restaurant we went to is in a building that originally belonged to a concubine of a Qing Dynasty statesman named Li Hongzhang.

After a filling brunch, we went to a famous chinese writer’s house where it had snippets of history about his life. It also had a movie in which people acted out his life. After that, we headed to the K11 mall.

K11 had an indoor farm where we played, and it had a picture machine that made us look goofy with many different modes.

After we walked around, we went to the art exhibit, which was underground and had plenty of games to play. That section was called Club K11. It had a ring toss and a basketball shooting game.

After we looked around, we went to the Bund, which is a mile-long stretch of waterfront road along the Huangpu River. The Huangpu River cuts through Shanghai and splits the city into two parts. The Bund is also known as the “Wall Street of the East.” Along this stretch stand 52 buildings of many architectural styles, including Gothic, baroque, and neoclassical styles. It is also often referred to as “the Museum of Buildings.” We walked up and down and took way too many pictures.

While we were at the Bund, we headed over to a famous hotel called the Peace Hotel. It was built in 1929 and was originally known as the Cathay Hotel. It survived World War II. President Reagan and President Clinton both stayed there.

After we looked around, we went to the HSBC building, which was built in 1923. When it was renovated in 1997, they discovered murals that were hidden by the architect so the communist party didn’t discover and destroy them (read the Nanjing post for more info about the Communist Party).

After that, Elise had another sleepover at Elodie’s house. While she was having a sleepover, Mom, Dad, and I went on a boat tour/light show, except this time it was on a triple-decker boat. There was a huge line, and once it started moving, you would have to push people out of the way or be pushed out of the way.

360 view of the Bund at night.

https://s.insta360.com/p/e9e4f383b8376079ccd7f03ba814831b

The next day, we met up with Elodie and Elise to go to The City God Temple where people bow and make offerings to the gods. It has nine palaces with different gods in them.

https://s.insta360.com/p/f88b0b24f11ddc281959317212410a57

After we bowed to all the gods, we saw a place where a robot makes ice cream for you. On its first attempt, it dropped my ice cream on the floor! Elise and Elodie got strawberry, and I got a blend of chocolate and matcha ice cream. Then we went to the place in the French settlement where my great-grandparents lived during the Second World War in the 1940s. Lots of well-known Chinese poets, artists, actors and authors used to live there. They lived in a communal living space where the first floor was the kitchen and the second, third and fourth floors were individual apartments.

Then we went to dinner with Gong Gong’s friends. After that, we went to Hotel Edison where they had a club but kids aren’t allowed so only Dad and Uncle Wilson went in.

Then we took a taxi back to our hotel and went to bed. The next morning we ate at one of the most famous soup dumpling restaurants. You can watch the ladies make them.

After lunch, we took the subway to the maglev station and bought a round trip to the airport and back. Maglev stands for Magnetic Levitation Train, and the Shanghai maglev is the only one in the world. I have been looking forward to riding the maglev since I wrote a report about it in the second grade. While we were waiting for the next train to arrive, we went to the Shanghai Maglev Museum. It shows the history of vehicles and trains and also shows how the maglev works.

After we went through the museum, we boarded the maglev and zoomed to the airport and back in less than fifteen minutes.

Then we went to the Shanghai Ritz Carlton Hotel for lunch. The lobby is on the 52nd floor and has a great view of the city.

After we ate, we went to the top of the Shanghai Tower, the second tallest building in the world! It had a great view from the top, and you could see Shanghai rolling on and on in every direction.

That afternoon, we went to a walking street with lots and lots of shops. Elise and I got souvenirs. After we finished our shopping spree, we had a great dinner. After dinner, Dad and I went home while everybody else did more shopping. The next day, we woke up, hung out, ate lunch, and then went to the airport to fly back to Hong Kong.