Distant Travellers Fashion

SATURDAY'S ADVENTURES

 http://distanttravellers.com/index.php/2017/04/04/day-2-of-the-china-chronicles/

After the excitement of the night before - the cool of the evening breeze on our faces as we shopped and explored - we awoke to a cool morning with the thought of breakfast and adventure on our minds.

In the light of the morning we were surprised at the intensity of colours in the flowers lining the streets, and the trees just starting to show their spring blossoms.  We strolled through People's Park, a public park in the Huangpu District of central Shanghai, on our way to the Metro. It is located south of Nanjing Road, which is a major shopping street, and north of People's Square.

   Be aware that wherever you travel in the world there will always be someone wanting to show you their shop, take you to a tea ceremony - you get the picture.  China is no different, and it wasn't long before two Chinese girls struck up a conversation - "please can you take our picture?"  Of course we could and with very well spoken English they engaged us in conversation about where we were from and then telling us they knew Sydney, Manly and Bondi, and did we drink tea?  And as they were walking the same way, "could they walk with us?"  My travel companion was suitably impressed with their knowledge of English and their friendly manner - her impression was shattered when I mentioned to them that neither of us drank tea, so really there was no point in us going to a tea ceremony or to their shop that they had mentioned casually in the conversation.

Back to the Metro.

A rather daunting experience at first, but we persevered and finally mastered the art of ticket purchase.  Our trip was slightly delayed as, when we descended the stairs to our Metro Station, we found ourselves in a mini shopping centre - and as all good tourists, we had to sample the food, the surroundings, and also purchase one or two items!!



We had only one thought on our minds this morning - to the fabric market.

The ride to our destination was quick, the train was clean, the stations were clean - and once again we were thrust up into the morning air not really knowing how to reach our destination - but all these people couldn't be wrong we thought and then we found a sign showing us the way.  Yes, the sign was both in Chinese and English.



Tailors and seamstresses and fabric and garments.  I was in heaven. It was hard to choose, but Jason was chosen to work his magic and produce an array of items for my travel buddy - all to be delivered to our hotel in a few days - all arrived on time and the workmanship was superb - the fabrics chosen according to the items ordered were perfectly matched.

We had managed to fit quite a bit in today - but the day was not over - and as we sat down to dinner we planned the events for the evening, which included walking, water and lights.





And off to The Bund we went. The Bund is a waterfront area in central Shanghai.  The area along the river faces the modern skyscrapers of the  Lujiazui in the Pudong Area.  It is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai. Building heights are restricted in the area.

It's at this point that I must add that the concept of distance to many Chinese is very different to what I grew up with.  A 30 minute walk to the ferry - wrong.  A six minute walk from the ticket office to the boat - wrong.  A further five minute walk to the boat when we felt we had gone way too far - wrong.  We only just made it to the ferry in time.  The one thing that was right was the wonder and amazement of the lights up and down the river, ever changing and brighter as the night sky surrounded us.  And being on a ferry was definitely the best way to see it all.  Walking along The Bund just isn't the same, it truly was a light show of spectacular proportions, and it is on every night.  As our boat adventure came to an end the clouds started to close in over the towers and buildings.  In a word - brilliant.