The day started with a visit to the Shanghai Museum. I showed you the building in yesterday's post, and then today I spent some time inside. The building is shaped with a square base and a round top attached with arches like a bronze Ding, indicating the ancient Chinese philosophy of the universe that the earth is square while the sky is round. There are over one million pieces in the museum's collection and nearly 130, 000 of them are national treasures. The earliest exhibits were made 6000 years ago, in the prehistoric age.
(Here is the photo of the museum again - just to remind you what it looks like.)
I can't possibly describe all the wonderful exhibits that I saw in the museum, but I'll try and give you a little insight into some of them, and the history behind them.
China is a large country and it consists of 56 ethnic groups of people. Costumes of these ethnic peoples, as symbols of their cultures, vary greatly in material, design, colour, style and associated ornaments with their different ways of life, modes of production, religious faiths, aesthetic standards and geographical environments. Beautiful textiles with woven, printed or embroidered designs and distinctive artifacts such as metal ware, lacquer ware, pottery, masks and carved and knitted works are the reflection of peoples' wisdom in art creation, skills of craftmanship and deep love for life.
This is a wooden fishing boat with carved and painted designs, from the Gaoshan nationality - the people living in the Lanyu Island. The carved designs on both sides are the clan marks, which have been painted brightly in red, white and black.
Classical Chinese furniture developed from ancient times. The change of habit from kneeling or sitting cross-legged on a platform to sitting with ones legs hanging down gave rise to the furniture of level height. The Ming furniture is characterized by a simple and elegant structure with fluent lines and appealing proportions. The Qing furniture in contrast is larger and more imposing with elaborate carving and inlaid decoration.
Chinese painting, a national fine art of China, is celebrated for its long history and distinctive styles. It emphasizes the execution of lines by brush strokes without any perspective limitation in subject expression, thus initiating a special painting system in the world of fine art.
Pottery emerged in the prehistorically Neolithic period when human beings started to have a settled life and use fire for living. The phenomenon that burnt mud or clay becomes harder enlightened people to make their daily utensils with mud or clay by firing.
I particularly liked the pieces of pottery from the Tang dynasty (618-907).
The Bronze Age in China started in 21st century BC and lasted about 2000 years through Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. The bronzes, as a precious metal ware, were mainly used for ceremonial purposes by the upper class at that time. The variety and quantity of the bronzes used in an occasion was a reflection of the owner's social status and power. It was cast in a great variety of categories, sophisticated shapes and beautiful designs. The bronzes were distributed primarily in the middle and lower reaches of both the Yellow and Changjiang rivers and some remote border areas. The ancient Chinese bronze technology is one of the most important achievements of Chinese civilization.
The Chinese sculptural art can be traces back to the prehistoric stone carving and pottery making. The large numbers of pottery and wooden funeral figurines of human beings and animals of the Warring States period and Qin and Han dynasties (5th century BC - AD 220) exemplified the native Chinese sculptural art. Along with the introduction of Buddhism in the the turn of Western and Eastern Han dynasties (1st century), Buddhist sculpture developed quickly in China.
I meant to include this photo yesterday when I was talking about the buildings as it's located near the museum - this is the Shanghai's City Hall.
Next on our agenda today was an area known as "The Bund". The Bund is a waterfront area in central Shanghai which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River - it is the former Shanghai International Settlement. The Bund is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai and building heights are restricted in this area.
The Shanghai Bund has dozens of historical buildings, lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy, Russia, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Russia and Britain, a newspaper, the Shanghai Club and the Masonic Club. It was initially a British settlement; later the British and American settlements were combined in the International Settlement. Magnificent commercial buildings in the Beaux Arts style sprung up in the years around the turn of the 20th century as the Bund developed into a major financial centre of East Asia. By the 1940s the Bund housed the headquarters of many of the major financial institutions operating in China, including the "big four" national banks in the Republic of China era. However, with the Communist victory in the Chinese civil war, many of the financial institutions were moved out in the 1950s, and the hotels and clubs closed or were converted to other uses. The statues of colonial figures and foreign worthies which had dotted the riverside were also removed.
The Customs House is an eight storey building on the Bund. Built in 1927, the building remains a customs house today.
The HSBC Building is a six-floor neo-classical building along the Bund. It was the headquarters of the Shanghai branch of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation from 1923 to 1955 and currently it houses the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. Construction began in 1921 and it was completed in 1923.
Peace Hotel is a hotel on The Bund. The hotel today operates as two separate businesses. The North Building, built as Sassoon House is today the Fairmont Peace Hotel; The South Building was built as the Palace Hotel and is today the Swatch Art Peace Hotel. The larger North Building (the brown building with the green, cone-shaped roof) was built by Sir Victor Sassoon, of the famous Sassoon family who dominated Shanghai business and real estate in the early 20th century. Separated from the North Building by busy Nanjing Road, the South Building (the smaller red-brick building on the left) was constructed as the Palace Hotel in 1908 and when built, the six story hotel was the tallest building on Nanjing Road.
To the right of the Peace Hotel is the Bank of China Building. Previously the headquarters of the Bank of China, it now houses the Shanghai Branch of the Bank of China. The stunted appearance of the building is attributed to Victor Sassoon's insistence that no other building on the Bund could rise higher than his.
The Waibaidu Bridge (called the Garden Bridge in English) is the first all-steel bridge, and the only surviving example of a camelback truss bridge, in China. It is at the estuary of the Suzhou Creek where it meets the Huangpu River, adjacent to the Bund, and it was opened in 1908. Behind the bridge you can see a large brown building which is The Broadway Mansions. It is a nineteen-floor Art Deco five star hotel, one of the most famous hotels in Shanghai. Completed in 1934, it was the tallest apartment building in Shanghai and remained so for several decades. Its completion signalled the commencement of the high-rise building era in Asia.
Looking south down the Bund:
At the northern end of The Bund, along the riverfront, is Huangpu Park, in which is situated the Monument to the People's Heroes - a tall, abstract concrete tower which is a memorial for the those who died during the revolutionary struggle of Shanghai dating back to the First Opium War.
And on the other side of the Huangpu River is the area known as the Pudong District. Formerly a little-developed agricultural area that was linked only by ferries, Pudong has grown rapidly since the 1990s and emerged as China's financial and commercial hub. I was absolutely amazed at what has been built in only 20 years, and the building continues! Pudong is home to the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and many of Shanghai's best known buildings, such as the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Building, and the Shanghai World Financial Centre. It is also the site of the future Shanghai Tower. These modern skyscrapers face directly across from the historic Bund a remnant of a former concession in China.
Pudong district skyline
This is the Oriental Pearl Tower
I'm going to come back to Pudong again later in the day, and when I do I'll have some photos for you of the view from the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Building.
Before that though, next on the agenda for today was a visit to Shanghai's Old City. The Old City of Shanghai is the most ancient area of Shanghai It is circular in shape even today, and used to be surrounded by a defensive wall. Large avenues now surround the Old City where the defensive wall used to be and modern, high-rise buildings are progressively encroaching on the ancient winding streets.
In the middle of the Old City is City God Temple. Many walled cities in ancient China contained a temple dedicated to one or more immortal or god as the spirit(s) or protector(s) of the city. The City God Temple in Shanghai originated as the Jinshan God Temple, dedicated to the spirit of Jinshan, or "Gold Mountain", an island off the coast of Shanghai. It was converted into a City God Temple in 1403, during the Ming dynasty and today the temple now has resident Taoist priests.
Also located within the Old City is Yuyuan Garden, first built during the Ming dynasty, over 400 years ago, as the private garden of Pan Yunduan, a government employee of Sichuan Province. With an area of over two hectares the garden has been renovated over the years and is now a beautiful, quiet, and scenic place to spend time.
The next thing I did today was something to simply be able to say "I've done that" - and this is ride the "Maglev" - the magnetic levitation train. The top operational commercial speed of this train is 431 km/h, making it the world's fastest train in regular commercial service. (And during a non-commercial test just before it opened, a maglev train achieved a Chinese record speed of 501 km/h.) The top operational speed of 431 km/h is even faster than the top speed of any Formula One car.
The train line connects Shanghai Pudong International Airport and the outskirts of the Pudong district and from there you can interchange to the Shanghai Metro (subway) to continue into the city centre.
At full speed, the journey takes 7 minutes and 20 seconds to complete the distance of 30 km.
The Maglev train coming into the station
At one point during the journey the two trains running to and from the airport pass each other. There's a big 'bang' noise and a strong vibration on the train, and in less than one second the two have passed. I sort of think this photo is really nothing but luck - on the return trip I was concentrating as hard as I could to get a photo while the two trains were passing. It was quite the experience!
Back in the Pudong district again, this time to get an aerial view. The building on the left is the Jin Mao Tower,
and this is what Shanghai looks like from the 88th floor!
The building under construction is the Shanghai Tower. It is due to be completed in 2014 and will be 632 metres high with 121 storeys. This will make it the tallest building in China and the second tallest building in the world (with the tallest being the Burj Khalifa in Dubai).
The Shanghai World Financial Centre - or the top of it anyway.
The Grand Hyatt Shanghai occupies levels 53 - 87 of the Jin Mao Tower, and from the 88th floor you can look down into the atrium on the 56th floor.
Back down on the ground again, and now I was off to an area known as Xintiandi. Xintiandi, which means "New Heaven and Earth", is an affluent, car-free, shopping, eating and entertainment district of Shanghai. This area was once a dilapidated strip of shikumen buildings and the area was later bought by film star Jackie Chan who restored the buildings.
I took these photos while I was travelling on the bus at various times throughout the day. They are very typical of the scenery I saw as I was driving around Shanghai.
Approaching the Nanpu Bridge
Crossing over the Huangpu River
Getting ready to have dinner
I wonder who might belong to this laundry?
Tonight was wonderful - back at the Huangpu River again for an evening cruise on the river. The nightscapes of both the Bund and Pudong district were absolutely beautiful! It was a great way to end a VERY busy, full-on but excellent day!
Pudong district at night
I Love Shanghai (SH)
The Bund at night
The next morning we made one more stop before we left Shanghai, and that was at a local silk museum. I know I already told you a bit about the silk industry in a blog post when I was in Cambodia so I won't repeat myself, but I will post a few photos for you.
Mature silkworms just before they start to spin their cocoons
A slightly fancier machine than anything I saw in Cambodia - this separates all the threads of silk from the cocoons
Making a silk duvet
I was on my way to catch a plane to Yichang where I'm going to board my Yangtze River cruise!
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