Shang-high II

I liked Shanghai a lot. It's a fascinating mix of old & new China with some Western leftovers. Comparing to Hong Kong there is a lot of space, streets are wider and buildings lower. But Shanghai still is a lot bigger, there's no chance you could see the whole city through the thick smog even if looking from the highest of towers, and it took us more than an hour by bus to get out of the city when the starting point was close to the People's Square in the city center.

Last time I wrote there's not that many must-see sights in Shanghai, which I kind of like, because then you don't feel like you have to do something or see something. With Sandra we went to the Yuyuan Garden, which was a pretty place, definitely worth a visit. It was built in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty for the emperor as a place to spend leisure time and stroll around. The garden is surrounded by high walls and on the other side there are so many tourists and shops and such a buzz, that entering to the quiet garden felt like stepping to another planet. It's located in the middle of Shanghai and there's some beautiful old architecture for visitors to see. There were a lot of tourists, but the garden was big enough for the people to spread around so it didn't feel too crowded.

And at this point I can confess one thing: there are many things I miss about Europe. That is probably the reason why I get so excited when a place, a restaurant, or a meal reminds me of Europe, or we go to a place that looks like "it could be in Europe". When walking by the Bund, we saw some old buildings that we both thought could be in Prague or Budapest, and when a church bell started ringing I got very strong Europe vibes from the place. Also there is an area in Shanghai called the French Concession, which is strongly influenced by the colonial times, and when walking down the Anfu Road I almost felt like home. We got a Western style lunch at a lovely bakery and some heavenly coffee, and I enjoyed it amazingly much. Chinese / Japanese / Korean / Taiwanese / Thai food are all very good, but getting some bread and cheese every once in a while is so good for my soul...

Anfu Road

Sandra & the best coffee in Asia so far

Sunflour :P~~~~

Some more Europe vibes

Art outside a bar entrance

Everyone traveling in big, touristic Chinese cities should be aware of the fact that there are a LOT of scams around, especially in Beijing and Shanghai. One of the basic scams is that two Chinese people spot you and come and talk to you - usually they have an excuse for doing so, for example to me and Sandra these people came and asked if we could take a picture of them. After taking the picture, they start a small talk, telling they're students, being very interested in your home country, being very polite, asking questions and being overall nice. Then they ask what are you going to do next, and whatever the answer is, they'll have a reason why you should not do it. First two people said that "Yuyuan garden is way too crowded at this hour, you won't even get in", and the next two people said that "You shouldn't walk to Xintiandi, it will take you more than an hour!"

The next step is that they'll suggest you a "tea house" or a "tea festival" where you should go with them to learn more about Chinese culture. At this point you can be 100% sure it is a scam. We didn't go because we had heard about the scam before, but if we did, what would have happened is that those two locals would make you buy or try some crappy teas, and in the end the bill would be insanely high, for example 200 euros. At this point if you start to argue that the price is too high and you didn't know it would be so expensive, the owner of the tea house is totally in the scam as well, and everybody will tell you to pay the bill or they will "call the police". This scam is so common and I've heard several people falling into this trap... If you're a man traveling alone, there's a similar scam in which two hot Chinese girls come and talk to you and invite you for a drink so that they can practice their English. They'll take you to a bar in which the staff is in the scam as well, and at some point the girls just disappear or leave, and the lonely traveler is left behind with a bill full of the most expensive drinks of the bar, everything overpriced, or there's drinks nobody even drank.

Even if it would be nice to be able to trust everybody, it's better not to.

Those sneaky Chinese people...