A visit to Shanghai, China

Shanghai is a very old city dating back to French and British colonial history in China. But it also has a modern side. The Chinese government has expanded the city on the east side of the Huangpu river (called PuDong or east of the river) whereas the historical city is on the western bank (called PuXi or west of the river). PuDong is where we stayed and it is a very modern, spacious area. Here are some photos from in and around our hotel.

This is a view of the river from our hotel room. PuXi is on the other side. We were on the 28th floor.

 Right outside our hotel is a huge elevated pedestrian walkway that goes around a traffic circle. There were a lot of tourists and pedestrians crossing the streets here and so the elevated walkway was installed to speed up traffic and prevent gridlock due to pedestrians clogging the streets.

 The reason for the walkway is that the Oriental Pearl Tower (not as new as the rest of PuDong) is right there. The walkway can be accessed via escalators. I think there is also an elevator but I am not sure.

 We were in the middle of the financial district. These 3 building - the one on the right is still under construction - represent the tallest buildings in the area. There are two towers in the center. One is silhouetted against the other.

 A view of the Oriental Pearl Tower from the walkway.

 Here is the traffic circle with the walkway and the base of the tower. There is a lot of green space in PuDong. The streets are wider than in PuXi and there is less traffic congestion. The buildings in the background are in PuXi so there are also tall, modern buildings there in addition to the historical areas.

 We are currently in the year of the dragon per the Chinese calendar so there is a dragon near the traffic circle. Lots of flowers as you can see.

 The walkway is always full of people. It is definitely nice to be able to stand and browse without having to worry about the cars.

 Another view of the walkway and an interesting triangular building in the background. The architecture in PuDong is very eclectic. All sorts of interesting shapes.

 PuDong at night. Everything is lit up at night. You can see the two buildings in the center more clearly at night.

I took this photo at night. It looks across the river at a building that looks as if it has a flower on top of it. The flower effect is more pronounced at night. The reason this is so bright is because this area has a lot of street lights due to it being a pedestrian area. Right behind the car is an area by the river where one can walk or stroll.

This is not a representative view of Shanghai. There are a lot of more crowded areas and definitely this area is very prosperous and spacious. But it was nice to spend time there and it was not what I expected, so I thought I would share.