Far Away From Home

At heights, with Lemon Grass in my hands and a view over PuDong, I look outside.

The Bund (外灘). It offers the most spectacular cityscape of Shanghai, and in one way reminds me of the Victoria Harbour (維多利亞港) in Hong Kong. At NanJingDongRoad (南京東路), the Oriental Pearl Tower (東方明珠塔) stands over at LuJiaZui (陸家嘴), accompanied by several skyscrapers that exist no where more than a decade ago. A few blocks ahead lies the very first hotel in Shanghai, the Peace Hotel (和平飯店), and down there a stretching lane for tourists to stroll.

Along the coastline, every building is classified as First-Class Heritage, and will probably remain then. History, testimonies of the past, now are banks and bars. Each of the buildings amounts to billions CNY. As I asked, the coastline buildings range from some millions to hundred millions per apartment CNY. Ummm.

The passers-by were mostly foreigners. Foreigners, yes, almost all. If you are afraid that you cannot get into the venue because you are a Chinese, here is the de facto solution : Respond in English or Cantonese “What?”, or Mandarin in heavy accent. I assure you it works great unless you are in doublets or shorts for guys.

Where I am now, are filled with rich history. Sitting here, my friends and I were enjoying our drinks and chatting over our past, and my latrine experience. We talk about everything, and the cityscape view beside. Disappointing for one fact, the lights in Shanghai go out at ten sharp, which is rather early for such a city. Next time I will come earlier. Then, I wonder, where should I go next? The other side overlooking this side?

I was shown not the best view tonight of Shanghai. But for a moment, I fell in love with this metropolis.