This very modern and interesting exhibition, which traces the huge urban development projects which have taken place in recent years was oh so interesting. The highlight is a whole floor dedicated to a scale model of Shanghai showing all existing and approved buildings....already showed you shots of it but will remind those of you with senior moments...that would include me.
Themed on city, citizens, environment and development, this exhibit aims to display the past, present and future of Shanghai. This 5 story building is a beaut. It opened in 2000 and the exhibits and building have been maintained so much that it looks like it opened up 6 months ago. Pleep enjoyed running from all over the model as it was the perfect size for him to get to know the city. He charmed the guards so they looked the other way as he played King Kong on the skyscrapers. Ever searching for his Fay Ray. He also enjoyed the Zone of Integrated Transportation and Urban Planning and had a blast with all of the touch screens. Very clear that transportation is the lifeline of a city- note to American Mayors- excellent point. Over 5 million visitors have been to this awesome exhibit.
SHANGHAI MUSEUM
The Shanghai Museum, established in 1952, is a world famous large museum boasting a collection of 120,000 pieces of Chinese cultural relics including bronze, ceramics, calligraphy, painting, sculpture, furniture, jades, ivory carvings, oracle bones???, seals, coins and moola (Bubba's favorite) wood and lacquer ware. We split up as Bubba and Boca like to look at different stuff- Bubs got David and I got the Pleepster. Truly a world class display of fascinating items in an architecturally brilliantly designed building. Pleep hopped over to the tea room and joined a few Chinese guys for some of that Ginseng tea...while not a cold brewski (his favorite) he thought what the hay...when in Rome.
Boca hit up the oh so fabulous gift shop. Not cheap by any means, rather pricey, but the goods were well worth the pricing. Unique and high quality, it was a pleasure to spend her Yuans here. Hope her sisters will recognize the diff in scarf quality! Boca tried on a few of the Mandarin style blouses but no- ol Boca's you know what's are not made for tiny Chinese sizing....boo hoo. She had visions of a swaree at the house with the Opium Den theme- oh so exotic- trying some of those Chinese roots as well! Next stop out the back door, right on the People's Park and Square. The weather was perfect and so was the park...
PEOPLES PARK
The sight of the former Racecourse of the 1930's is the Peoples Park and a great place to walk, gossip, exercise or just watch the world go buy. This weather perfect Sunday the park was loaded with children and their mommies, daddies and Nini and YeahYeah-grandparents. 
That's the Shanghai Grand Theater in the background-more innovative architecture. We had such a super time watching the children play in the fountain, eat their treats and best of all interact with the grandparents and parents too. More swooning for some of our own one day...no pressure Nick or Al...ha ha.
SHANGHAI EXHIBITION CENTER
The enormous Shanghai Exhibition Center certainly doesn't fit architecturally with most of what is going on in Shanghai today-one of the few reminders of the influence the Soviet ONCE HAD in Shanghai. Built in 1954 it used to be called the Palace of Sino-Soviet Friendship and designed as a place to display China's technological advances and agriculture advances. The big red star is there as a reminder of who is still in charge. They were hosting an exhibition on Franchising. Franchising? And every person we saw was Chinese...not a westerner in the mix. We tried to sneak in but to no success. So after poking around the outside of the building Pleep and I hung around the front door while Bubba read the paper in the van. I so wanted to quiz the attendees and find out what they were looking for, where would they get the money to buy a franchise, how would they know to run a franchise and on and on. Many in China think themselves "grassroots"- caogen. By the looks of this crowd there appears to be a lot of interest in franchising and opportunity for these grass root thinkers. Many of the franchise opportunities were fast food related...all Chinese?? What about the idea that the next bubble could be farmland? Note to self-LEARN MANDARIN SOON! Foreign funds: now is the time for Chinese property. Don't forget Boca gave you this very excellent tip. Looking for a new home in Shanghai?
GOLD TEMPLE AKA JING'AN TEMPLE
WOW-that's a whole lotta gold David. "Yes, it is the rich monk's temple." The what? Located across the street fro the Jing'an Pak which contains the old Bubbling Well Cemetery. Jing'an Temple is one of the city's most revered places for ancestor worship. During the Cultural Revolution it was turned into a plastics factory and reopened in 2006 after being completely rebuilt. In the 1930's it was Shanghai's wealthiest Temple and holds that title once again today.
Very crowded and some interesting traditions. The long red ribbons are purchased-$15 each!- so one can hang it in the temple in honor of a loved one dead or alive- a wish of sorts. Bubba couldn't take one more temple so he had the driver take him back to the hotel...of course Pleep stayed with me. He had heard about all the coin tossing going on at the Jing'an. Batter up! A place to offer coins and pray for financial success...must be that special brand of Buddhism- the new and improved Shanghai Buddhism on Steroids.THE SHANGHAI WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER
This super tall-1,614 ft- which consists of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks and shopping malls on the ground floors was topped out in 2007. Naturally, old Boca had to get up on that observation deck-the tallest observation deck in the world! Located in Pudong, in the middle of the Finance and Trade Zone this building embodies the vertical garden city. And boy do you see that view from up here. Very cutting edge- expected of a world class building. Again, with the glass floor and this time I walked all over it and even looked down. Yes that's me on that bridge over the trapezoid cut out called the Sky Walk-100, 97, and 94. Brilliantly designed for observing. What a venue for a party and yes you can. The bar area was a sleek space to enjoy a glass of wine and just look down on Shanghai. A place to grill our guide on growing up in China and life today. We were up there for 3 hours!! Ah and right across the street is the hole for the soon to be TALLEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD ....slated for completion 2014. Boca must come back for an observation visit in that one!
CHEERS!
