Shanghai & Hangzhou

[naim]

Shanghai South Railway Station

In my travels, I've been to countless major train stations in Europe and Asia, but this one is just mind-boggling! The only complaint are the toilets - enter and it's like inside a huge ammoniac chamber, thanks to the omnipresent pissing crowd ... and I swear I saw a pile of fresh sh*t in a urinal!

I'm a difficult person to surprise or impress, but here, I'm truly bewildered! It's like underneath a huge umbrella, and we are indeed the rare few foreigners around. Locals can spot us miles away and eyeball us.


World's first circular terminal, completed 2006. This is the waiting area, the platforms are below, via escalators, with 13 railtracks. Huge airport-like ambience, but I'd still avoid it during Chinese New Year!

[Inggo]

[naim]

With our virtually nil knowledge of Mandarin, getting the right tix for the right trains can get tedious, but hey, that's part of independent travel. Tix for fast 'D' trains from Hangzhou to Shanghai South were sold out for the day (!), so we had to be happy with the much slower and delayed 'K' train, which took us almost 3 hrs of travel time. But for the return Shanghai South to Hangzhou journey, we got seats on the coveted 'D' train.



The comfy top-end 'D' express train whisked us from Shanghai South to Hangzhou in less than 1.5hrs, at a top speed of 170km/h, comparable to the fast trains we've used in Europe, Japan & Korea. They are building a maglev line between the 2 cities, and construction of the impressive viaducts can be seen from our fast train. Once operational the maglev trains will fly at 400km/h+ !

[stimix]

wah much bigger & nicer than KL Sentral...BTW, you snap the fresh sh*t pic or not

[naim]

wah much bigger & nicer than KL Sentral...BTW, you snap the fresh sh*t pic or not

no time lah, i was holding my breath because of the 'ammonia', did my pee and left asap!

[Inggo]

wah much bigger & nicer than KL Sentral...BTW, you snap the fresh sh*t pic or not

no time lah, i was holding my breath because of the 'ammonia', did my pee and left asap!

haha
just bring your handkerchief with perfume always..

[naim]

Shanghai is a must-visit for any traveler, just to witness The Bund with its fantastic Pudong view, the Huangpu River, East Nanjing (shopping) St, and maybe the Expo grounds. Also to explore the backstreets of The Bund for historical old European buildings which they maintain and protect. Unlike us here where we demolish, destroy, hack 'em all to the ground, just to sell the land!



On-site documentation provides a glimpse into a bygone era.

[naim]

Shanghai *is* The Bund, and here, on the 1-km long esplanade along the western bank of the 450m-wide Huangpu River, the towers of the Pudong financial district are a sight to behold, even on a miserable hazy humid day.


But come night, it's a complete transformation, buildings trying to outdo each other with their magical light displays, while on the river, equally colourful boats attempt to steal the show like little clowns in a circus ring. I've seen the watery skylines of Hong Kong, Sydney, NY, Vancouver, etc, but I can tell you, Shanghai's the sexiest!

[naim]

The parade of floating lights on the Huangpu River at night is a definite must-see!

[mkbp]

great shots naim. i'hv never been to shanghai but the HK night skyline is more extravagant & lively.any problems w food there?