After we wrapped up production, I decided i was going to stay in China for an extra 12 days. I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go but by the end of the shoot I figured out a game plan. Although I already saw a lot of big cities, I decided to head to Shanghai since it was only a few hours away by train. After a difficult time buying a train ticket, I was on my way!!! (As a side note, China is a somewhat difficult country to travel in due to not only the language barrier but also the fact they use a whole different written language!!! Make sure to get key phases, locations, etc written in characters before trying to buy a train ticket. I had this all written down and still had a hard time)
I love traveling by train and unfortunately this was one of the only train trips I got to take. The train i was on was very clean and pretty fast. After 3 hours I was in Shanghai.
I only stayed in Shanghai for 2 days and both days were pretty overcast but I really liked the city. Honestly its probably because it is much more western then Beijing and felt a lot more manageable then Beijing. I spent my time in Shanghai just wondering around and found some pretty cool markets off the beaten path.
The only downer to Shanghai was all the construction, even worst then other cities. The 2010 World Expo is being held in Shanghai, so there is a massive amount of construction currently going on. The famous "Burd" was all torn up, which was disappointing. Oh well, I'm sure I'll pass through Shanghai again at some point in my life!
Looking towards the Burd
Most of Shanghai's water front looked like this due to all the construction.
Back alleyways in the "old town" section of Shanghai
Shanghai alleyways
The closest thing i saw to "street art."
About 5 minutes away from here are the all the tourist markets... glad i found these first.
There are still a lot of bikes in Shanghai. I'm sure not as many as 10 years ago, but there are still a lot.
and then in total contrast is the worlds fastest train. This thing was pretty remarkable to ride.