East Nanjing Road

          How does one even begin to describe a city like Shanghai, China!  With 14 million people it is one of the largest and most diverse cities in the world.  Its combination of traditional Chinese buildings, European colonial architecture and modern skyscrapers is sure to dazzle you.  I loved Shanghai and my two day visit was a spectacular way to bring my trip to China to a close.  There is so much to see in Shanghai, but for a busy tourist with a limited amount of time the main action is along East Nanjing Road and following it east to the point where it intersects the northernmost end of the Bund.  The Bund is a promenade running north-south along the Huangpu River and looking across the water one gets an unforgettable view of the fabulous skyline of Pudong, with its colorful new skyscrapers.

          Starting at People’s Square and Renmin Park on the west end of East Nanjing Road it is an easy walk along this mostly pedestrianized boulevard heading toward the Bund on the river.  Lined with fashionable shops it is crowded both day and night with businessmen, shoppers and hawkers, young families on an outing and lovers on a stroll.  You will get a real treat when the lights come on at night giving it an almost Disneyland-like feel.  There is much history along this road as well.  The Peace Hotel with its trademark green dome was a frequent meeting place for the Gang of Four, which included Mao’s last wife.  Here they plotted many of the excesses of the Cultural Revolution, for which they were all put on trial for treasonous crimes a month after Mao’s death in 1976.

          My headquarters during my stay in Shanghai was the Astor House Hotel, which I will feature in a future posting.  I only had time for a fleeting glance at the French Concession, Old Town and many other attractions in Shanghai, leaving plenty of reason to return to this beautiful city.  Coming next, the Bund, Pudong and the World Exposition.

East Nanjing Road by Day and Night