Shanghai - part 6

It's been a long, tiring day. The weather was much colder - only 12 degrees Celsius - and windy. Today John and I hit the Shanghai Museum and Nanjing Road by ourselves. The museum has interesting information and items about the history of China. It has 4 floors and we started at the top. We spent 1.5 hours on the 4th floor and by the time we saw 3/4 of the 3rd floor, many bus groups were arriving and the exhibits were getting more crowded plus I was getting tired and quite hungry (ok, admittedly quite crabby too). We made our exit and after a bit of a snack, we strolled a short ways along Nanjing Road, one of the traditional shopping streets. I am not a big fan of shopping and being approached every 5 feet by pushy hawkers was not pleasant for me (and feeling crabby didn't help). We took a different road and walked to the river and hung out there until the Younkins met us. All of us went to some area alleyways that show what life is like for most Shanghainese: small, crampy living quarters going right to the alleys which were full of people and shops displaying and cooking their goods. Quite a mix of sounds, sights, and smells. Seeing some of the Shanghai skyscrapers through the alleys gave a view of the juxtaposition. We had dinner at the Bund Brewery and then strolled along the Bund (waterfront) and admired the lights of the skyline. Below are some photos from our day.

As always, click on the photo for a larger image. Also, feel free to leave comments on the blog.

The Shanghai Museum building is based on a shape of an ancient Chinese ding vessel.

Jade

Jade "unknotters" (enlarge to read the signage)

Jade carved designed based on the colors of the jade itself.

Furniture: wood carved screen

Ancient currency

Ancient currency

Scroll painting

Official seals

Official seals (the mirror shows the seal on the bottom of the decorative "handle")

Cara, Joey, Ron, and John walking in an alleyway community

Mmm, the kids wanted watermelon

Anyone up for a cooked octupus on a stick?

Decorative pineapple

Crawly things from the sea

Pig snouts and other pieces

Ron and Molly in an alley with Pearl Tower in the background

Live fowl: ducks, chickens, and pigeons

Main ingredient for turtle soup

Fishy things

John and Amy on the Bund at night (skyline of Pudong side)

Night view of the Shanghai (Pudong) skyline

Night view of Shanghai (Puxi) skyline

Huangpu River and floating billboard

The changing neon light designs on skyscrapers