Mad About Shanghai

China Train Travel

If you ever wondered how the bunks in the train networks in China are, here are some pics:

I once heard this "Air travel is about destination. Rail travel is about process". Do you agree?

Pictures from Lori

Ticket Prices for Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Rail Revealed

 Tickets prices for the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway has been released.

There are two categories of ticket prices:

Trains running at 300 kph

555 yuan (85.6 U.S. dollars) for second-class

1,750 yuan for business class.

Trains running at 250 kph

From 410 yuan for second-class

From 650 yuan for first-class

There  300 kph trains will cut travel time to 4 hours and 48 minutes. The 250 kph trains will complete the trip in about 8 hours.

 The entire projects costs US$33 billion dollars with a line length of 1318 km.

Shanghai to Beijing : Mercedes Benz B Class F Cell

From the automobile exhibition "Auto Shanghai" the three Mercedes-Benz, B-Class F-CELL cars set off on their journey through China, which took them to the capital Beijing on 24 April. With this leg, the final and longest leg of the F-CELL World Drive began: all in all, the fuel cell powered cars will each absolve around 9000 kilometres until they again reach European soil in Russia 20 days later. From there the tour will start its homeward journey to Germany via Scandinavia. Before setting off from Shanghai, the F-CELL World Drive had already travelled half the globe: since its start at the end of January the tour successfully crossed southern Europe, North America and Australia.

Lets take a look at some of the pictures taken when they journeyed in China:

 Pictures courtesy of Mercedes Benz

Shanghai - Hangzhou High Speed Rail Line

China officially opened the Shanghai - Hangzhou high speed rail line yesterday. Now it takes a mere 45 mins (compared to the 80 mins by normal rail)  to get to Hangzhou from Shanghai.

With this new addition, China's total high speed rail is now 7431 lm long, three times longer than Japan.

Nikon Shutterbugs in Suzhou

While taking a break in one of the Suzhou parks, I noticed a small crowd gathering around a table. I walked closer and noticed that a group of camera enthusiasts, obviously Nikon ones were taking a rest too. They pooled their cameras together on the table attracting many shutterbugs which struck up conversations with them and exchanging photography tips.

One of them joking said that they were auctioning off their cameras for RMB20 a pound to raise money to go back to their hometown :D

A Walk in Suzhou

Another place you can consider for a quick getaway instead of Hangzhou is Suzhou which is about 2 hours by train away from Shanghai.

I was in Suzhou and I saw these two chickens in a basket in the middle of a park. They dont look like cocks so I dont think its a cock fight about to start.

What could they be for ? I wonder..

A Review on Yiwu (Part 4)

  

Grace needed to go on a train to Wuhan a few hours later than me so she decided to go with me to the train station. After dinner, we saw a nice looking XinJiang BBQ food stall and decided to buy some.

Maybe it was very cold that day but the BBQ food was very nice! So nice that we ordered a second round. Too engrossed, with the eating, we lost track of time and with very little time left we tried to hail a taxi. Frantically looking for one, we managed to flag down a taxi with a passenger already inside (cab sharing is a common practice in Yiwu).

When I got into the cab, my train was suppose to depart in 15 minutes time. I have no intention to spend the night in Yiwu. Thankfully, the passenger already in the cab was understanding and let us go ahead first. I dont condone dangerous driving but I really have the taxi driver to thank. I think he dashed past a few red lights when he saw how anxious we were. Initially, he thought we were kidding with him to pressurize him to drive faster!

When I reached the train station, I was left with only three minutes to train departure. Grace told me to run to the departure gate which I did and pushed my way to the front. When I reached the front, I asked one of the passengers in the queue. She told me the train was delayed for 20 mins! Whew..!

Some time later, the train came. I gave Grace a hug and I departed for Shanghai.

A Review on Yiwu (Part 1)

If you are looking to export accessories and components from China into other parts of the world in mass quantity, in addition to the Shen Zhen and Dongguan, you can consider sourcing from the town of Yiwu which is in Zhejiang province and 3 hours by train away from Shanghai. 

There is a giant building and I mean GIANT building in Yiwu with parts and components that serves probably all the export requirements that you have. To walk from one end of the build to the other end takes more 2 hours. Yes. Its not my typo. More than two hours from one end to another. There are probably more than 20,000 shops in that building catering to anything from cooking ware to machinery.

I have an ex-colleague, Grace, that moved to the town of Yiwu and she invited me to pay a day trip there. 

When I arrived, I know this would be a very different town when I saw a policeman kicking a taxi challenging the driver to come down for a one to one confrontation. 

The first thing we did is to go to a nearby hotel Korgan Hotel which is Turkish themed hotel for some middle eastern food. Both of us were hungry. There are quite a lot of middle eastern traders stationed there and thus one can see a lot of middle eastern restaurants and hotels there.

Upon arrival, we thought the hotel and restaurant were closed as the lights are all off. Later on, we discovered that as there no patrons there, they have switched off the lights to conserve energy and even when we started to dine, they did not switch on the lights instead urging us to open the windows. In the name of energy conservation, we did it :)

On the plus note, we had the restaurant all to ourselves and a private "butler" simply because there are no other guests there!

We did not really know what we ordered but something like pizza came:

  

You can see the dark environment which we ate in below:

 

5 things to do in Shanghai besides the World Expo

A few weeks ago, I contributed a short article to the National Geographic Traveler official blog, Intelligent Traveler on the things one can do in Shanghai besides visiting the World Expo.

Heres a few things you can consider doing if you are visiting Shanghai for the first time:

Shop

If you are looking for custom-made business wear, the prices at the Lu Jia Bang Road Fabric Market are unbeatable. Tailored shirts, suits and overcoats can be made for a fraction of the price you would otherwise pay in Western countries. US$80 can get you a well-tailored suit. A good cashmere overcoat or qipao should be around US$90. Don't be afraid to haggle for the best price!

Eat

Dine at Bao Luo (Paul's) for a taste of authentic Shanghai cuisine in an informal and bustling setting. There are many star dishes in this restaurant but my favorite is the gigantic pan-fried buns. This is also the spot for supper after a long day of work or after some late night partying. Address: 271 Fu Ming Road,
 Near Chang Le Road.

Nightlife

Hengshan Road is a street in the former Shanghai French Concession of Shanghai. Many of the mansions along the road have been converted into bars, nightclubs, and restaurants, which makes Hengshan Road one of Shanghai's more vibrant nightlife districts.

Explore

Seeking a quiet night out? Visit Tian Zi Fang at Tai Kang Road (Art Street). Tian Zhi Fang, which is at the heart of Tai Kang Road, consists of many art studios and galleries embedded in a mixture of old brick houses (shikumen) and old Shanghai alleys. These studios feature many works of design, painting and photography. A great way to experience a slice of Old Shanghai amid an artistic setting.

Relax

After a long day of walking, the best thing you can do to soothe those tired muscles is to go for a foot massage. Have your senses (and feet) tickled by a foot masseur as she contorts your back, slaps your calves and pummels the soles of your feet. Once, a masseur asked me if I overate at dinner after pressing a specific section of my foot. She was right. Amazing! Oddly therapeutic. Weirdly pleasant.

You can view the published version on National Geographic Traveler official blog here:

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/03/mad-about-shanghai.html

Thanks Marilyn!

Trip to Hangzhou (Part 2)

Just beside West Lake, there is Xihutiandi (West Lake World, loosely translated). It is Hangzhou's rendition of Xintiandi albeit a different theme.

In Xihutiandi, there is a very cosy cafe call Hangzhou Wine & Tea (杭州茶酒年代). Very cosy, great atmosphere, good view (glass all round) and great selection of beverages too.

Check it out if you are there. Their website here.