Tianzifang
We weren’t hungry enough to think of breakfast and headed out to Tianzifang by metro. This is a pretty and touristy area located in the French concession, that is home to boutiques, cafes and watering holes.
The area seems to have expanded a little since our last visit. The products on sale are now more mainstream whereas last time, I saw some interesting shit: e.g. make-believe sleeping cats that were super life-like and drinks packed in IV drip pouches.
With my tummy now calling out for food, we looked in the surrounding street area and found some delicious filled Chinese flat-bread, freshly cooked in a tandoor.
Tianzifang.
Liujiazui Financial District
We continued by metro to the Liujiazui Financial District on the Pudong side, just over the river from Nanjing Road.
The area had only a few buildings when we were here in 2001. It is reasonably built up now with enough commercial and eating outlets as well.
We took a wander along the waterfront to look across at the Bund before returning to the metro station area for a meal.
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- Oriental Pearl Tower in Liujiazui.
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- Looking at the Bund and Shanghai from Liujiazui.
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- Around Liujiazui.
Despite showing the staff at the eatery, photos of my two meal choices, she got it wrong. We ended up with two different kinds of noodles rather than one noodle and one set of pan-fried buns.
Yuyuan
Kim wanted his milk tea before we headed out and we grabbed this at the upstairs food court next door. I had been eyeing the big panfried buns from another floor and we finally got one. OMG, it was divine: crunchy on the outside but still fluffy, filled with a delicious ball of beef.
We took the metro to Yuyuan, a touristy shopping area built in Chinese style architecture around a historic tea house and adjacent to the Yuyuan Garden (which we have never visited in all our visits to Shanghai).
On the way, we found stall selling delicious mango and we bought a box of the cut fruit.
The Yuyuan area seems to have expanded considerably compared to what we can remember. The glassed-ins stalls where people smashed crab claws for the meat to put into dumplings are no longer there.
We stayed long enough to get a feel of the place by night before walking to the Bund.
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- Yuyuan’s historic teahouse.
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- Someone dressing up near Yuyuan.
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- At Yuyuan.
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- Detail of the old style buildings at Yuyuan.
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- Detail of the old style buildings at Yuyuan.
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- Detail of the old style buildings at Yuyuan.
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- Golden building at Yuyuan.
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- Golden building at Yuyuan.
The Bund by night
It wasn’t far to get from Yuyuan to the Bund.
Once on the Bund, we walked towards the north, taking in the historic western buildings on our left. These buildings were offices for big names that are now associated with banks, shipping companies etc but at that time were responsible for selling opium into China.
On the right, we had the river and across it, the highly-illuminated ultra-modern financial district.
We turned left into Nanjing Road and enjoyed the lively commercial scene all the way to our hotel area. I grabbed a giant skewer for dinner and Kim had a few bites. That seemed to be enough for the both of us.
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- The Bund by night.
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- The Bund by night, looking towards the historic buildings.
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- The Bund by night, looking towards the financial district across the Huangpu River.
