We decided to take advantage of the time we had before school sucked us in to go visit “The Bund,” the old financial district of Shanghai with cool old buildings from where you have a spectacular view of the other more modern side of the river in Pudong:

Shanghai is split into two sides by the Huangpu river that flows through the middle.  
One side is called “Pudong” which translates as “East of the river.”  That’s the side we live on (but not really so close to this skyline).  It is pretty new-fangled and most of the buildings there were built within a ten year span, which is pretty fascinating.  The most well-known is the Pearl Tower (that one with the balls on the left).
The other side is called “Puxi” (“xi” means “west”).
Puxi is the older part of Shanghai…the more historical buildings that have been there for ages.
We visited when we were here eight years ago.  Us and all our little kids in tow on a drizzly summer evening.

We took the metro to go check it out with our bigger kids.

We got off the metro at Nanjing Road, which they call the “Times Square” of Shanghai.

And from there we walked down to the Bund.

Some day we will have a lesson on all the history in that place, but for this trip we were more mesmerized by the buildings across the river than the ones we were standing amongst.

Let’s take a closer look at these massive buildings for a minute:

See that one with the empty square in the middle?

That used to be the tallest building in Shanghai (and one of the tallest in the whole wide world).

It was under construction last time we were here eight years ago.

Look how much taller the new “Shanghai Tower” is!

Man, the competition for “tallest building on the planet” sure is a hot one.

Check out this video (skip to the end) of these guys who climbed this tower during construction.  It is almost painful to watch it makes me so nervous!

Elle and I both had our cameras going so please excuse the plethora of Pearl Tower-backdrop pictures.  We couldn’t resist.

Especially when kids are in the mood to pose.

There’s so much to take in looking over at all those new-fangled buildings that sometimes you forget to check out the cool old Puxi buildings right behind you.
They really are beautiful…I’ll have to get a better shot next time.

We took a ferry back to the Pudong side of the river to try to find some dinner.

Trooper:

She walked about five miles and rarely complained.  So proud of that girl.

My view of some of my favorite people as we walked:

 Lu and I lagged behind a little there at the end.

Needless to say after all that walking mingled with jet lag everyone was ready for bed by the end.

14 Comments

  1. So far I'm loving reading about your Shanghai adventures!
    Just to let you know, the 'Puxi' side is modeled to mimic the skyline of Liverpool, England! The building with the two tall towers with birds on top is called the 'Liver building', and the birds are called the 'Liver birds', one is looking over the water to make sure the ships coming in are ok, and the other is watching over the city.
    I used to live in Liverpool, but never got around to googling the Shanghai version of it! So there is a small bit of history for you! 🙂

  2. Not that you have ANY time…and I don't even know if you even can read your comments…but wondering if you have any Mandarin learning tips. My son is taking it this year in high school and it is HARD. I am working on it with him and we are both struggling.

  3. I am so happy for your family! What a great adventure!

    Our family doesn't have the finances to go on a trip right now, so we are very happy to see all your photos.

  4. Beautiful pictures.
    NO WAY! I could hardly watch that video. I am horrified of heights and there is NO WAY I would even climb 20 feet up, let alone that thing!!!!
    -Lisa

  5. I'm sure you've answered this before, but how do you get pics of the whole family when you're out and about? Do you trust a random stranger with your awesome camera? I would be too scared! I barely feel ok when I have someone take a picture with my regular basic camera!

  6. Love seeing this! AND the comments. I knew the Bund was fashioned after the British but didn't know that about Liverpool when we were there a couple of years ago.

  7. I've never left a comment before – even though I check your blog everyday. I'm thankful for all the work you put into it. I'm finding a lot of comfort in seeing your family adjust to life in China. We have our own adventure (on a much smaller scale) coming up next week. My husband and I and our 3 kids are moving from Seattle, WA to London, England. It's for my husband's job with Microsoft and it's only for 2 years, but it's overwhelming. Our kids are 10, 8 and 4 and this will be their first time attending a public school. I'm a basket of nerves. Please keep posting if you can. I look so forward to it!

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