Shanghai Surprise

Marcellus Baptista has a glimpse of a city which is fast becoming a global hotspot

Madonna was not there but Shanghai was full of many other surprises. No drab, uniformed people moving about like robots in this Shanghai. Instead, one was greeted by amazing technicolour, pleasant people saying 'Ni hao' (hello).

Whore of the East, Paris of China, Queen of the Orient. That's how the Lonely Planet describes Shanghai, China's largest city and under the direct jurisdiction of the Chinese government.

Whichever way you may describe it, one thing is sure, Shanghai is hurtling into another dimension, and looks like it will become another Hong Kong but minus the neon.I had been invited by Cathay Pacific to attend the China International Travel Mart in Shanghai and to get a feel of the country. We did so in Shanghai and a train ride away in Hangzhou and in Shaoxing.

But Shanghai is something else. It looks like a futuristic city with expressways and freeways criss-crossing each other high up in the air. Mumbai's flyovers look pedestrian in contrast.

At the same time, it's a down-to-earth city. You feel so as you take in the sight of thousands of cyclists. The cycles seem fairly ordinary, unlike the snazzy commercials one sees on TV, but the people riding them are something else. Men in business suits with determination writ in their eyes. Smart girls in mini-skirts unconcerned that their innerwear could be seen as they pedalled away to their workplaces and back. Some bicycles were fitted with baskets and in them were little babies having the ride of their lives.

Not many motorbikes were around but there were cars and public transport buses including electric buses and there were pedicabs (pedal-powered tricyles). And the train with a smart conductor who doubled as a waitress on the way to Hangzhou.

It was one great escalator ride at the Shanghai Mart, venue of the China International Travel Mart. Escalators took us to different halls where exhibitors from all over the world displayed their multifarious products and packages. It was a further ride up to the Sky Lobby where luncheons were held, hosted by the patron organisations.

A colourful carnival-like atmosphere prevailed at the opening ceremony outside the venue with girls, looking petty in pink, singing softly, waving flowers, their expressive eyes telling a misty tale. Inside, business mixed with a festive mood as we watched cultural items like the fan dance and a Hawaiian splendour.

While things did get a little hectic at the mart, a walk down by the riverside at the Bund took the heat off you. The promenade was filled with strollers and sun umbrellas and a few shops. On one side were the colonial structures, when you turned your head the other way you saw the water and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower looking like a gigantic toy with its orbs and a hotel in between.

As for food, our trip to China turned out to be one huge banquet, a veritable lavish buffet spread. Either we sat down on a round table with a Lazy Suzy in the centre and helped ourselves, or we were kindly served one course at a time, or else we made endless trips to the buffet table. Seafood lovers were in for a treat with eel, squid, snapper, shrimp, oysters, mussels and maze.

Learning that quite a few in our group were strict vegetarians the Hua Ting Hotel & Towers hosted a special veggie banquet for us, with each item served in different shaped earthen plates, very elaborate indeed. The menu read: mini cold dishes, four kinds of vegetarian with black moss soup, sweet corn with pinenuts, broccoli with bamboo pitch, bean curd puffs Bai Jua Yean style, shredded bean curd with Lu Hao vegetarian, four treasures of vegetarian, steamed bean curd with vegetarian, sweet and sour vegetarian chicken, shredded vegetarian river eel, fried vegetarian rice, sago with coconut milk, fresh fruit platter.

We also discovered a restaurant called Tandoor, serving Indian food, the restaurant chock-a-block with mirrors, Hindi songs filling the air and a toilet that looked like a vault. How was the food? Just okay.

There was a sizzle after sunset, particularly at the Shangri-La Hotel and the Cypress Hotel lawns with a campfire, fireworks, a live band but no dance floor and a buffet of barbecued meats and vegetables. We gave the Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood a miss but we peeped inside Bats, that fine nightspot at the Shangri-La and some of us shook a leg at the Galaxy Entertainment Centre.

We did not venture into a karaoke bar but we were treated to a night at the opera. It was the Shanghai Grand Theatre and we were perched right on top with a view of the graceful dancers, experiencing the folk music, witnessing the acrobatic board jumping, hearing the drumbeats and feeling the winds of China brushing our bodies.

And what did we drink in Shanghai? We learnt that cocktails meant beer and wine. The beer was Tsingtao beer, very nice indeed, and the wine was rice wine, red or white. At banquets the Chinese would go from table to table and raise their glasses in a toast. You had to get up, raise your glass and then it was bottoms up. There were several bottoms up during our stay but, surprisingly, no hangover the morning after.

Amongst the sightseeing options before us, we zeroed down to a few seven hotspots. One must start with the scenic Huangpu river, which is the birthplace of Shanghai. Cruise boats meander eastward along the golden waterway to the intriguing three-layer waters at the Wusong mouth, the confluence of the Huangpu and Yangtze River. On a clear night, gazing from the boat, you can see the stately row of buildings at the Bund. The Bund is the most famous sightseeing spot in Shanghai. The Waibaidu Bridge, the long embankment along the Huangpu river and the imposing array of tall buildings known as "an international architectural exhibition" together form a symbol of the East.

Opposite the Bund, at the banks of the Huangpu River, in the centre of Lujiazui, is another astonishing landmark - the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. At a majestic 468 metres tall, it is the highest TV tower in Asia and the third highest in the world. But it is more than just a TV tower, it is a tourist attraction that houses a restaurant, an entertainment centre and a hotel.

Another must-visit, again on the Huangpu river, is the Nanpu bridge. This was the first bridge built on the river. As the world's third largest double-tower cable-braced bridge, it has a total length of 8,346 metres with its cross-section of 846 metres and a main span of 423 metres. The main bridge flooring is 30.35 metres wide with six traffic lanes in the middle and a two-metre wide sidewalk on either side for pedestrians and sightseers.

If you want a little bit of the Chinese past, then head towards the central People's Square where the Shanghai Museum resembling a ding - a bronze vessel with legs and hands used for rituals to hold food in ancient times - is located. Opened in December 1952, the museum holds treasures representing 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation. It boasts of 1,20,000 pieces of antiques, including bronze, ceramics, calligraphy, paintings, sculptures, furniture, jade and ivory carvings, oracle bones, seals, coins, minority arts and bamboo, wood and lacquer ware.

For the culture freak, there is the Shanghai Grand Theatre, again located in the city's political and cultural centre. Its huge roof stretches out to the blue sky, symbolising a Chinese national treasure bowl, to hold the kindness and wisdom of the universe. An ideal place for a night out at the opera.

And the last spot on our hurried list was Yu Yuan, the only existing garden built in the Ming Dynasty in the old city of Shanghai. Covering five acres, it has 30 pavilions linked by corridors, artificial hills, bridges over lotus pools, groves of bamboo and walls occupied by stone dragons. The surrounding bazaar is packed with traditional and modern shops, restaurants and temples.

There was much more that this city which symbolises the future of the world had to show. But time was short and as we said 'Xiexie' (thank you) to Shanghai, we promised to return for more.