Impressions of Shanghai

It's been a long time that I haven't written anything on the blog. I do have an excuse, however - I've been busy exploring places in and outside of Indonesia and, be assured, taking pictures that I hopefully will find the time to upload in here. In the previous post I promised to write a bit about Shanghai. And so I did.

I came to Shanghai on a train from Yiwu for a very short visit of two and a half days. My train wasn't the fastest one available but it doesn't mean it couldn't go some 250km/h. Having arrived at Shanghai's Hongqiao station, I stepped into a crowd of people and almost getting wedged, I managed to push my way through to get to the metro, and finally reach my hotel. With people here, people there, people just everywhere, Shanghai seemed pretty crowded at first sight. Only later I found another side of Shanghai, a city full of little, seemingly forgotten and empty, streets with tiny restaurants and a lonely cat here and there. This is the side of Shanghai that caught my attention and helped to build up the affection I have developed for this charming (yes!) metropolis.

Without any plan and not knowing even a tad about what to see in the city, I decided to go with the flow. Random two girls started a conversation with me? I asked for a recommendation. Talked with the receptionist at my hotel? I asked for an advice. This way, I saw some apparently interesting parts of Shanghai. Like Nanjing Road, a pedestrian heaven, where thousands of people go to shop and show off. Or Bunt, a touristic Mecca with a stunning view on the most modern part of the city, Pudong, home to the famous TV tower and most of the skyscrapers. A river tour along the Huangpu? Sure, why not. But all these things are nothing special, nothing that distinguishes Shanghai from other mega towns on our planet. I waited for something different and luckily enough, the next day brought some more experience.

So I woke up at around 12, completely confused about everything. The cleaner's singing ensured I couldn't get a proper night's sleep. I needed something to put me on my feet and a steaming hot won-ton soup did the job. After tasting this heaven-in-a-mouth, I decided to have a tour around the city. Just by accident, I found an interesting indoor market with dirt-cheap clothes to buy. After some more wondering-around, I decided to go to Yuyuan Garden which is considered to be one of the finest Chinese gardens in the region. I never got there, however. On my way, I saw one of these small walking paths with no people at all and decided to follow it and see where it takes me. I passed a lot of houses, tried to look inside, see how the people live. Somebody was preparing a dinner, there were some men playing cards and chasing the bitterness of loss with beer, or a woman hanging laundry just above the path.

After walking for a couple of minutes, I ended up in a parking lot that seemed to attract crowds. Yes! I found one of these little stands with some sort of shashlicks and beer. Without much consideration, I decided to give it a try and sample the chef's cuisine. Not only have I found some wonderful meat to eat, but I also ended up at the gates of Old Town. Just when I finished the feast, a group of people approached me and started a conversation. It turned out they are Korean students from Seoul who came to Shanghai for a week with a student organization. They regularly visit various fairs and expositions in search of companies for whom they could become representatives in South Korea. We enjoyed talking and after some time decided to go to the Old Town to get some more food. Our pick was a famous restaurant serving dumplings. Believe me, these were one of the best dumplings I have ever tried and eating them with friendly Koreans made them taste even better.

As it was already getting dark, it was the time for some more evening-oriented activities. So we looked for a place to socialize and an Irish pub was a good beginning. A few beers and playing pool together made me feel like I've known them for a long time, but it has been only a couple of hours! It was Halloween that night and the Chinese seemed to have adopted the idea as I've seen loads of people totally dressed up, albeit not looking for candy. Being in this celebration mood, we decided to celebrate our own way - we found a nice club with a state of the art sound system and indulged ourselves in all-night dancing.

Next day, very early in the morning, I had to take the metro to go the airport, and thus finish my stay in Shanghai. I didn't feel like leaving; I felt like these 2.5 days were not enough as I just started discovering the real face of this city. One thing is sure - I will return.

On a trip to China

In search of adventure, I decided to get away from Jakarta and set off on a trip to the People’s Republic of China. It was not only a leisure trip, as you might expect. My father asked me to accompany him with some business matters, so how could I refuse? I took a plane from Jakarta to the city of Guangzhou, one of the commercial strongholds of the Chinese economy. Jakarta’s airport offers a great deal of flights to many destinations in Southeast Asia and beyond, and thus serves as a good starting point for any journey, be it within the Indonesian archipelago, or elsewhere in Asia and Oceania. Jakarta is a port city too, with two main harbours in Tanjung Priok and Ancol, offering a number of both regular and irregular connections to other ports in Indonesia, and the region.

In Guangzhou, my main point of interest was the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the 108th Canton Fair. It is the largest fair of this kind in the country and is held regularly with the aim to amplify bilateral trade relations between Chinese and overseas companies. When I arrived at Guanghzou airport, I was stuck in a massive queue to clear immigration. The crowd was truly international, with people from all over the world. Each session of the fair attracts thousands of people who all storm the fair hall in the morning, and hit the town in the afternoon and evening. Because of that, unlike in many other parts of China, people no longer wonder when they see a European entering their shop or wanting to dine at their restaurant.
Guangzhou interested me also because of its widespreadness of bicycle transportation, completely non-existent in most major Asian cities, with a few notable exceptions. I really wish Jakarta was more of a bike-friendly city, but with the latest speeches of the mayor in which he announced that bike lanes will be built after the number of cyclists in the city surpasses 1 million, one should not have any hope left.


After a couple of days in Guangzhou, I left for the city of Yiwu. It is a relatively young town, with some 6 million inhabitants in and around, where 70% of the population is not native and comes from other regions of China and even from places like Uzbekistan or Mongolia. It is home to Yiwu Market, the largest commodity market in the world, which was the reason for my visit. The market has really induced my thinking, expanded my imagination and left me wondering: how come is all this possible? It covers 4.3 million square kilometres, an area equal to more than 600 000 football fields! There are 62 000 booths inside, offering over 400 000 unique products. I tried to estimate how many people work there every day, and judging by an average number of people working in each booth, it must be at least 200 000 people! Inside, you can find almost any kind of a product you might think of. If you are looking for a business idea, go there. I can guarantee you that you walk out with a new idea for a business.

Yiwu, as a result of its ethnic diversity and visitors from all parts of the globe, of whom many became permanent residents, offers an amazing food experience for every taste and pocket. My personal favourite are the little road-side stands with Central Asian cuisine and specialities such as lamb shish kebabs and nuns. I have also visited a very nice restaurant with Sichuan food. Actually, I loved it so much that I stuffed myself to the limits. The next day, the payback time came as my stomach suffered great pains. Nevertheless, believe me, it was worth it!

Visiting China was a worthwhile experience, I can say with confidence. I would have never expected this, but in China I found a piece of home abroad. Public parks, majestic buildings and dumplings - that's something so typical to my home country and so not present in Jakarta. Dumplings? Yes indeed! Some 500 years ago dumplings have reached Poland and became incorporated into our national cuisine, becoming a common favourite of many Poles!



During my trip, I have visited one more city - Shanghai. I promise to write about it in my next post. Now, however, I am preparing for the next trip - to Singapore, where I am going in just two days. Be assured some pictures from Singapore will follow too!