Even though we started out trip in Shanghai and spent a full day there before taking off to Nanjing and Suzhou, it was it was only on our 7th day in China that we finally came to the place where most visitors start their visit to Shanghai: the Bund with a view of Pudong across the river. The Bund (“Waitan” in Mandarin) is the old British part of Shanghai, full of colonial architecture, which is a little strange in China, but not so strange as to be worth a trip. Across the Huangpu river from the Bund, however, one can see the futuristic skyscrapers of Pudong (Shanghai’s newest neighbourhood), dominated by the Oriental Pearl Tower. We came to the Bund around sunset to take some pictures of Pudong in daylight and at night. We then took a psychedelic tourist train through a tunnel under the river. From inside, however, Pudong looked like a giant shopping mall, so we quickly got back on the subway and went back to one of the western neighborhoods for dinner.

The next day (our last day in Shanghai), it rained heavily again. Luckily, we had reserved that day for a trip to the Shanghai Museum, which turned out to be quite interesting. Among other things, we are now fully versed in the history of Chinese porcelain, and can even discuss the links between porcelain and bronze styles.