SHANGHAI PSYCHEDELIA

SHANGHAI is without doubt the most cosmopolitan city in China, and one of the greatest metropolises of the world. A night out in the streets of Shanghai is one of the most colourful experiences one can possibly have, and the best part is this: enoying its myriad shades of psychedelia is actually free of charge.

With my handy and relatively cheap Casio Exilim camera, here are some of the night photographs (all taken without flash), using its nifty (if not somewhat tacky) HD Art function, that enhances some of the psychedelic colours. These photos came one night after the Singapore Chinese Orchestra's concert at the Shanghai Spring Music Festival, when we had a comfortable day off.

The famous Huxinting teahouse in Shanghai's Yuyuan Bazaar.
This photo does not make use of the HD Art function.
while the others below do.

Another view of Shanghais' most picturesque teahouse,
which is reached via the Jiuqu Bridge with 9 bends.

Its a little hike from Yuyuan to the Bund, bit its worth it
to capture the Bund illuminated at night.
Its two most famous edifices are
the Pudong Development Bank (former HSBC)
and Customs House with its clock tower,

The most iconic view of Shanghai:
the skyscrapers of Pudong as viewed from the Bund.

Here's another shot with a tourist clipper
brightly lit up like a Christmas tree.

The Peace Hotel and China Bank building.

The neon-signs of East Nanjing Road.

Thes most famous stretch of East Nanjing Road,
with the facades of its most famous
departmental stores.

Its a short but extremely garish walk.

I could not resist a final view of Shanghai Pudong.
Just imagine the electric bills the Chinese chalk up every year! 

Panoramas of Shanghai

Shanghai's Bund is always a major tourist attraction, with stunning views of the modernistic Pudong skyline juxtaposed with the older buildings on the Puxi side. 

So I visited Shanghai, China in November 2012 to attend a piano competition, but that also gave me ample time to do some sightseeing away from the keyboard pyrotechnics. Here are some panoramic views of Shanghai at its environs, taken with my trusty cheap Fujifilm camera.

The view of Pudong's skyscrapers from the Bund at night is a true spectacle. The lights come on at 7 pm  and  promptly go off at 10 pm.

The neoclassical buildings on the Bund itself are also quite a sight.

The Yuyuan Bazaar in the heart of old Shanghai is more than just a tourist trap. The Huxinting  Teahouse  built over a pond  and reached by the Nine-sectioned zigzag bridge is one of Shanghai's most photographed sites.

The Stalinist splendour of the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, previously known as the Sino-Soviet Friendship Centre. Socialist realism at its most hysterical.

 

The humongous scale model of Shanghai's urban landscape on the third floor of the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre.

 

A view of the suburbs that
seem to go on forever.
From the Longzimeng Plaza
near Zhongshan Park.

A short rail trip takes one to the
ancient water town of Qibao.
Its small, extremely crowded and touristy.

A better bet if one ventures
further afield to Zhujiajiao,
another Ming dynasty ancient river town.
Here is the view from the Fangshen Bridge,
the longest stone bridge
south of the Yangtze River. 

Intersected by canals and bridges,
Zhujiajiao is one of a number of ancient 
Chinese river towns which have been dubbed
the "Venice of the East". 

SHANGHAI 5-10 September 2011

A week long vacation in September - this time it is the modern metropolis that is SHANGHAI, in the People's Republic of China. It is easy to forget that China still is a communist nation, given its newfound obsession in capitalism, hyper-construction and mammon. The rapid pace it is developing is frightening, but it is the quaint juxtaposition of the new and old, avant-garde and traditional that is both reassuring and comforting. Its our first trip to China and needless to say, we were totally impressed.

The skyscrapers of Pudong are dominated 

by the Oriental Pearl Tower.

A view of The Bund (Puxi) from 

the Gutzlaff Signal Tower.

The illuminated Bund at night 

seen from Pudong.

Nanjing Lu is Shanghai's fashionably 

old shopping street.

Nanjing Lu by night is 

a fairytale land of lights.

The Huxinting teahouse and 

9-Corner Bridge surrounded by

the busy Yuyuan Bazaar.

Serenity at the Yuyuan classical gardens.

Shanghai Grand Theatre 

at People's Square.

Opulent wood and gold at Jing'an Temple.

Sculptures of revolutionary writer Lu Xun 

and his pals at Duolun Culture Street.