As Seen by TV

This was my second visit to Qibao (my first visit back in July 2010).  Located right off metro line 9, the ancient water town of Qibao is a great (and easy) visit from downtown Shanghai.

Besides the iconic views, the next most appealing thing to me are the 2元 (0.25€) and 10元 (1.24€) shops, where everything inside is that price.  Second would easily have to be the food stalls, carrying everything from freshly-made banana bread and steamed dumplings to fried crickets and other things I couldn’t quite recognize.

The Oriental Pearl Tower is undoubtedly Shanghai’s most iconic landmark.  Completed in 1994, it was also one of the first structures to be built on the Pudong side of Shanghai (ie- all the famous skyline images you see).

It has a love/hate relationship with most Shanghainese, and I certainly don’t know why exactly that certain color was picked, but at night it is spectacular.  At 468m tall, it is currently the 5th largest tower in the world, with which you get some insane views of Lujiazui (downtown Pudong) and across the river of the Bund and the Puxi side of Shanghai…

I can’t recommend visiting the Pearl Tower enough, if for one simple reason: the view straight down through the glass floors at almost 300m up!

There is also an unusual exhibition located on the ground floor, as seen in the last few images… make sure to look through them all, there are some real gems in there!

Since this was my second visit to Holland Village, I don’t think I captured as many [interesting] pictures. Nothing much has changed from this strange area since my first visit almost two years ago.  It’s a long metro ride to the far reaches of northern Pudong to Gao Qiao then walking the final stretch to Holland Village (see my previous posts for more info: Gao Qiao | Holland Village).

And yes, I still think they should change the name to Shangsterdam and open a frituur.

Well, another CNY experienced and once again I can happily report I am not blind and/or missing any limbs, although some close calls once again (you can just make out my hat/head in the above image on the right).

Below is a collection of images taken throughout the week of Chinese New Year (which is over 7 days long).  Makes for some great photography sessions, but not so much for relaxing at home with a movie.

If you didn’t get enough imagery of fiery explosions, check out my past posts from CNY:

2012 – Year of the Dragon

2011 – Year of the Rabbit

2010 – Year of the Tiger

HAPPY 12/12/12 !!!

The name of this recently opened park now eludes me (and my googling has turned up nothing)… either way, it is located on the Puxi side of the Huangpu River, opposite the old World Expo site.

Nothing too exciting… just some pics down the street from where I live.  I sensed a good sky coming on (of the vespertine variety) so decided to photograph my 5min walk from my apartment to the subway station, Jiashan Station.  As with everywhere in Shanghai, some major construction going on there too… this thanks to the extension of yet another metro line.

Took a day trip to Nanjing… since it was business related I saw absolutely zero of this former capital.  I did however get to experience some amazing [and fast] trains, not to mention some seriously enormous stations)…

These were taken some months ago in the maze of streets around my office building (mainly around Qinglian Street).  It marks the outer edge of “Old Shanghai” where there are intense amounts of construction going on (certainly nothing special in Shanghai).  I noticed the prospect of a good sky comin’ on, so I grabbed my camera/tripod and headed out to capture these (quite a shame that Shanghai doesn’t usually have these vespertine colors that I am drawn to).