Shanghai Fun

I can’t believe it’s been a month already, and that I’m back from Shanghai! I had an absolutely amazing time over there, going out with relatives pretty much everyday, whether it be shopping, going to the zoo, dining out, checking out botanical gardens, shopping and bargaining, sightseeing at famous streets, enjoying street food and markets… Even traveling a couple hours away to a place famous for orange (and tangerine) fields, with quite a few sights to visit, such as the Butterfly Island, Egret Islet, Tanxian Stone Castle and a mountain to climb- And yes, I did reach the top, called Yingke Peak.

I loved going to Xujiahua and visit the famous, beautiful and vast shopping centers. Below is an image of me in the huge dome-shaped shopping center, with my new leather jacket.

Then there was the Shanghai Zoo, which was such a fun place. I loved the tigers (Siberian and regular), lions, wolves, panda bears, foxes (and fox-like creatures), cheetahs, jaguar, and pumas the best. There was even a baby tiger and a baby zebra, which was just too adorable! The brown and black bears were quite cute as well- Everyone threw food to feed them (even though you’re not supposed to) and the bears got on their hind legs and opened their mouths to catch the food. They would eat almost anything, from crackers, to bread, to oranges!

Famous shopping streets… The one pictured below is a great place for trying delicious Shanghainese treats, finding great trinkets and little gifts and enjoying the bridge over a lake full of large orange fish.

I also got to go to Nanjing Lu – Another famous shopping street in Shanghai.

And the Bund, which is along the water, showing part of the Shanghai skyline and just beautiful.

Another great and fun street to visit is called CiBao, with many inexpensive shopping and food.

One of the most amazing events was the 2012 Cup of China Grand Prix of Figure Skating. I’ve always been a huge fan of watching figure skating, so when I saw this advertised, I knew I had to go. I went with my cousin, and we had general seating but once we were inside Oriental Sports Center Indoor Stadium, we were able to move around and sit much closer to where the action was.

The Cup of China Grand Prix of Figure Skating started off with ice dancing, women’s short program, men’s short program and ended with pairs skating. There were a lot of Chinese skaters represented, as well as Russian, Japanese, French and Swedish.  During the women’s short program, I was most impressed by 14-year young figure skater,  Julia Lipnitskai (Russia). For one, she was the first skater to not fall during her routine and she just performed with  such grace and passion- made it look effortless. She should absolutely compete in the Winter Olympics…

As for the Men’s program, I loved Brian Joubert (France) and Adam Rippon (USA) – Both handsome, with great skill. This was an exciting and beautiful show to watch!

I also had the chance to go to a couple of botanical gardens, which was just wonderful- I really felt the fresh air and sunshine. Felt peaceful in all the beautiful nature of trees, flowers, ponds, rock formations and little pagodas.

I truly loved visiting Shanghai — such a bright, vibrant, and another city that (seemingly) never sleeps….

Stay tuned for installments about Shanghai Cuisine and Shanghai Fashion & Shopping!