The first episode of our three-week family trip across China. We land in Shanghai, walk the Bund, get lost in temples and alleyways, and haggle our way through a fake market. China is not what we expected, in the best possible way.
I spent five or six months planning this trip: watching YouTube videos, reading, and trying to work out what would suit a family. We were six people: me, my wife Paola, our two kids, and a friend of ours with her daughter. That meant adapting every day to how the kids were feeling, and coping with a culture very different from ours. The trip started badly, with a nightmare day at Munich airport that cost us a day in Shanghai (it deserves its own episode). But from the moment we landed, the excitement never ran out.
First impressions: clean, safe, organised
The flight was smooth and on time. We gave our fingerprints at immigration, cleared customs and could hardly believe we were in China. Our hotel was on the Bund, close to everything. What hit us first was how clean the streets were, and how many people were out there keeping them that way.
Yu Garden, Jade Buddha and Jing'an Temple
Our first evening took us to Yu Garden, our first contact with Shanghai's historic side. The girls rented traditional dresses for a photoshoot and loved every minute of it. The next morning we visited the Jade Buddha Temple (founded in 1882 and rebuilt in the early 1900s). What amazed me was how naturally history blends with the modern towers around it. Outside we met an artist painting live and went home with one of his frames.
A Didi (China's Uber) took us to Jing'an Temple, a Buddhist temple whose origins go back more than 1,700 years. It sits right in the middle of the skyline. It was very hot, and the misting fans saved us.
Tianzifang and the fake market
Walking from the French Concession towards Tianzifang, we found a quiet little place: a library, a gift shop and a bar serving local teas, all in one. Tianzifang itself is a maze of narrow alleys where old shikumen houses are full of art, coffee and small boutiques.
A lady we had met the day before took us to Shanghai's famous fake market. I would never have found it on my own. You can see the haggling in the video ("real one, I'm a real Italian!"). While the girls had their nails and eyebrows done, a kind lady cleaned an infected finger of mine. Everyone laughed because I was crying, but she probably saved me from a much bigger problem.
The Bund by night
Our last night in Shanghai had to end on the Bund, so we walked the waterfront and took a river cruise between the colonial buildings on one side and the Lujiazui skyline on the other.