I didn’t know much about Shanghai, but I did hear that it is one of China’s most westernized, developed metropolis, often compared to New York City. I set out early in the afternoon with a vague idea of where Shanghai hot spots were, and headed east for the Huangpu river. As I walked around the city, I was struck by the contrast between the tiny side roads more reminiscent of older China…

…that ran parallel to modern roads with glittery storefronts with western names ranging from Gucci to McDonalds to Adidas.

I passed a McDonald’s around lunchtime and snuck in with my camera to take a peak (I had to try to be as discreet as possible with my camera):

Trust me, there is no shortage of western brands in Shanghai, food or otherwise.

And, my personal favorite:

I am usually not one to eat western food in China, but my Oreo Blizzard was delicious! Also, while I cooled off in their super-powered AC, I heard both Christmas songs AND the teenage mutant ninja turtle theme song… Just one example of how China always finds a way to keep things interesting.

With the overflow of everything western, I was eager to see what I could find that was purely Chinese:

I’ll try to catch some more interesting things in a park elsewhere, the afternoon heat kept things pretty calm.

As I slowly made my way to Shanghai’s famous Huangpu River, I got to see some of the modern architecture and buildings that Shanghai has become famous for. It’s skyline on the east side of the river boasts amazing structures, including the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jinmao Tower, and the Shanghai World Financial Tower (which looks like a bottle opener).

I heard that it’s best to see it at night, but it was still impressive even in the day time.

As I continued on my walking tour of the city, I needed to cross the river and took the glitzy Bund Sightseeing tunnel. This “exciting” ride was really nothing worth writing home about, but it’s psychedelic lights and corny decorations made me laugh enough to take a video. An example of Chinese tourism at it’s finest (the video isn’t great quality, but you really only need 30 seconds or so to get the idea).

I walked around the rest of the city, crossing highways on huge pedestrian bridges like the one below, and otherwise marveling at the city’s architecture and structures:

In general, Shanghai was modern, impressive and interesting to walk around. After an exhausting day in the heat and humidity, I made it to the airport and got on the plane to my favorite city in all of China: Kunming.

Onto the next adventure!