People's Square and The Bund

People's square is located at the center of Shanghai. It is on the Puxi side of the Huangpu river and is on top of one of, if not the, busiest metro stops in China. 400,000 people use this metro stop every day. Using the metro in general, but especially this station, gives you an idea of how populous this city is.

The square itself was converted into a square from a horse racing track. When China became a communist country, gambling became illegal and the need for a horse racing track no longer existed. It too is often quite busy. It is a popular tourist spot, and from what I have read it is a common place to get picked up for a tea scam.



Beside People's Square is People's Park. It too is a large and busy area. Michelle and I made our way through the park one Sunday afternoon. We found an area full of umbrellas just sitting open and on their sides. They work as notice boards informing potential buyers about what was for "sale." This was the marriage market. All of these flyers were advertisements for what an unmarried man or woman's qualities were. They were of course all in Chinese but they mostly stated the person's name, age, occupation, salary as well as other details like height, weight and family health history.

Really, several months of dating information was summed up and pasted onto an umbrella. The people behind the umbrella's were typically parents or grandparents of those who were looking for a match, and often the future bride or groom had no knowledge and had given no permission to their elders. This is a way for parents to uphold traditional marriage in a modern China.

Not too far East of the park and square is the area known as The Bund. It is another very busy area for Chinese and tourists. It is a slightly elevated pathway that runs along the Huangpu river. It gives a view of the Pudong side of the river, which is where the financial district is and where all the fancy skyscrapers are.

We have frequented both of these areas more than once. They are very busy so they are great for people watching. The people watching in Shanghai isn't quite as interesting as it is in other places. But it is still something to do. They are located at the center of the city, so there are a lot of things to do in the surrounding area.

The Bund was also used as an incentive or an accomplishment of where we should bike do. It is around 20 kilometers away, so biking there and back is a good 40 kilometers. You get exercise, you save money and you avoid all the crowds of people on the metro all in one go.

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