A Walk in Taipei!

In my view Taiwan, especially Taipei (I haven’t visited any place outside Taipei anyway!), is a very efficient and functional place.

Roads are laid out like grids, most buildings are no architectural wonders – even Taipei 101 is just the tallest building (still) in the world.

For a “walker” Taipei is an ideal place to walk. It is very unlikely one would get lost with even the rudimentary map reading skills – and I did not. Apart from the visit to the Xin Tian Temple and Xin Sheng Park, there are very few interesting aspects I came across during my walk.

Filled with burning incenses Xin Tian temple is a busy temple with hundreds of devotees offering their prayers at any time. 

The Xin Sheng park, next to busy streets, seems to provide local residents a much appreciated recreational space and also acts as a green lungs to the city. A few interesting sculptures dot the park.

One thing noticeable thing in Taipei is the large number of entrepreneurial activities by the locals. Even with dozens of multi-national chain stores around, they are still (tens of?) thousands of mom and pop shops in every nook and corner – especially the many that serves (supposed to be) delicious street food.

Neon lit streets in the night seems to be the norm wherever one goes to North Asia – whether it is Shanghai or Hong Kong.  It is the same in Taipei as well.

The moment you land to the moment you leave – you will notice the efficiency and the entrepreneurial spirit of the city. No wonder the latest cutting edge mobile phones, laptops and new technology gadgets all come from Taiwan.

Shanghai By Night Video

My first attempt to upload a video to youtube and then display it on my Wlog.

 

This is a view of Pudong and Bund in Shanghai at night as described in my previous post.

A Walk in Shanghai!

Well make it two.

The first experience in Shanghai after landing at the Pudong airport shook me to the core. A taxi driver took me from the airport to Pudong city centre in 30 minutes flat - normally this should have taken 45 minutes to an hour. Sitting in a taxi that cuts across lanes with no regard of incoming traffic at 130 kilometres an hour, and with no seatbelts as well as with the windows open (with very loud wind hitting your ears) and a driver talking on his mobile phone most of the times and with full music blasting is indeed a scary experience. But in the remaining three days in Shanghai I realized this is not a regular experience – most drivers drive reasonably.

In preparation for the World Expo 2010, the entire city of Shanghai is going through a major construction exercise. New roads, railway lines and bridges are being built. Old buildings are being brought down, and in their place huge new structures are coming up. The entire city is being greened. Shanghai is trying to show its sibling city, Beijing (which hosted Olympics), that they can do better. With slightly more than a year left for the Expo, things are going to get more and more interesting.

Another noticeable thing in Shanghai is that the traffic was not as bad as I expected from a major city. Even during peak periods, traffic at Pudong is well managed. Not sure whether this is due to the economic crisis, or is the traffic situation managed very well by authorities.

I managed to walk along the river side at Pudong on one day (which is east of Huangpu River) and the Bund, People’s Garden and Nanjing Lu (which are on the west of Huangpu River). And these are indeed contrasting areas of the city. Pudong, in the east of the river has all the new tall gleaming buildings where as the Bund area has all the late 19^th and early 20^th century buildings (there are still many skyscrapers behind these old buildings).

 Pudong:

Pudong literally means “East of the river (Huang)”. My Chinese vocabulary has grown by two words - “Pu” is river and “Dong” is east.

Just two decades back, Pudong was mainly farmland. Now it is land of concrete, steel and glass – including some of the tallest buildings in the world. Many multi-nationals have their office in this area and there are also dozens (or is it hundreds) of four and five star hotels. But unlike many down town areas in other countries, this seems to be less crowded. With it ever growing infrastructure, Pudong can match any city in the world. And yes, Pudong has McDonalds, Starbucks, Hagen Daz ice cream parlours and even Hooters!

There is a touristy (read expensive – RMB50 two way) underground sight seeing tunnel with a variety of flashing lights that connects Pudong to the Bund.

People’s Square:

On the opposite end (of Bund) of Nanjing Lu Pedestrian mall, is People’s Park and People’s Square.

This is the area where City Hall, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai Arts Museum and Shanghai Grand Theatre are also situated.

Nanjing Lu Pedestrian Mall:

This is the most famous shopping street and Pedestrian Mall in whole of China. It starts near People’s square and ends at the Bund. Everyone in here is selling something. With traffic free wide streets, shops with neon lights on both sides, this is an experience of a lifetime. Thousands throng this street each day to see an experience the unbelievable shopping possibilities.

In my view, this is the heart of capitalism in China. Every seller's portfolio includes (fake) Polo T-Shirt, (fake) Rolex, Friendship, Massage, Sexy Massage and Sex Massage, in that order.

As a tourist, you cannot walk a meter without some one trying to sell something to you – no wonder there is an electric buggy ride from one end to the other. If you do not stop it is a 30 to 45 minutes walk – if you stop, this walk can take for ever.

The old man and a vintage car, which is a rare sight in Nanjing Lu. With the large scale immigration, Chinese cities like Shanghai are becoming younger and younger. Much of the younger generation in these cities also talks at least basic English. This wasn’t the case at all during my last visit 4 years back. What a change.

Bund:

Bund means Embankment (a Hindi/Urdu word!) is on the west of the river. This stretch of the river side which faces Pudong is where many of the colonial era European-style buildings are – which in the early 19^th century was the most famous street in Asia!

Extensive renovation is going in this area – and is now very pedestrian unfriendly because of all the diggings and constructions going on. By 2010, this rejuvenated area is expected to be wonderful sight.

On late evenings and weekends the embankment is full of visitors, and 95% of them seem to be locals - I was very surprised there are only few visitors in here. The main (in fact) the only sight is the view of Pudong – as most of the buildings on the side of the Bund are not visible because of the ongoing constructions that are going on.

With the exotic mix old and the new, the two walks were wonderful.

Ending the “Win an Autographed Post Card Competition”

I am sure – it is not working. I can’t find a winner for the month of March also. So I have decided to end this competition.

I will think about something new in the coming days. In the meanwhile I have promised myself to keep the Wlog frequently updated to make it more worthwhile for the readers.

Coast to Coast Walk - Booked!

After much debate (mostly with myself) I have finally decided on my Coast to Coast walk dates. It will be a 14 day walk starting on 06th to 19th of August 2009. Add a couple of days in the front and back for the to and fro travel via London.

The flights have already been booked - thanks to the Singapore airlines frequent flyer points. But there are hefty surcharges - I wonder what are these anyway in these times of very low fuel prices? Surcharges simply looks like a way to promise free air miles to customers and then make them pay more money to use the "free" air miles. Anyway I have to say Singapore Airlines and its loyalty program is in a much better shape - airline miles in some carriers are worth nothing after they filed for bankruptcy!

The accommodation booking for the Coast to Coast Walk has already started. I have narrowed down to Sherpavan for accommodation booking and the daily baggage transfer. Hope the nice folks at Sherpavan will find some nice cosy accommodation for 15 days (14 day walk + 1 extra day at start point). I have indicated my preference as a mix and match of accommodations - Farm Houses, Pubs (hurray), and Bed and Breakfast places. This would be a wonderful chance to explore a variety of country side accommodations. But in reality, after a long day of walk (on some days up to 35 kilometres) one just needs a simple and clean place to stay.

Now there are no excuses - there is less than 5 months to prepare! Full steam ahead.

Review of A Northern Coast to Coast Walk by Terry Marsh

 

 

A Northern Cost to Coast Walk by Terry Marsh

 

 

One is good, two is better.

I finished reading the second book on the Coast to Coast walk.

This book, is diametrically opposite to Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk book. Colour photos instead of black and white drawing, plain facts instead of facts mixed with dry humour, simplicity instead of enlightening experience (as simple as talking a route through the valley, instead of the hilltop) and printed like any standard book instead of hand written notes. To be exact this is a "practical book" with standard Ordnance Survey maps. The water proof plastic cover should come in handy in the wet English weather. However I will never know which book was more helpful during the walk until I walk!

One unique thing is that this book explains walking from west to east and vice versa. Following Wainwright's advice, most of the other books and article I read and browsed through only talks about the west to east walk making sure the sun and wind are hitting your back instead of your face. But I feel alternate views are always good for the non conformists.

The author, Terry Marsh, is introduced as a writer and photographer since 1980. And indeed he is a good photographer seeing all the nice pictures in the book. The appendices include some useful addresses, reference books and the like.

The usual full disclosures apply.

Autographed Post Card Competition - February 2009

Unfortunately there is no winner this month as none qualified the conditions set - i.e. (1) Be a subscriber and (2) Post at least one comment.

Any thoughts on how to change the competition welcome. What about a free give away of the Coast to Coast walk book each quarter?