Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Pudong
P
udong , the eastern bank of the Huangpu River, has been transformed
in just a couple of decades from paddy fields into a glittering cityscape
of giant boulevards and architectural showpieces. When Michael
Winterbottom used it as the setting for his sci-fi flick Code 46 , no
computer-generated imagery was used - Pudong may not always be pretty but
as an image of the future, it convinces.
Historically, t he area was known as the wrong side of the Huangpu. Before
1949, it was populated by unemployed migrants and prostitutes, and character-
ized by murders and the most appalling living conditions in the city. It was here
that bankrupt gamblers would tiao huangpu , commit suicide by drowning
themselves in the river. Shanghai's top gangster, Du Yuesheng, more commonly
known as “Big-eared Du”, learned his trade growing up in this rough section
of town. Under communist rule it continued its slide into shabby decay until in
1990, fifteen years after China's economic reforms started, it was finally decided
to grant Pudong the status of Special Economic Zone (SEZ). This decision,
more than any other, is fuelling Shanghai's dizzying economic advance. The
maze of skyscrapers now stretches east as far as the eye can see.
The skyline may be iconic but critics say that it's only interesting from a
distance. The bustling street life that so animates the rest of the city is striking
for its absence - in between those fancy monoliths there are too many empty,
windy boulevards - and it's the only part of the city that does not reward aimless
Getting to Pudong
The most entertaining way to cross from the west bank of the Huangpo to Pudong is
to take the Bund Tourist Tunnel (capsules every minute; daily 8am-10.30pm; ¥30
one way, ¥40 return), the entrance to which is in the underpass at the north end of
the Bund, opposite Beijing Dong Lu (see map, p.48). The capsule takes a couple of
minutes to chug past psychedelic light displays, which have names such as
“Heaven” and “Meteor Shower”. It's something of a kitsch throwback and not what
you'd expect in sophisticated Shanghai. A cheaper alternative is to take the ferry
(every 15min; ¥0.8), which runs all day and night from a jetty opposite Yan'an Dong
Lu at the south end of the Bund (not to be confused with the jetty for river cruises,
further south). Ferries arrive at the south end of Binjiang Dadao (see p.88), a fifteen-
minute walk from the Jinmao To wer.
From elsewhere west of the river, the metro is the quickest way to travel,
whooshing passengers from People's Square to Lujiazui in less than three minutes,
and all the way to the Science and Technology Museum in ten. Bus #3 runs from
in front of the Shanghai Museum to the Jinmao Tower, but beware rush hour as the
traffic in the tunnel gets badly snarled up.
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