Shanghai - Day 1: The Bund

For our first official outing in Shanghai we headed to the Bund.  It is one of the largest tourist draws in Shanghai; a waterfront stretch inside of the former Shanghai International Settlement along the Huangpu river.  We set off to explore on the gorgeous afternoon. 

This is the view of Pudong, the very modern commercial center of Shanghai.  Twenty years ago it was farmland.  Now it is home to some of the tallest buildings in the world.  In 20 years!  Incredible.

When out with the girls in Hong Kong we often attract attention.  Yet within minutes of arriving at the Bund we realized this was a whole new ball game.  All eyes were on us and we were bombarded with people asking to have their photos taken with the girls.

We're always happy to oblige.  The girls usually enjoy it.

People kept calling the girls "yang wa wa," meaning "dolls."

As we worked our way down the waterfront we began to attract A LOT of attention.  We soon discovered that once we stopped walking we were swarmed with crowds of people.  

It was unreal!  I had to step back and get some photos!

Those with children especially wanted to have their photos taken and say hello.

Ginger ate up the attention.

This is exactly what I imagined a modern Shanghai to look like.

Yet this was a little less expected!  I admit to being pretty clueless when it comes to Asia. (I'm trying to learn as fast as I can!)  The Bund totally blew me away!  How bizarre.  It was like stepping into Europe...in the middle of China.

As we were walking I spotted another large crowd ahead.  It was not as big as ours, but I thought maybe there was another western family being mobbed.  Instead I found they were filming a TV show - China's Next Top Model perhaps???

Still, it seemed these little girls were still the main attraction:)

People kept telling us they had never seen red hair like Ginger's in person before and they all wanted to touch Naomi's skin and hair.

Jon had a great time chatting in Mandarin when people would approach us.  They were all so friendly.

It took us a while to make it down the waterfront with all the stopping, but we wandered up a few roads to explore a bit before nightfall.

Gotta love a good bike shot:)

Just as we were taking this photo of Naomi a motorbike went past.  Love the effect.

Time to get rest for Day 2!