March 17 – Modern Shanghai

This morning we had the privilege of visiting Shanghai Foreign Language School. Our own Middlesex student, Emily ’18, is a former student of the school and helped set up a great cultural exchange. Teachers taught Chinese students in their respective fields, and faculty and students from MX and SFLS were able to chat together, discovering what was the same and what was different about our respective schools. It was a really special experience which everyone in the group will remember for a long time!

After a (you guessed it) hearty lunch, where Yih-Jen and Minh introduced everyone to their obsession with bubble tea, we traveled across the river to the Pu Dong side. The east side of the Huangpu River is considered the Manhattan of Shanghai. Just when you think you’ve seen one outrageously tall building, another appears. We got to go to the top of the tallest one in Shanghai, which is also the second tallest skyscraper in the world. A super fast elevator whisked us up to the 118th floor of Shanghai Tower where we had incredible views of the city. As we drove back to the city center, our bus driver helpfully left the radio on so we could enjoy some Chinese pop music as we gazed out the bus windows. Our final stop for the afternoon was Tianzifang. This warren of alley ways is filled with shops and restaurants, and is fun to explore. You can buy anything from tea to sunglasses to Chinese stamps to what looked like tiny, fake bowls of food. Something for everyone! Just wandering around is an experience for the senses.

Our evening activity was a spectacular river boat cruise. Shanghai really shines at night, with creative lighting on most of the buildings. The river was the perfect place to see them all. Colors run up and doen the buildings on both shores in all sorts of creative patterns. Shanghai Tower and the TV tower know as “the pearl” are particularly amazing, but every building had something eye catching. The students enjoyed a never ending photo shoot with the Pu Dong skyline in the background. In fact, they may have taken pictures of each other for the entire 45 minutes! All in all, it was a great way to end the day in Shanghai.