Day 2 – Afternoon and Evening of 17 November 2010

We left Wuzhen, and in less than 2 hours we reached our Hotel for the next three nights. The Renaissance Shanghai Yu Garden Hotel is part of the Marriott group and is located in central Shanghai next to the Yu Gardens and Bazaar. The 22 storey hotel was opened in 2007 and has just been rated as a five-star hotel by the China National Tourism Administration. The hotel has 341 guestrooms, some of which have bathtubs located in the living area of the guestroom offering views of old and new Shanghai. It boasts three full-service restaurants and a bar, and an infinity edge pool and spa on the top floor.

After a quick change into my formal suit it was time to head off to the Opening Gala Welcoming Banquet of the China International Travel Mart. I boarded our mini-bus for the short drive along the tunnel under the Huangpu River to the Shanghai International Convention Centre located on the Riverside Avenue in Pudong, the new area of Shanghai.

Pudong looked spectacular at night, with all the skyscrapers colourfully lit. The three tallest buildings in Shanghai could be clearly seen pointing skywards. The tallest is the Shanghai World Financial Centre. It was completed in 2008 and is 492m tall with 101 floors. According to the Guinness Book of Records it has the highest observation deck in the world. The second tallest is The Oriental Pearl Tower. It was completed in 1994 and is 484m tall. The unusual tower features 11 spheres, big and small, linked by three columns. The Third tallest is the Jin Mao Tower, completed on the 1990s.and is 421m tall with 88 floors. 

I was overwhelmed by the size of the huge entry lobbies and grand function room. There were 134 elegantly set round tables each seating ten people and a long table for officials. I was seated at the Australian & New Zealand table, and enjoyed dining on the Chinese banquet meal and being entertained by Chinese singers, dancers and musicians.

Mr. Shao Qiwei, Chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, gave the keynote speech during the gala dinner and opened the event. During the keynote speech Chairman Shao confirmed that within the first three quarters of 2010 the number of inbound visitors to China reached 41.58 million, representing 11% increase over the same period last year. Outbound visitors from China reached 42.28 million, which showed an even more impressive increase of 21%. The number of domestic visitors reached 1.59 billion with an increase of 10%, which generated US$142.8 billion representing an increase of 24%. Therefore China achieved growth in all three aspects of the travel and tourism industry.

After driving back to our Yu Gardens Hotel and changing out of the formal suit, I joined several others for an exploratory walk of the Yu Gardens. However, as it was late evening, all the shops were closed so we came back to the Hotel. I then ventured out towards the Huangpu River, walking along wide streets and tiny lanes. In the older areas I came across many people who set up their food stalls on the street in front of their small houses. I had discovered the real China. At one home a couple invited me to buy a dead chook and offered to cook it for me, and to enter the home to drink some Chinese beer. However, I declined their polite offer and kept on my walking tour.

Eventually I came to the Huangpu River, and walked along the newly constructed well-lit wide pathway. There were a lot of river cruise boats and ferries moored at the river wharfs that had completed their evening cruises. However, the wide river was busy even in the middle of the night with a lot of cargo boats plying its waters. This is not surprising, since from April this year records show that Shanghai is the busiest port in the world.

When I came to the historical area known as the Bund, I decided to turn left at Yanan Road , then left again at Henan Road to our Renaissance Hotel. After a long day exploring Wuzhen, driving to Shanghai, attending the Gala Banquet, and going on an evening stroll, I slept soundly in the comfortable bed.