[vvijay]

Well, when I was first seeded the idea of visiting China for business, I was rather not prepared. With the challenges in language and the fact that a vegetarian has to forage several food joints before getting a decent meal, I had some initial apprehensions. However, with some careful considerations (thanks to Google Translate & some blogs that brought to light the availability of vegetarian food in parts of areas I was visiting), I rolled my sleeves up and prepared to venture into the opportunity that knocked up my door.

I must confess that this is my first attempt into writing a travelogue and I'm indebted to thank fellow BHPians at this juncture for inspiring me with several great write-ups that made me pen one down. So this was my maiden trip to China covering 3 cities viz., Ningbo, Shanghai & Yantai. Here's the geographical layout of these cities to give you all a picture of where they're situated:



Whilst this travelogue covers my short stint in all 3 cities, I would be focusing more into the Chinese automotive scene, the cars on their roads and highways, and the hoopla around it for the viewing pleasure of us BHPians

So the first destination was Ningbo and the flight from Chennai to Ningbo had an ~1.5 hr stop at Hong Kong with the overall flying hours of 7.5 hrs by Cathay Pacific airlines.

Touchdown at HKK - an airport that overlooks the shore offering picturesque view from the descent.



Ningbo is a smaller yet a major industrial hub of the eastern China offering connectivity by sea to several countries around the globe. The area is industrialized with major automotive and several other manufacturing hubs with a population of 7.6 million.


Once landed at Ningbo and immigration procedures are over, checked into Sheraton Ningbo.



View from Sheraton into the cityscape:



There is no short way of explaining how different is China's love and affinity towards car brands coming from a country like India. With eyes closed, I would firstly affirm that this is a country with most number of car brands on the planet. Well, why wouldn't it being the world's largest market for automobiles. Having said that, China hugs VW the way Indian hugs Maruti Suzuki. I couldn't exactly gather how or where did this affinity come from, but I could see the people holding great amount of trust in the brand. From the old taxis to the luxury limousines, VW has grabbed it all. But this status quo will stand to test in future. With the # of state owned car companies getting increased in the country, people's tilt and favor towards their domestic brands are equally growing and time will tell as to how does this market fare in the years to come.

Without any further ado:

The Buick GL8 that picked me from the Ningbo airport:



Ford's entry level SUV in China - Edge



A 2.4L i-VTEC Accord which was pretty common on the Chinese streets



An Audi A6L - The L here stands for LWB?



A timeless styled GL350 from the Merc



That's Nissan's one of the famous nameplate - Qashqai



All buses (at least in the cities of China) are mandated to be electric; this one is from BYD circling within the towns of Ningbo (bear with the pic quality)



MPVs are very well received in China as well - This one from Toyota is Previa



That's the Fit from Honda - the Jazz of India



This one from Lincoln was quite a looker - the MKZ luxury sedan



A vast majority of the cabbies own a VW, personifying their trust towards the brand. This one named Lavida was very common among them



That's a Lexus CT200h hatch. The paint job is just fab.



That's a mean looking brand new Mazda 6 Atenza



We had lunch during one of the afternoons at this restaurant called "The Taste of Ningbo".



For those who love seafood, you are about to treat your eyes:







Although, for a vegetarian like me, all they had was salad with some of the green leaves, and native vegetables. I was prepared for far worse, so I wasn't disappointed after all



Back to business, that's a BYD e5. BYD is fast catching up in China, and unless controversies such as availability of lithium surfaces out, there's no stopping them, at least in China.



That's the entry level sedan from Ford - a Focus



That's a Cadillac (CTS?) sedan. Tastefully applied chrome over the grille IMO.



Porsche Macan in Black was another famous luxury SUV fast catching pace.



This one is the latest gen of Ford Mondeo in all its glory.



With this short 4 day stay in Ningbo, I had to pack my bags up to my next destination Shanghai, the financial capital of China. With official work spread across the week, had little time to explore Ningbo. But I wouldn't want to miss out on Shanghai. With a weekend to spare, I was lucky enough to have company to take me around the city to some breathtaking locations. Well, read on...

Touchdown Pudong, which is the busiest international hub of China. Pudong is one of the two international airports for Shanghai along the eastern coast of China, whereas Hongqiao, (its older counterpart) is the other one catering to Shanghai's air traffic, located from the city center.



Spotted this Passat based station wagon on the way to my hotel at Shanghai.



And a head-turning Lexus ES 300h sedan

[vvijay]

Crashed into Mandarin Oriental hotel for the night. Planned to set out to Zhouzhuang water town the next day at Kunshan, located about 100 kms from Shanghai. The water town at Zhouzhuang is the largest among the 7 (my guess) water towns in China where houses afloat on the lake and tourists take a boat-ride within the town. While the place sounds fun in the head, getting there was a task in itself. One has to take a metro from Pudong where I was put up, to Shanghai's Railway Station from where a high-speed train gets you to Kunshan in about 15 mins.

The cluttered Shanghai's metro network map. Almost every tourist destination / nodal point is covered and it is a much needed service to cater to a vast population of Shanghai.



Spotted this 911 soft-top en route to Shanghai Railway Station



The railway station shot right before an outburst of a heavy downpour.



The high-speed rail to Kunshan, about 100 kms from Shanghai.



When the train closes in on the top speed, it gets displayed on the screen above. Very cool. Indeed the destination 100 kms away was covered in about 18 mins.



The facade at Zhouzhuang Water Town.



A glimpse of the boat rides between the houses



We hopped in onto one and shortly after, spotted this one decorated to transport a newly wedded couple whose ceremony was happening inside one of those ancient houses.



The ride along.



The vegetarian meal the family who accompanied managed to get for me. I had to stretch up to eggs to survive at a point in time.



Post lunch, we joined an Oprah - a traditional drama performance by the locals which I gathered no clue about what the theme was.



One of the houses had a temple built for the God of wealth. The huge fuss was about to aim coins into the square-y hole at his feet, succeeding which it is believed that his life turns wealthy and prosperous for generations to come.



It was a long day and the several miles of walk within the streets of the water town had me thoroughly exhausted for the day. Train and metro back to hotel and crashed for the night with plans to explore the city of Shanghai the next day.

Some snapshots of the different recipes served for breakfast at Mandarin Oriental. The cuisine is majorly continental as is the case with most luxury hotels and the spread was delectable.

Salad & juice counter



Sauteed meat and vegetables



Different varieties of cereals and porridge.



Rice, noodle and boiled vegetables.



An exclusive customisable Chinese noodle counter



Cakes and pastries for dessert...



...followed by colorful flavours of ice-cream.



Took a metro from Pudong to Century Avenue to meet a friend of mine who accompanied me to the tall 3 towers of Shanghai located at Lujiazui which houses the major financial centers of several MNCs. We started out with the famous Oriental Pearl Tower.



Followed by the daylight glimpse of the tall 3 towers. The architecture of the tallest tower (said to have been completed only in 2015) is a piece of engineering feat and is said to have been the 2nd tallest tower in Asia, next to the Burj Khalifa.



Spot the Apple and Citi's Business Service Centers below.



After some neck-breaking photoshoots of those tall skyscrapers, went out for some shopping at the nearby Yuyuan Gardens known for cheap jewelry and small electronic gadgetry. We planned to come back later the same evening to catch the night glimpse of the same towers in all its light and glory.

One would find it hard to believe that below is a prototype from a Chinese startup manufacturer Qiantu.



The shopping streets of Yuyuan Gardens:



The Chinese Shopping mall of ancient times:



We were back to Lujiazui at 7pm for the night sight. We started from the Oriental Pearl Tower.





And the mighty tall 3 towers.

[vvijay]

The Shanghai Tourism Development Board has built a walking bridge from where all possible views of these skyscrapers could be made possible making it even more attractive for the tourists. Here's a pano shot from the bridge.



Post the photoshoot, we took a walk to The Bund as they call it, the water front banks of the Huangpu river from where one could witness the colonial buildings and skyscrapers whose light reflection from across the river becomes a sight to behold.



And drooled at these below as I went back to hotel and then to the airport next day to my next destination Yantai.

Volvo S90 parked at the hotel was quite a looker with its spot-on proportions.



The newly launched Lincoln MKX luxury SUV



This Audi S5 soft top looks sexy in blue.



The Ford Transit is the only mass people mover in the light commercial category I could see at all my destinations in China. Not sure if I'm right.



This Explorer Police SUV spotted at the Shanghai Hongqiao Int'l airport is another Ford launched newly in the market.



Touchdown Yantai. Checked into Hilton Gold Coast overlooking the shore of the Yellow sea. Was lucky enough to get a room on the 27th floor overlooking the sea.



View from the 27th floor at night. The walking bridge upto the sea was beautifully lit in the night.



And its view during the day.



Ventured a walk into the bridge the following evening. View of the hotel from the bridge.



On a busy late Monday afternoon, a lot of people were still set out to fish and enjoy a dip into the warm waters of the beach.





With a two day stay at Yantai, my trip thus ended and my way back home was with a couple of layover stops at Beijing and Hong Kong. (Thank God I was back before those protests at Hong Kong even started). I must add a note before I close that, the sheer scale of the Chinese auto market is partly attributed to the the excellent support from Government in terms of both infrastructure (Heck, a car market can only expand when we have wider and sufficient roads to drive them) and tax benefits that they pass on to customers to promote the growth of electrification.

[vvijay]

The smaller yet significant things:

Many of the city streets have dedicated and barricaded lanes for those motor-cyclists.



Lane and traffic discipline was well demonstrated. I don't remember spotting a single IC-engine powered motorcycle in China. Probably I was a poor observer



The digital signage displays on the metro stations display the real-time ETAs of upto 3 trains that are in pipeline to reach your stop. Very cool and informative! Not sure if any of the metros here has this feature this accurate.



One card solution for all public transport modes. Recharge this card and use it for metro or public bus or a car rental. Again, very cool and useful for a daily commuter.



I do not know the technological terminology for this - but a fast moving passenger inside a metro can see these "moving ads" on the subway walls matching the speed of the metro train making it appear stationary - Impressive tech !



Check out the variety that was fished out by some of the tourists at the walking sea bridge.



This was the rail (mono?) of the two-car unmanned inter-terminal subway / train used to transfer passengers between terminals at Beijing. No idea of the technology used to power / mobilize this piece of machinery.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[bsdbsd]

Thank you very a differently articulated and a crisp travelogue. Seems like they are at least a decade (or more) ahead of us in infrastructure. Nice photos as well. Let us know in detail how vegetarians can survive in China on short visits!

[raksrules]

Thank you for the nice Travelogue. I have stayed in Shangai back in 2009 for around 7.5 Months. For a vegetarian like me, it was initially very difficult with finding food and such. If I would have known before, I could have suggested a person in Shanghai (hope he still operates) who serves Indian veg food at his home. I used to go for a meal to his place a few times and it was just awesome. His address was near Lujiazui.

[nikhilthegunner]

Thanks for the travelogue! Interesting to see the car scene there in China, especially the number of American cars there!

Originally Posted by vvijay

And a head-turning Lexus ES 300h sedan

The ES is genuinely a handsome sedan in my opinion but the one problem I have with it is when you sit inside the car, you're reminded of the Camry and then you realise that the ES is just a glorified Camry. Kind of takes away the awe from an otherwise really nice car.

[vvijay]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Let us know in detail how vegetarians can survive in China on short visits!

I had my apprehensions and hence I packed more than a handful lot of instant foods alongside. It helped me indeed. Hunger-stricken amidst shopping one afternoon, I walked into McD considering their global footprint. To my surprise, I did not have a single vegetarian menu on their cards and I came out without a meal. Learnt that it is true that these global food chains customize their menu as per the country's preferences. If you're out on the streets and if you walk into a random food joint, fat chance that you would walk out empty tummy again. Having said that, it really again depends on the locality you're in. A highly established city such as Shanghai or Beijing might help you in over a bit of research, but you're in a Tier II city or in the rural areas, I wish you good luck !!

Originally Posted by raksrules

If I would have known before, I could have suggested a person in Shanghai (hope he still operates) who serves Indian veg food at his home. I used to go for a meal to his place a few times and it was just awesome. His address was near Lujiazui.

Never mind. But hey, thank you and I'll have your point in mind when I'm visiting next .

[thehighwayman]

The Mazda looks quite awesome. IMO they make some of the best looking cars, just a shame that they don't sell them in India yet.

[.HEM]

Great outcome for a first time travelogue writer

A short, crispy and picturesque travelogue. Being a business traveler myself, I can understand your situation. But I eat fish, chicken and meat, so no worries for me. I'm waiting for my trip to Shangai, I have planned to take a street food tour, I have seen lot of youtube videos on the Shangai street foods.

China is far ahead and I feel we are decades behind, considering the fact that we will overtake china as most populous country in the next 10 years.

Chinese car buyers have lot of choices and have the feel good factor to choose from many brands and models.

[bigron]

Good read with pictures to match.
I visited Shanghai once around 12 years ago. I think we stayed at a place called Pudong.

It was tough getting a decent meal in back then that my palette liked despite me being a very heavy non vegetarian eater.

I remember strolling the street and saw a road side food stall. It looked liked a small bite size snack. I picked some up only to realize it was snails and sea horses.

The place itself was modern like any international metropolis. Traffic was systematic and people used pedestrian crossings.

[car love]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Thank you very a differently articulated and a crisp travelogue. Seems like they are at least a decade (or more) ahead of us in infrastructure. Nice photos as well. Let us know in detail how vegetarians can survive in China on short visits!

Make that a century (or more). They have gone too far ahead of the game. They have nearly 25000km of bullet trains while we dont have a single km as yet. You will be utterly shocked by what you see there...

[bsdbsd]

Originally Posted by car love

Make that a century (or more). They have gone too far ahead of the game. They have nearly 25000km of bullet trains while we dont have a single km as yet. You will be utterly shocked by what you see there...

Good for them! Disheartening to hear how far they have progressed (in terms of how far we are behind). I am flummoxed to hear the bullet train stat you have mentioned. I had never considered that aspect. Shows how much we are used to our sufferings.

Every road is dug up in Bangalore these days. The commute is now straight out of hell. We are regressing as the time progresses. There is no end in sight. I am seriously considering moving out...not sure where and how.

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comme..._better_roads/

[ritzy]

Originally Posted by car love

Make that a century (or more). They have gone too far ahead of the game. They have nearly 25000km of bullet trains while we dont have a single km as yet. You will be utterly shocked by what you see there...

I second that.

I thought that I knew about China before my first visit in last year. That assumption was mostly based on what our newspaper & magazines fed us through their constant comparison of India with China. Since then, I have almost lived here in Shanghai and have traveled many other cities in China to realize just how little I knew. The progress is phenomenal.

My Chinese colleague tells me that they were taught in school that 'Time is Money'. This is evident everywhere here. Every infra project is done on a mission mode. A large road side garden pops up within few weeks with lush green trees and jogging tracks. I was awed by Shanghai Bullet train station before I saw Hangzhou station( HQ City of Alibaba). That is an unbelievably big station for a not so big city.

Although I have also been to some non-urban area, which reminds you of Indian towns with small zigzagged lanes & gullies. However, developmental activities are reaching there. A lot of construction work is going on in non-urban centers.

Seeing is believing to realize what China is.