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Bike tour in Shanghai with Culture Shock

--TRIP
China

9 September 2015 at 15 h 30 min

I have lived in Shanghai for 5 years, but I would never finish discovering new places.
That was the case during a bike tour organized by Culture Shock. It was Celine who told me about their bike tour and she offered me to participate with other bloggers.
We all met on Sunday morning at 9 am in a café. Céline and Fabrice were our guides and there were four of us. Gosia, Jennifer, Yannick and me. After a quick breakfast we took our beautiful vintage bikes and started our ride to find out more about this city that we don’t know so well.

We started in Fuxing park. My favorite park in Shanghai.

It was Sunday morning, but there were already many people. We could hear music from the outdoor karaoke all around the park. Chinese people love to sing. 2 women came and ask us to sing along with them. I hate singing so I was grateful to Céline who took the microphone and sang the Chinese version of “Are you sleeping?“. They were absolutely delighted!

We took back our bikes and went to a little place on the street. Time for a delicious Chinese breakfast. They served us fried dough stick, savory pancakes with sesame, filled buns… and other pastries. It was nice and satisfying!

After this big meal, we went to visit a Buddhist temple. I knew there were some in Shanghai but I have never taken the time to visit any of them. Be among the monks and Buddha statues surrounded by buildings and skyscrapers was a very interesting experience. I really enjoyed that moment of contemplation and serenity.

The tour was not over yet. We still had to visit the old town. Not the brand new and restored for tourists that I found super kitsch and disappointing when I visited Shanghai 5 years ago but the real old town with small streets and big mess all around. You must know them very well if you don’t want to get lost.
Clothes were drying clinging to anything that can be used as dryer, even electrical cable… and people who live there were welcoming us with big smile and friendly “Nihao”, the Chinese word to say “Hello.”

Around 1:00 pm, the tour ended. We went back to the café where we started to bring back our bikes. I think we all had a great time and were delighted with the discoveries we made.
Celine told me that this tour is different from the usual touristic tour because they really want to discover Chinese culture and have a real insight on Shanghai. Well done!