Shanghai has a scintillating skyline, a thriving economy verging on capitalism, and a nouveau-riche citizenry that dresses in the most fashionable attire and owns the latest electronic gadgets, but to a large degree it has lost its Chinese soul. Except for the thousands of Chinese who choke its streets and sidewalks, Shanghai could be a large, modern city anywhere in the world. I was disappointed that it seemed to have turned its back on such a rich cultural heritage and was about to write it off as boring until I decided to wander around Old Shanghai one evening. All the shops and office buildings in tthis fairly new neighborhood were built to resemble traditional Chinese architecture, right down to intricate roof tiles and eaves decorated with fire breathing dragons. Neon-outlined buildings reflecting mirror images in surrounding lily ponds and hundreds of illuminated fish lanterns strung overhead were pretty, but I was more interested in the shrill whistles, clamorous clanging, and raucous laughter emanating from a small side alley.
Can’t view the above slide show of Old Shanghai, China? Click here.
Rounding the corner I discovered half a dozen customers sitting on stools with their foreheads plastered to a large wooden box, a replica of a Chinese peep show from the 19th century. Layang Pian, or Xiyang Jian as the art is more commonly known, roughly translates to “pulling foreign picture cards,” which Continue reading
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Posted in China travel | 
Asia, attractions, blogsherpa, China, Chinatown, cultural travel, culture, Old Shanghai, Shanghai, Shopping, Travel | 
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Metasearch Engines Evolving Into Excellent Travel Booking Sites
In the beginning, if you wanted to book airfare online you visited each airline’s individual website, entered your search criteria, and compared the prices, routes, and travel times from the multiple sites prior to booking. Ditto for hotels. It worked, but the process ate up a lot of time and was extremely frustrating.
Sensing an opportunity, sites like Expedia and Travelocity sprung up. These search engines gathered all the information on airfares and hotels and made it available on a single site. That was better, but some things were still missing. In order to read customer reviews about hotels travelers could visit TripAdvisor, but once again that meant visiting multiple sites prior to making travel decisions.
Enter metasearch engines. These relatively new sites incorporate everything into one place, making travel research and booking a breeze. If you’d like to know more, check out the recent post about travel metasearch at UpTake.com. UpTake just happens to be one of the top metasearch sites on the Internet, if not the best. And in the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I am a contracted travel writer for UpTake.com, but then I wouldn’t be working for them unless they were the best.
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