Make room reservations five days in advance to leaving, however, or risk paying nearly $100 a night – that’s $25 per star if you’re counting, and still an excellent bargain anyway. It’s best to book online and join one of their card carrying clubs while you’re at it. You can pile up membership points in no time and be on your way to some free stays for the next trip.

One thing you notice traveling through Beijing is that it’s maddeningly crowded. Coming from New York City, I’m not often surprised by such things as hot weather or crowded streets. If I arrived from, say, somewhere in the Adirondacks, however, the trauma might have been enough to replant me on the next plane home. Beijing, China’s capitol, is a huge city, with a population of 13 million, second only to Shanghai’s nearly half a million more. It is a beautiful metropolis where modern marvels and ancient wonders sit side-by-side. 

As a tourist, it is absolutely essential to visit The Great Wall. Dating from the 7th century BC, the wall emerges over thousands of miles of rolling peaks, offering views of the jagged countryside and unique perspective on China’s heritage. As big as it is, it seems far away from everywhere.  It’s like the City of Buffalo in New York. Unless you’re starting from within the city limits, it’s a day-long trip from seemingly anywhere else!  You haven’t been to Beijing unless you’ve seen The Great Wall, and you’ll be greeted with odd looks of disapproval when a local asks your opinion and… if time allows, make the trip. If not, tell everyone you did anyway and make something up. There’s plenty of detail ploughed into the wall itself, but much less required to spin a story to the contrary.

Inside Beijing lies the Forbidden City, or as it is known today as The Palace Museum, which for five centuries was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It features some 10,000 (though I’ve seen it listed at 8,707) elaborate rooms containing priceless furniture, paintings and statues, as well as centuries-old garden areas with exquisite charm. Across the rather intimidating width of Changan Street, is the gate leading to Tiananmen Square, an expansive area wherein imperial edicts were once read to the public, and the site of many unsightly rallies in more recent times. Renmin Yingxiong Jinianbei, a 125-foot granite column erected in 1958 to honor the “People’s Heroes,” stands in the middle of the square, as does the hall where the body of Chairman Mao Tse-tung lies. In 1949, Communist Party Chairman Mao raised the first flag of the People's Republic of China during a ceremony in Beijing.  As China’s most powerful and influential ruler for 25 years, his portrait was hung on Tiananmen Gate where his eyes seem to follow you in either direction… "Long Live The People's Republic of China." 

On the south end of the square is the Museum of Chinese History, which houses priceless collections of Chinese art and artifacts, from Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) tomb relics and Zhou Dynasty (BC 1050-480) bronze wares to Buddhist statues and artifacts from the communist revolution of the early 20th century. 

We took an extensive tour of the Palace Museum, for which a guide map is highly recommended, to navigate this massive expanse of flat asphalt and imperial-styled gardens. What follows is wave after wave of gated squares, lofty towers, and broad halls with sloping roofs; it is a truly remarkable taste of 15th century China within the modern day capital. For reference, The Palace Museum occupies over 720,000 square meters with 9,000 bays of halls and rooms.  The construction area amounts to about 150,000 square meters and the surrounding walls are 10 meters high and 3,428 meters long – or nearly 37,000 square feet. There is also a moat surrounding the outside walls which measures 52 meters wide and 3,800 meters long. The “city” was essentially designed to be a well-fortified castle... and they’d get little argument from me. Most enemies would die of exhaustion just traversing the many steps to and from each successive building, mid-summer or otherwise.
 

The City is divided into two parts: the outer and inner courts. The outer was the place where emperors handled court-ly affairs and held various ceremonies; the inner court consisted of a number of halls where the emperor lived and handled day-to-day business. Many of the buildings within The Forbidden City were under renovation during our visit, but overall, it has been well preserved and is considered the most magnificent ancient architectural complex in China… and the biggest standing complex of palaces in the world! It was truly awe-inspiring to take a momentary step out of time and take in all of the rich magnificence of this period, and to then look out beyond The Forbidden City and see the modern day high-rises and bustling streets.

The Lama Temple of Beijing, (or The Palace of Peace and Harmony Lama Temple, or Yonghegong Lamasery), is a Tibetan Lamasery of the Yellow Hat Sect of Lamaism first built in 1694, and is an excellent way to spend an hour or two to get away from the more crowded attractions.  It was originally the residence of a Qing dynasty prince, Yin Zhen, a son of Emperor Kang Xi.  After the prince came to the throne, half of the residence was used as an imperial palace and the other half was converted to a lamasery. The Tibetan monks would not move in until 1744.   Located in the northeast part of Beijing city, a fair distance away from the throngs at Tianenmen Square, it’s a relaxing excursion to search for inner peace and tranquility – but one must be on the lookout for tour groups as well as they can at times be a bit of a threat to said “peace.”

The Lama Temple features five large halls and five courtyards with beautifully decorated archways and carved details. It houses a treasury of Buddhist art, including sculptured images of gods, demons and Buddhas, as well as Tibetan-style murals. A Buddha is not thought of as one sole entity, but rather, any number of representations of that which is consistent with a peaceful, prosperous life. The statues are all remarkably detailed wood carvings that sparkle from a distance in gold and jewels, many of which stand larger than life up close. Speaking of which, The Lamasery is also home to the largest wooden sculpture on earth, an 18 meter tall Buddha carved from a single sandalwood tree. It struck quite an imposing figure in spite of its welcoming smile.

Beijing also offers visitors plenty of nightlife. Though much of mine was spent inside the elegant Hotel lounge sipping drinks and catching parts of the Olympic Games to be seen everywhere there was a television. Some of the popular choices for evening entertainment include theatrical events such as the acclaimed Peking Opera, known as the “quintessence of Chinese culture,” as performed in the Liyuan Theatre where they allow you to visit the make up room and take a group photo with the performers themselves. For those equally as adventurous, and potentially more vivacious, there is The Legend of Kung Fu, which takes place every evening at 7:30 in the Red Theatre and follows the story of a little boy and his ascension into manhood through the practice of Kung Fu and Zen techniques. The show features real Kung Fu, modern dance, acrobatics, and some magical special effects that have to be seen to be believed. 

Everyone I came in contact with in Beijing recommended the capital city as the sensible place to pour investment funds. While I was not there long enough to view any significant investment opportunities first hand, I did come away with a better understanding about real estate investing.  Initial views of China and foreign investment are quite grim, and rightfully so.  This is, after all, a nation in great transition, and though gradual change is taking place, it is an old Communist guard at the helm that is attempting to overhaul a long standing tradition in the face of youthful exuberance, and uncertainty. Nonetheless, given China’s booming economy and their eventual acceptance into the WTO, this has to happen, one way or another. 

I did not leave there convinced that investing in Beijing made perfect sense; it’s expensive, but my feeling is that it will be a place worth following as we move closer toward the 2008 Olympic Games and infrastructural renovations and development begin to take shape. In fact the city will get a major overhaul in preparation for the games. There will be massive amounts of monies, foreign and domestic, flowing through there for the historic event. When the games arrive there in another four years, they will be hugely popular and there will not be any empty seats. 

I have some reservations about investing in property there, even as I write this, though I am keeping an eye open in the future.  Being one of mainland China’s biggest cities, Beijing is amassed with overcrowding and from my perception, overzealousness in building. There can be seen many a crane flailing atop unfinished buildings, a potential reflection of poorly managed projects from little-known developers. There is talk of a real estate bubble as the government tries to weed through inflationary issues as they stand in as the evil twin counterbalance of the overall budding progress with China’s soaring growth rate. As things stand now property investing remains strong while interest rates remain inviting, but that is not likely to last too long as the government must continue trying to tighten the collective belt of free spenders living large off easily attainable bank loans, and try to maneuver the economy through to the soft landing frequently spoken of, while avoiding the hard one often feared. 

In terms of foreign investing, it has gotten easier by way of banking flexibility, and more importantly, governmental stability and a transparency to allow the individual investor some degree of security to do business in a major city like Beijing. The government, offering more federal than state-dependent support, continues to step forward to encourage foreign investment, which in many cases still sits the sidelines with a wait and see approach; however, finding good value may be the real catch here.

After four days in Beijing I set out to return to Wuxi City, the place where I spent my first visit nearly a year earlier, and a considerably smaller, if faintly less crowded city.  I opted to take a two hour flight from Beijing rather than the 12 hour train ride, wanting to maximize my visit with friends and sightseeing time. The cost was comparative for either choice, roughly $100. Beijing Airport is relatively simple compared to the convoluted mess of U.S. airports like Kennedy and LAX.  It’s crowded and you take your life in your hands stepping from the taxi to the curbside baggage area, but once inside, and after doing check-in, it’s fun to spend some time there.  It’s like a quaint little Chinese city all to itself with traditionally-themed restaurants, beauty shops, massage parlors, and so forth. Arriving in Wuxi was welcome. There was still so much of the city I had yet to see, and not that the bus ride from the airport to the center of town revealed much more than typically suburban, and even barren neighborhoods, but as with most out of the way airports, it allows you to actually see the city before entering into it.  It was just as I remembered it… almost.

Wuxi lies in the central Yangtze River Delta on the southeast coast of China. It is 128km (80 miles) away from Shanghai to its east; it borders the Yangtze River to the north while embracing the Taihu Lake to the south.   It is a coastal city of the Jiangsu Province.  Jiangsu is situated in China's southeast coast on the lower reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River where the River, the Grand Canal, Taihu Lake, and Hongze Lake connect to form the Changjiang River Delta, a renowned network of waterways there.  Jiangsu was made a province during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and is divided into northern and southern halves by the River. The province itself has a well? developed economy, and is considered a "land of plenty," producing rice, wheat, cotton, silk, and fish.  Wuxi, meaning “without tin,” during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) when local tin ores were depleted, is among the oldest cities in China.

With a total population of nearly 4.5 million it has seen an almost five fold increase in residence during the past decade.  So while it’s not exactly Beijing, it’s not so small either, and is situated in a convenient location between China’s two largest cities, only about a 90 minute commute by car to Shanghai, or slightly longer flight to the capitol. It was extremely hot and humid there too – and why not, we only moved some 700 miles to the south and slightly inward – but it does have a very seasonal climate consistent with us Westerners from the northeast…  Wuxi, which I came to learn the first time, is a pleasant city that combines a natural landscape and age old culture with plenty of big city attractions – the best of both worlds in a city that’s about a third smaller than Shanghai and roughly two-thirds less populated.

Besides revisiting friends and familiar places, I wanted to spend more time in the city itself and try to get immersed in the culture; and also to see where property prices stood in relation to the higher priced markets of Beijing or Shanghai. Wuxi is located essentially between the two, so I expected some degree of decrease in relation, although it was granted the name “Little Shanghai” for a reason.  A brief fact that may be lost on many – at least those who have never visited there – is that Wuxi is among China's premier tourist cities luring over ten million domestic and international travelers a year. Apparently the local government’s caught on as evidenced by last November’s approval from the State Development and Planning Commission which approved a project for a military-turned-civilian airport to help ease the inconvenience spurred by Shanghai's decision in October 2002 to transfer all international cargo and passenger flights from Shanghai Hongqiao airport to PuDong.  I personally wouldn’t know, having only arrived and departed from the PuDong Airport, but after a few moments on the roadways, it’s easy to see the logic. And thus, Wuxi Airport now operates passenger flights to Shenzhen, Beijing and Guangzhou. 

Wuxi is not Shanghai or Beijing in terms of size and scale, but in terms of ambition and growth, it’s closing quickly. Considering the development taking place there, one would be hard-pressed to walk through the City Center and find a discernable difference between there and many other major cities.  Take one look at the skyline from a distance and it’s awe-inspiring… and yet you’re only minutes from the serenity of Lake Taihu, one of Wuxi’s natural wonders.

Upon arriving I checked in to the Gang Li Hotel located along the busy Zhong Shan Road, Wuxi’s approximate equivalent to New York’s Broadway, the only difference is the traffic actually subsides at some point after dark.  But it’s more than made up for during the morning rush that seemingly lasts till 2pm. The Gang Li didn’t impress me much at first; maybe this had to do more with my expectation of staying at the familiar Grand Canal a few miles down; or maybe because my room was too small and the door card didn’t work... I think it had more to do with my being spoiled from my earlier stay at the Beijing Holiday Inn and being immediately put off by not seeing any romantic lounges surrounded by candle lights with street views and water fountain… but I learned to adapt for four stars and forty bucks a night!

For the most part I was left to my own devices. I had already seen many of the scenic tourist areas last year and this time I wanted to blend in with the locals and traverse the city by foot.  Blending in was clearly not an option as many of these people appeared quite stunned to spot an American guy casually walking among them; though I did have my camera so that legitimized things a little.  Yes, I was a tourist after all, but I had genuine thoughts about what life could be like there.  After getting lost a few times, I managed to stay the course along Zhong Shan Road, difficult to miss, but easy enough to pronounce for even someone like me where getting lost is an art unto itself. In Beijing I stood out, without question, but many people spoke or understood English well enough to make me feel secure.  In Wuxi, they’re not quite up to that point, and aside from many of the hotel staff, it was very difficult to communicate with the locals.  I do see this changing eventually as tourism continues to grow and foreign investment continues to flow, but for all intents and purposes, I did feel slightly self-conscious.

It didn’t dawn on me at the time, but not only because Wuxi’s still a bit green when it comes to world renown, I realized that many of these people have probably never left their own country, let alone their own province, to do any significant amount of traveling. Bearing in mind the absurdity involved for a Chinese citizen to get a visa to travel to the U.S., how many of these people ever really saw a Westerner live and in person?  Add to that the fact that television programming there is limited compared to the dish networks provided in the bigger cities where worldwide programming and English news channels are available.  And now that I have somewhat succeeded in justifying my own perceived alienation in the City of Wuxi, I will pre-empt that by saying the people are generally friendly and well mannered, as I made quick friends with many I met, most of whom were either hotel employees or local salespeople. However, when it comes to cramming onto a local bus at the airport, or waiting in line for the next bank teller, all bets are off!

Zhong Shan Road is a very active roadway that along either side one can find numerous shops, banks, restaurants, indoor malls, and tall industrial buildings.  It is a true metropolis in the making.  Many shopping malls provide the broad base for rising residential and business complexes that can be seen on nearly every corner.  Four corner intersections are reminiscent of most major cities, where at either side can be seen giant billboards fashioning the latest “fashion” or magnificently sculpted awnings leading the way into traditional Chinese restaurants.  Like most major cities, Wuxi is not without its share of KFCs or McDonalds… but a surprise was seeing the long lines form outside Pizza Hut during dinner time.  It was then I had my first “brilliant” idea; why not open a New York-styled pizzeria in the center of town there?  Not as easy as it sounds, certainly, but considering the popularity of a chain operation like Pizza Hut, the crowds would go gangbusters for something truly authentic from a world famous region of the globe many might never get to see.  I’ll revisit that idea another time.  For now, I was awestruck by a couple of new office/residential complexes under construction in the City Center that I had to get a look at up close.

I easily dismissed the first one I saw; even got as far as touring it while it was under construction, nearly broke my neck scaling a beam to get to the elevator, but the price seemed a bit rich for my blood.  Another mid-construction complex stood only a couple of blocks away but could be seen for miles… or certainly would be upon completion.  It is being hailed as Wuxi’s first real skyscraper and will become the tallest building in the city.  More Sky 360 was not difficult to envision from the outside, though its construction was barely a quarter completed, but thanks to the indoor model on display in the elegant lobby at the front of the building, the projected design would be truly state of the art.  It was here where I would settle in for the next couple of hours… and then days, as the possibility crept closer and closer of investing there. 

My initial plan for property purchase was to find a modest one or two bedroom apartment on the cheap, have it on standby for my future visits there, rent it in the interim, and make sure it was a sound investment with plenty of upward potential.  Simple.  The plan really has not changed much, only we might replace “modest” with “miraculous.”  I am guilty of falling too far too fast for something that in most other parts of the world would be financially unattainable.  In fact for the same kind of apartment in the same kind of building in either Beijing or Shanghai the price would be 2 or 3 times what it was here.  That is primarily why I spent as much time there as I did and why I continue to monitor the phones to wait for some unexpected breakthrough that allows me, a foreigner, to do business with a Chinese bank in a low profile locale that’s much more prohibitive to deal in than its biggie-sized brethren to the north and south. 

More Sky is monumental in scale. It will be 50 stories high and include a number of business offices, retail outlets and residential living space.  It will include all of the amenities of a five star luxury hotel, and is located right in the heart of Wuxi’s City Center.  I’ve cooled a bit since my return, spending more time researching, discussing, rationalizing, first, the safety issue of transacting business in a far off land with new governmental challenges and an evolving rule of law, and second, who can I trust with my money and does the developer follow through with its plan?  Accountability and transparency are two words often tossed about when it comes to investing in emerging markets like China.  I don’t have a crystal ball to know where this project ends up; most who I have spoken with both here and abroad acknowledge there remains some risk, but also certain that the government has gone to great lengths to lessen the risk and further widen the entry to foreign investment. 

A project of the magnitude of More Sky and the fact it will represent the biggest project the city has undertaken to date, virtually assures investors that it will continue until finished as too much lies at stake for both the city and the government itself to do otherwise. Am I convinced?  Somewhat.  Buying into a property this far before completion will always create some fear. But the flipside to that is, waiting until completion, one runs the risk of missing out on a slightly above ground-level opportunity as the developer discounts the purchase price and therefore its own bargaining power with the banks as it seeks to fund its continuing operations.  Investing is always about some risk…

For the last ten years China has fixed its currency at roughly 8.3 Yuan to the U.S. dollar, and the peg has become a politically sensitive topic in this election year.  U.S. manufacturers and labor leaders complain the fixed exchange rate provides an unfair cost advantage to China's exporters and has been responsible for many of the millions of jobs lost over the past three years.  As a U.S. citizen, this disturbs me.  I don’t want to see anyone lose their jobs as a result of this, which has contributed to a monstrous trade deficit of some $70 billion.  As a foreign visitor/investor, however, I’m not too worried about that.  I know that for every dollar I get 8.3 Yuan in return, thus, $100 turns over 830 Yuan… that goes a long way there.  To put it simply, I’ll take 100 bucks (admittedly conservative)  with me to mainland China, and have tons more fun with it!  My friends there were only too willing to share in my newfound, if temporary wealth. 

Lunches and dinners were spent at exquisite restaurants with six to eight course meals that I would rate as excellent, however, being not quite so adventurous, I could not appreciate the full magnitude of some of the menu items most of which I couldn’t read anyway.  But for $15 or $18 bucks and no tip (they don’t do that there) I gave it my best effort. Luckily, my friends knew enough to cover the bases.  Interestingly enough, having been raised on the Chinese food presented here in America, I expected to receive bowls of white rice with everything; not the case there.  In fact I felt compelled to ask for some near the end of my stay. Another distinction besides the way the food is prepared, much less “commercial” might we say, where Shrimp with Lobster Sauce and General Tso yield little more than shoulder shrugs from the wait staff, is that the Chinese fare leaves little to the imagination. I’m a picky eater, and we’ll leave it at that.  But overall, save for some roast duck that went south quickly in Beijing, I was quite pleased with my dining experience. 

There is no shortage of places to see and things to do in Wuxi. I spent most of my time touring the city, in and out of shopping malls, and walking along the busy streets, many of the busiest of which are stocked with crossing guards and walk/don’t walks signs running thirty second timers so you can actually view how much time you have left before the maniacal taxi driver runs you down a foot from the curb.  Yes, they have them there too.  In fact congestion… it’s safe to say post-nasal drip, and Chinese intersections are of the same blood. In China, pick a city, any city, and you’re likely to find a busier, even less organized manner for moving from point A to B.  China’s the world’s most populous country.  In fact about 80% of it seemed follow me from Beijing to Wuxi and then to Shanghai.  There was no shaking them.  If only I knew of my far reaching popularity… But in all seriousness, somehow it works.  Just when you think there’s no way the commuters on the bikes or the mom pushing the kid in the carriage have a chance to make it across, they do; there’s no rhyme, reason, or real structure to it, but somehow, near misses aside, it’s almost all choreographed to freak out foreigners who thought they knew crowded conditions and busy commutes!

The Gang Li Hotel was where I called home for my five nights there. I decided to lay low on most evenings, in spite of repeated urgings of “Karaoke” from roadside promoters.  Karaoke’s a fun event when you’re with a lot of friends and you’re out for the evening.  When you’re a foreigner walking along the main street on your way home for the evening, it means quite a different thing.  The hotel was a comfortable place to stay and the staff was very cordial.  I could certainly have thought of worse places to stay for $40 a night than in facilities that included four star amenities and free breakfast.  Much of my leisure time in the hotel was spent either on the internet, or chatting with my new friends in the hotel gift shop, all of whom were eager to learn English, and happy to watch me struggle with the Chinese words they wrote out for me.  I mastered “Hello (respectful),” “Hello (casual),” “Thank you,” “You’re Welcome,” “Why” and “What,” but the rest of the essentials we’ll save for another time.

In terms of investing in Wuxi it depends who you ask. I was disappointed at not being able to speak directly with a real estate agent there.  In fact I was unable to speak directly with most people. But Wuxi, which is among the more developing industrial areas of China, is not thought of as a golden investment opportunity.  Personally, I don’t see why. It is definitely of much smaller scale than places like Shanghai, but development can yet be seen in every direction there.  Wuxi is one of the most important hubs for water and land transport in the Jiangnan area.  It has a well developed railway and highway system, both of which I have traveled on; it has its own airport; and it possesses that sort of natural exotic beauty outside the city limits that many of us only read about in the international travel magazines but so few ever take the advantage of seeing first hand.  From what I have seen, I would say the best of both worlds, and still building.

Wuxi City is a conglomeration of beautiful rivers, lakes, and springs and offers a variety of tourist programs for those interested in sightseeing and learning traditional folk customs.  Historical landmarks are in abundance there – Meiliang Lake, Lihu Lake, Xihui Park, Mashan Hill, The Taihu Lake Amusement Ground, The Grand Canal, and Li Garden.  Wuxi is also famous for pottery production, is the main center of cotton textiles, and can boast abundant water and soil resources at the forefront of a burgeoning agriculture.  So is Wuxi a nice place to visit?  Yes.  Would it be a nice place to settle for a while?  Yes.  Is there much value to be found as an investor?  Maybe. 

It is a city that is currently on the move.  In fact Wuxi is relied upon by many to be the transportation center of the area.  In a little over ten years, its population has multiplied almost five times.  Property prices have long since caught on, as owning a chunk of this city is no longer dirt cheap.  Investing there is still speculative.  Based strictly on appreciation potential, there’s more value to be found there than a top-heavy place like Beijing.  Will it happen, and if so, how far into the future?  It’s hard to know.  But all things considered, Wuxi has a lot to offer in the way of business, industry, and tourism, with more and more progress being made.  This will definitely be one to watch in the future.

Shanghai is a place many talk about visiting when going to China.  During my earlier trip, I spent a couple of days walking around the city, taking in the wondrous sites and sounds of this Manhattan in the making.  Yes, Shanghai has been, and continues to develop at a rapid pace with seemingly more and more property building and investment taking place by the hour.  Shanghai is China’s largest city and boasts a population of over 14.6 million.  It is one of the largest centers of economic growth in China, approaching Hong Kong-like proportions.  It’s not necessarily the kind of place one would go to spot endless tourist attractions, though this too is on the developmental upswing.  This is not to say there aren’t many now – in fact there are plenty.  But in terms of ancient historical sites, Shanghai goers will find much more modernity and recent history to discover. The government has made an effort to develop the city tourism around the idea of "city scenery," "city culture," and "city commerce."  The key term being “city” of course.  Shanghai possesses very much its own identity in relation to a place like Beijing.  The municipal government has gradually mapped out three tourism itineraries - city tours, business, and shopping – all organized around the People's Square.  The People’s Square (Ren Min Guang Chang) is a vast public square surrounded by government buildings, well manicured landscape, a 320 square meter water fountain, subway station and an underground shopping mall.  At its core sits the impressive Shanghai Museum, which features more than 120,000 precious and rare works of art along with many galleries showcasing the amazing ceramic, sculpture and jade art the Chinese are famous for.  It’s not quite the Louvre in Paris… but then again neither is anything else.  Definitely a must-visit attraction in the heart of the big city! Another interesting site to see is the Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower.  Only ten years of age, it stands 468 meters high (1,535 feet), the highest in Asia and the third highest in the world (Toronto and Moscow claim top honors).  The architectural modeling of the tower is remarkably unique - its structure consists of 11 spheres, different in sizes and arranged at different levels, hanging from the upper levels down to the ground to exemplify an artistic concept of “pearls, big and small, dropping on a jade plate.”  Far from being simply a TV station, however, The Oriental Pearl TV Tower combines sightseeing, catering, shopping, recreation, accommodation, broadcasting and TV transmission all into one spherical, yet stand alone body.  Its silhouette among the high-rises along the Juangpu Jiang River is nearly rocketship-like from a distance – and an amazing sight to see amidst the stars.  It is symbolic of oriental architecture and very popular for tourists. 

Where Beijing has plenty of historic sites and ancient marvels, and Wuxi has its fabulous canals and lakes, Shanghai has… shopping.  And lots of it. 

Shanghai has become famous as a "Shopping Paradise" and “Oriental Paris” throughout the years for a reason.  Visitors can come to Shanghai to appreciate the beautiful urban scenery, but a main attraction is in browsing in its various kinds of shops and stores.  Nanjing Road, China's biggest commercial street, is a necessity for all visitors; Huaihai Road, an elegant and cultural commercial street, attracts thousands of young people who search for the latest fashion trends; and Sichuan Road, a popular commercial street, is specially favored by the working classes.

My plan was to take the train down from Wuxi, about a 90 minute ride, find a cheap hotel, settle in for the next couple of days, and perhaps find some worthwhile property investments to explore along the way, before cabbing it over to PuDong Airport for the flight home. Didn’t quite work out that way, but then again, when does it ever? Thankfully, my wonderful friend from Wuxi was willing to accompany me on my broken trek to Shanghai; we took a taxi rather than the train. 

Taking the driver at her word that she could get us to the Central Business District in Shanghai… first mistake was assuming she even knew where the city was in the first place. Two hours later we were racing to the airport. Why? I still don’t know. Luckily, she didn’t either. We thus made it just in time for rush hour and sat in stalled traffic for several minutes before pulling over for the fourth time to ask directions. Finally, jumping into another cab, with her blessing, and ultimately paying about a fourth of what the fare read on the meter, we were mobile again. Foreigners like myself wouldn’t normally know this, but it is evidently all right in China to not pay full fare, for anything, if you don’t want to. Haggling is definitely a prominent part of daily business there. Not that I thought to offer my hotel clerk 50 Yuan at the end of my stay and storm off if they declined, but for the most part, when you’re dealing with shopping, exchange rate services (yes, they offer them right out front of the bank doors), taxi fares, etc. it is common to debate the price and often pay what you think the product or service was worth. I didn’t complain.

Upon arriving, though it was mid-week, it seemed as though it was Sunday. Everyone was out and about, strolling, sitting, shopping.  We landed a reasonably priced hotel called Seventh Heaven, which is not easy to come by there. The prices are significantly higher than a place like Wuxi.  For a basic closet-sized room with a view of the rooftop next door and partially operable door knob the cost was about 400 Yuan – or $50.  Depending on one’s tastes, the cheaper rates can be found, and without much sacrifice in terms of location. The area I stayed in was bustling. The entrance to the hotel is actually well covered by a grand entrance to a clothing store, a stairway down leading to a convenience shop… and then there’s the beautiful cosmetics sign just above the entryway signaling that you are in fact, nowhere near anything remotely resembling lodging for the evening.  But alas, once inside the hallway of the portal to a thousand shops, there stands an elevator and nearby sign advertising a floor by floor list of contents… and there on the seventh floor, the hotel!  It actually took up most of the rest of the floors above, but once arriving in the lobby, it all made sense. And then there’s the Grand Hyatt not too far off for a mere $200 per. My thought here was to have a place to crash and how soon can I get back outside with my camera. 

There was Nanjing Road East right across from the building, and to the west, was a smaller pathway, closed off to cars, open only to pedestrians and small shuttles to transport those pedestrians when they’d had enough walking. And it’s easy to do; the roadway goes on forever. And along either side are many shops, malls, and restaurants, while interspersed lie quiet inlets with tinier mom and pop-looking places that sell anything from produce to electronic gadgets. And there was a Pizza Hut. Nanjing Road is amongst those aforementioned highlights to do with the “shopper’s paradise” and it’s all of that and more. Though my goal was not to do much shopping, it was interesting to pop into a shop or two and see what was on display. 

One can see a lot of modernity amidst Chinese history in Shanghai. It’s a very contemporary place to visit. Shanghai is becoming more and more international, and has become an important center of finance, economy, and trading, as well as an important international central city in the Asia-Pacific area.

Shanghai, with so many business people rushing in, is not only China's economic and cultural center, but also offers a variety of ethnic restaurants for diners of all tastes. Different styles of Chinese cuisine, of which there are many, meet and merge in Shanghai to effectively create what is known as “Shanghai style,” and is influenced by the likes of Beijing cuisine, Yangzhou cuisine, Guangdong cuisine and Sichuan cuisine, together with the foods of Suzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo and Hangzhou, making Shanghai the ideal “gourmet kingdom…” for those who can appreciate the difference. 

But it’s after the lights go down that this city really shines!  As the night falls, Shanghai, a busy and noisy city by day, seems to quiet down noticeably at night. Neon lights, floodlights, laser lights and other colorful lights called “stars of the sky” all start to glitter; unimaginable until you’ve witnessed them in person.  It’s almost like having Fourth of July displays in a steady and ongoing stream of sparkling and revolving sky lighting effects that present an unbelievable view. 

My visit to Shanghai was a day and a half briefer than my stay in the other two cities. For anyone to get the true feel and value of this city, taking an eight or ten day tour is the best way to go. My trip was meant to mix some business with pleasure, get a taste of life in a few of the major cities, maybe lay some roots down for a future trip, and come away more experienced and with more appreciation of the culture as a whole. I accomplished all of those things but perhaps the most ironic of all, and in hindsight probably obvious, I probably learned as much about property investment in China after getting home and speaking with Chinese friends of friends that I had there. But the main thing is I had something to talk about; and it was very necessary to see first hand and witness all of the building, the development, the culture, and the lifestyle of these people on the other side of the world from me; and in a place that I certainly want to invest in and conceivably would like to spend more time in. 

As a tourist, my recommendation is to line up a package deal through an agency and do the city-jumping circuit and learn everything in great detail. I saved a grand or two on going it “alone,” and was lucky enough to have connections in the places I visited to negate the necessity of a walking guide book, but to fully understand and appreciate all these cities have to offer, that’s the best way to go. 

In terms of investing there, it’s still a bit complex for foreigners, but getting better. My first suggestion would be to go there and spend some time amongst the people. The major cities are generally workable for English speakers. Another idea is to make some contacts in a local Chinatown in your city – every major city seems to have one.  And press them for ideas and suggestions on how to go about Chinese investment. Odds are you’ll get a lot farther preparing beforehand and dealing with your own native speakers than trying to wing it when already there. It helps to prepare you in advance of what to expect when comes time to tour prospective properties; and it’s easy to do, sticking again to the major cities, virtual tours and extensive listings of real estate for sale can be found all over the web and in a variety of language text. 

Besides this, as a foreigner, you’re likely to come away with a new found appreciation for the land and its people who possess an on the move, foot to the floor work ethic that should help this land continue to thrive in the future. Though it’s a long trip for many travelers, it is an exciting and exotic getaway that offers much in the way of charm, culture and scenery. 

Some Helpful Resources

Beijing

Beijing Tours: www.beijingtrip.com
The Palace Museum: www.dpm.org.cn

Wuxi

Travel & Tour Guide: www.orientaltravel.com/China/Wuxi
More on Wuxi (within JiangSu Province): www.linktrip.com/jiangsu/index

Shanghai

Shanghai: Visitor Info: www.shanghai-ed.com

The following is Vinnie's first article for the magazine:

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