My mom would always boast about that afternoon, about how luck was on our side. The sun was out, we had blue skies, we stumbled our way to the 16th floor of the Formerly Broadway Mansionduring the brief 30-minute period when the 16th floor was open, and we got a free tour around the now five-star hotel, all without spending a dime when the only people that got to do what we did would have to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars at the hotel’s restaurant before getting to go up to the viewpoint.
That afternoon, when we reached the terrace on the 16th floor, there were already a couple of people there, taking pictures. We had no clue that one of them was a guide. Once everyone took their fill of photos, the guide asked us to gather around her as she began talking about the history of the surrounding buildings.
This area contains some of the oldest buildings in Shanghai, once occupied by the British, Americans, and French. My mom, being the history geek she is, said the Chinese had limited the foreigners to one side of the Suzhou Creek, hoping to rid them of the city when the river flooded but instead, the Europeans and Americans learned to adapt to the environment and thrived on their side of the river.
After our little group disbanded, we followed the guide back down to the lobby where she continued to talk about the history behind this historic building. The hotel was originally built in 1934 to be an exclusive residential for the British. Throughout the decades, the hotel has been the home of many important figures and many history-changing events, particular during the dark days of World War II.
Having studied engineering for 5 years, what I found most interesting was how the building was designed. According to the guide, the building was designed to be multi-faceted, like a butterfly unfolding its wings, can you see it? I didn’t really see it until I stepped outside and walked across the bridge. Ah, if only the building could speak, I bet it would have lots of stories to tell.
After the history tour of the hotel, we stepped back outside and headed toward the Huangpu River. As we walked, I couldn’t help but look back and marvel at the cityscapes. It felt so different from the other places I’ve been to on this trip. For some reason, this cityscape reminded me of all the other cities I’ve been to in the world, yet it didn’t feel like all the other cities. Perhaps, it’s the history of the land?
We walked, took pictures of one another, and walked some more, until we were nearly dead on our feet and needed to find a place to sit. Eventually, we all sank onto slabs of wooden benches in front of some of Shanghai’s prominent skyscapers and waited until the sunset.
What happens when the night comes?
The lights come on and that was when I wished I brought my camera, as opposed to leaving it at the hotel. My phone had a hard time capturing the night images and I was stubborn to only sticking with the manual mode so I could edit the photos in Lightroom. Would my DSLR camera had struggled? Probably, but still, I thought it turned okay.
