The Conquering of the Lupu Bridge, and other things like Fear of Heights

On the second full day of my latest visitor's trip to Shanghai, we ventured to a site in Shanghai where I had never been, and if left to my own devices, would never have ventured to. For some time, someone close to me, had wanted to scale the Lupu Bridge. Seeing as I am not a great fan of bridges and sometimes heights, he had to wait for willing participants. Fortified by a fabulous dim sum breakfast, we set off by subway to get to the base of the bridge.

Once there, we were relieved of our bags and ushered to an elevator that took us to the deck of the bridge. We were escorted by an English speaking guide who provided us with multiple facts about the bridge. Then we began to climb the steps to the top of the arch. It was not too terribly windy at the time, just enough to clear the smog from the city and make some of us a little uncomfortable. This is a photo of the two least comfortable members of the party seen here clutching the rail as though it could save us.


We stayed at the top for a number of minutes listening to the guide and his excellent information, took a few shots of the city, the water and the other side of the river, and then began the descent. It was easier to see the car traffic this way- making me wonder whether it was worse to go up the stairs, or come down.


Since it was a relatively clear day, we were able to obtain some good photos of the city from that vantage point. It gave us an extraordinary view of the future site of the World Expo which will be hosted by Shanghai in 2010.


All photos in this post were taken by JCS.