Tuesday, June 12

Text and images by Patricia Peguero-Vidal.

On our way to the day’s events we kept hearing about how interesting the Pudong Sightseeing Tunnel would be. Well, the much-anticipated Pudong Sightseeing Tunnel definitely lived up to its expectations. Taking the escalator down, noticing the brightly sea-themed painted walls, and finally arriving to a see-through transport pod right before the tunnel, I knew this would be good. As a group we entered the pod and prepared to travel through.

We are moving, lights blinking rapidly and in this relatively short ride we are transported to the world of:

Shining Stars

Space Swirl

Sea Cadence

Massive Magma

Paradise and Hell

Basalt and Blue Water

Fossil Variants

Nuclear Shower

…without much energy (because the trip through paradise and hell was not as tolling as you would think) we arrive at the area around the Pearl Tower and set out to photograph and enjoy the view.

It was nice to see other tourists getting excited about the Pudong skyline. On our way back, we were able to travel through the Pudong Sightseeing Tunnel yet again, Abbey scribbling down all of the different themes that were narrated. We then headed over to the Bund. We went for cocktails at the rooftop of Captain’s Hostel: great drinks and an even more amazing view of the skyline. The weather was clear for the first time in our stay so far and we enjoyed the sunset and the fall of the evening from that rooftop. We spoke of what events led us into becoming photographers; while some of us knew from very early ages, others seemed to have stumbled upon it. Photography seems to have a way of finding people.

Then we headed over to an opening at Bund 18. We saw contemporary Chinese art. Two of my favorite pieces were traditional-Chinese-style vases deconstructed and put back together into beautifully abstract sculptures; their origins were there but they were reconstructed with contemporary style. It was as if the traditional and contemporary were having direct conversations, it was nice to see. The journeys of the day, the beautiful night, the sparkling skyline, I’m glad to be in Shanghai with this wonderful group.