Shanghai

Shanghai might have been the biggest surprise of this trip. I had no idea it was so huge and modern. I guess if I would have done a little reading before this trip I wouldn't have been so surprised.

Wikipedia states that Shanghai is the most populous city in the world but if you enter "world's most populous cities" into a Google search you will get a variety of different answers. Try it here.

Anyway, it's freakin' huge!

We're in Shanghai for three full days and each day we've purchased an excursion from Seabourn.

Day One starts out with the fog that we encountered yesterday. There was some worry that we would not be able to dock in Shanghai if the thick fog continued but luckily it thinned out enough for us to find the dock.

Jump straight to Day 2
Jump straight to Day 3

This was our first stop in mainland China and the process for going ashore was a little different than our previous stops. The van shown below was full of Chinese immigration officers and everyone had to show identification papers each time you left the ship and then when you went back on board. It really seemed a bit much. And they almost seemed like they didn't want us to be here. Many of the people on our ship felt the same and a lot said they would not return to China.

Another bus ride then!

So we drive around for a bit and end up at the Shanghai Museum. It's a really great museum - I just don't like museums unless it's pissing down rain.

We saw a lot of cool stuff but I only took a few pictures.

Next we go to the Jade Buddha Temple.

Not sure which one of the following two Buddhas is the jade one..maybe the top one. And why do they make him look like a her? Is this the start of the LGBT movement?

There are lots of other statues.

Even the monks got their faces jammed into a smart phone. www.Buddha.com maybe.. or maybe GirlsGoneWild.com

After the Jade Buddha we go to the Yu Garden which is a garden inside a huge shopping area. It's a nice place but all the people make it very difficult to enjoy to enjoy in properly.

After the garden most of the group went to a silk making demonstration - Terri went but I didn't care about it and just wandered around instead. Just about got lost a couple times.

Check out the name of this business.

Funny name.

And then I came across this small hole-in-the-wall business selling crab soup dumplings and a huge line of people waiting to get one. A wee video.

Next we visit the skyscrapers on the other side of the river from where our ship is docked. These buildings are truly phenomenal. Unfortunately, my thumb shows up in a couple of them.

This is the Jin Mao Tower - one of the tallest buildings in the world!

And on the way back to the ship we stopped at The Bund. This is a huge pedestrian walkway that runs along the riverside.

Some after dark shots.

That's it for Day One.

Shanghai - Day 2

Day two and the fog has lifted. It's a beautiful day. Bright and sunny.

We're going on a motorcycle ride today. A sidecar ride actually. The excursion today is with a motorcylce club that has old motorcycles with sidecars. A few of them below and our guide in the striped skirt.

I didn't get to sit in a sidecar - I got to sit on the small seat behind he driver. It was okay because I was much higher up and had a better view.

First they tooks us to a fancy hotel that had a viewing area on a top floor.

It's interesting to see that while most people live in high-rise apartments there are a lot of what appear to be condos and small apartments. And it's amazing how green the city is.

Next we cycle to an area where the real people live. This is an activity that always interests Terri and I.

And the obligatory stop at a local temple. The Chinese people are nutty about their temples and shrines. They're everywhere - big ones, small ones all kinds.

Here's a wee video of the trip.

Next we have lunch with a little local lady.

This is the neighborhood where she lives. Low rise apartments.

This is just the start - soon the table was full of food. It was all good too. I skipped the rice of course.

Some shots of the area around where our ship is docked.

This is a shot taken from our veranda looking toward the back of the ship. Skyscrapers everywhere!

A heavy lifter going down the river.

Later that night we went to the Shanghai Acrobats - they were spectacular - they didn't want any pictures taken though so you have to take my word for it.

A light show near where our boat was docked.

That's it for Day 2 in Shanghai

Shanghai - Day 3

Day 3 in Shanghai and we're going to Zhujiajiao Ancient Water Town.

This is a tourist trap kind of place out in the country. It's okay though. Interesting stuff to see. There are many canals with gondolas - just like Venice - Right!

Many interesting things to eat (if you want to spend the next two days in your room on the ship because you need to stay near the toilet).

Interesting stores: here's a place where you sit and put your feet into the water with little tiny fish and the fish eat the dead skin off your feet. So fun!

And these people definitely have a sense of humour when it comes to naming their cafes and creating catchy slogans to get you to come inside.

Beautiful bridges over the water - just like Venice.

And temples.

A couple shots taken from the water taxi we took to get back to the bus parking lot.

And it seems some people even have waterfront homes - quite the change from all the apartments we've seen.

On the way back to Shanghai we see more of the never-ending worker's dwellings.

And the final shot of the day - cargo going down the river.

That's it for Shanghai.