The day was sunny. We were on the bus at 8am for our full day in Shanghai. The day before, as a group we had agreed on the day’s itinerary.
Our first stop was the Buddhist temple of the jade Buddha. Celia spent the bus ride time explaining the geography of China and Buddhism and whatever topics we had questions about.
The temple was beautiful with many golden buddha. The most impressive was the jade Buddha. Barry was asking Celia about monk parties. She replied that she thinks Barry has a very complicated mind. So true.
Our next stop was Chinatown….yes they actually do have a Chinatown in at least one of China’s largest cities. It was gorgeous (but touristy). Lots of food stands and shops and the beautiful Yuyuan Gardens.
I finally got up the courage to eat squid on a stick. I picked my raw squid and watched as the man quickly fried it, then grilled it, then added sauce and seasoning. Delicious. We also tried the candied strawberries and crab apples on a stick. I preferred the strawberries. Yum.
Returning to the bus we next went to Jinmao Pagoda Tower on the Pudong Side of the river. Many of the group including John went up to the 88th floor. I don’t do heights well so Emily and I took pictures of the skyscrapers from down below and walked around.
From an overpass we saw a couple of guys with a service dog. They saw Em and I looking at them and they waved. We waved back. One of them blew a kiss. We blew one back. And that was that.
Next we took the Maglev High speed train to the airport. We got up to 431km per hour. Then we took the train back. It was 7 minutes each way.
Shopping at the fake Market was our next destination. I am so glad that Celia had us take a photo of the shop number beside the door we came in. That place was a huge labyrinth of shops and easy to get lost in. John, never cheerful when shopping, was not a happy camper. I was in seventh heaven.
The bargaining was aggressive. I think I never quite got the lowest price but was still thrilled with my purchases.
Some people were late getting back to the bus and Celia was getting nervous about arriving to the acrobat show on time. But we did.
The show was called Era and it was truly spectacular. It was reminiscent of Cirque de Soliel. By the end of the show my neck was stiff and sore because I spent the whole performance on the edge of my seat with my shoulders clenched. Simply fabulous.
I can’t believe that Celia managed to fit in what everybody wanted to do in Shanghai. What a wonderful day.