At least it wasn’t raining today. We had another eclectic huge buffet breakfast. There was everything from omelets to stir fried veggies to crispy little fish. I think I may have even tried roasted insects. I was the only one that tried those.
We travelled through Hangzhu, past the Yangtze River and to the tea village of Longjing. I learnt a lot about tea but didn’t buy any because it was so expensive…hundreds of dollars.
After lunch we drove to West Lake where we had a boat cruise. It was hard to believe that this lake was man made.
The scenery was beautiful. So tranquil. It was the China of your imagination; beautiful gardens, pink blossomed trees, interesting rocks, beautiful bridges and graceful buildings. There were many pagodas.
Celia sang to us and told us local legends (all with tragic endings) as our boat plied the water.
After the boat tour we were given time on our own to explore the beautiful park. It would be even more gorgeous in April or May when more blossoms are out. Another top attraction of the park for our group was the Starbucks.
We boarded the bus for the three hour ride to Shanghai and stopped halfway for a rest break and some food.
We arrived to the Bund area of Shanghai at dusk for our boat cruise on the Huangpu River. We stayed close to Celia and she got us on the boat first so we had the best place on the top deck to view the night skyline of Shanghai. You can see old British Shanghai on one side of the river and modern skyscrapers on the other.
It was magical. Buildings on both sides were lit up with many of them displaying special lighting effects. There were even light displays on the boats that went up and down the river.
It was very cold on the deck but there was not a chance that I was going to miss even a second of this city’s wonderful views.
Many Asian people asked to have their pictures taken with people in our group.
We had gotten used to it. Carol was photo bombing many of their pictures…they seemed to love it.
Our hotel was in the outskirts of Shanghai. It took us about an hour to drive there from the Bund. We stayed at the Radisson Exhibition Centre Shanghai Hotel. It was comfortable, spacious and well equipped, just like all the other hotels we stayed at on this trip. I had a really good sleep.