Since I am using my iPad the pictures will have to be inserted once I am home.
Our trip to Shanghai although long goes very smoothly. Between meals, movies and a stop at Narita Airport, time goes by fairly quickly. Only downside is John’s inedible entree. He selects the Eastern meal and ends up with stringy, dry beef. Weirdly none of the components in his meal have the least resemblance to the description on the menu.
We are met at the Pudong Airport by a representative of Viking River Cruises. By the time we get to the hotel it is after midnight. We cannot even calculate how many hours we have been awake. We are told to be ready to go at 8AM. We are also warned not to drink the water and to use the bathroom facilities at the hotel since Chinese people prefer squat toilets and western people do not. So it seems that one must strike a careful balance between becoming dehydrated or squatting.
We are herded onto a bus with our tour guide Jimmy. He is very enthusiastic about his country. Shanghai is a giant city with 24 million people. It is clean and there are lots of flowers and shrubbery. The first place we go is to the Yuyuan Gardens. It is in the traditional section of Shanghai and was once a private residence. We are accosted by souvenir sellers who are very much in one’s face. It is like running a gauntlet back and forth from the buses.
The garden and house are lovely and Jimmy fills us in on much of the cultural background. We learn about ways to keep evil spirits out of your house and that the evil spirits cannot bend their joints. John confides to me that he is feeling a bit like a stiff evil spirit himself. I imagine legions of zombies not being able to lift their legs over the high thresholds. There is much significance in every piece of decoration.
After running the hawker gauntlet back to the bus, we proceed to a silk rug factory. Here we will have a tour (sales pitch) and lunch at a Mongolian BBQ. We are also told to use the restrooms here. We women troupe in only to find squat toilets. I am the only adventurous pee-er. There are going to be a lot of uncomfortable women today! (side note: also no toilet paper.)
The Mongolian BBQ is fun although not as good as St. George. We get giant bottles of beer. There are a lot of unadventurous eaters in our group. I think this has not been a total success for them.
Back on the bus! Jimmy thinks we should have some fresh air and a walk. We go to a promenade with the Bund on one side and the ultra modern Pudong section on the other. The new buildings, all erected since the 90’s are amazing. Jimmy gives a brief history lesson about the colonial period and the Opium Wars. Back on the bus!
Now it is time for a visit to the Shanghai Museum. The group is fading. People are falling asleep as we drive to the next venue. The Shanghai museum has lots of bronze, pottery, coins etc. from ancient times to the last century. John and I concentrate on the pottery. We are so exhausted that we cannot imagine trying to look at the whole place. After shuffling around for an hour we find a bench and just sit. We have noticed many of our group doing the same thing. It is a shame we cannot really appreciate the museum. Finally we head back to the hotel.
We have about an hour and a half before it is time to be organized for dinner. John and I fall asleep immediately. I have set the alarm so we can wake up for dinner. One couple misses the bus because they fell asleep without an alarm.
We are having a traditional dinner at a banquet hall tonight followed by an acrobat show. We sit with some of our “Jimmy” group who seem nice. We have a lot of dishes which are served on a lazy Susan. Most of the group at our table eat almost nothing. John and I and maybe one or two others can have most of everything especially if it contains fish. There is some luscious pork belly that nobody is eating. We want to eat the whole plateful but decorum demands otherwise. The Shanghai style food is bland and sweet for the most part. We use chopsticks. Everyone else uses a fork. We have giant beers again. I am the only women who has a beer. Sigh.
Back on the bus! Thank God the acrobat show is at our hotel and we can just go upstairs and pass out afterwards. The show is great. The acrobats are amazing. They can contort themselves in all sorts of ways. The woman next to me snores gently. John is falling asleep and I find that I am being startled awake by applause. Finally it is over and we go to our room to and pass out.
Tomorrow we go to the airport and fly to Wuhan, see a museum and board the boat. Jimmy says the pace on the boat will be a bit slower. We hope so. Luggage out in the hall by 7 AM and then, back on the bus to the airport.