Shanghai recap (very long):
Train ride to Shanghai:
We left at 1:40 pm from Shijiazhuang to Shanghai October 1st and were to arrive around 8 am the next day (~18 hours).
October 2nd, 2007 (Tuesday)
At around 3:30 am, the sweeper made everyone get up so he could sweep the trash from all of the areas. Yes, that’s right, it’s most convenient at 3:30 am. Erin jokingly said, “Yeah, and at 4:30 am, they’ll bring out the mops.” So of course that’s exactly what happened. The highlight of the train ride was when around 5 am, Jeremy had a breakdown and started bitching about the baby that kept saying “yeah yeah yeah” over and over. I lost it and could not stop laughing. I think Caroline got part of his breakdown on video. We were so deprived of sleep that it was just the most hilarious thing ever. We arrived at 7:45 am finally.
Train ride to Shanghai:
We left at 1:40 pm from Shijiazhuang to Shanghai October 1st and were to arrive around 8 am the next day (~18 hours).
October 2nd, 2007 (Tuesday)
At around 3:30 am, the sweeper made everyone get up so he could sweep the trash from all of the areas. Yes, that’s right, it’s most convenient at 3:30 am. Erin jokingly said, “Yeah, and at 4:30 am, they’ll bring out the mops.” So of course that’s exactly what happened. The highlight of the train ride was when around 5 am, Jeremy had a breakdown and started bitching about the baby that kept saying “yeah yeah yeah” over and over. I lost it and could not stop laughing. I think Caroline got part of his breakdown on video. We were so deprived of sleep that it was just the most hilarious thing ever. We arrived at 7:45 am finally.
We went to the Shanghai Museum. They had cool ceramics, Buddha, Goya and mask exhibits. I was surprised about the Goya exhibit there, but disappointed to see that his most famous works were left out. I was also surprised to see Islamic art there.
After the museum we went to the Bund and walked alongside the Huangpu river promenade. It was cool. The skyline was all lit up and lasers shoot from the tops of some buildings which gives for a fantastic show just along the promenade.
After the museum we went to the Bund and walked alongside the Huangpu river promenade. It was cool. The skyline was all lit up and lasers shoot from the tops of some buildings which gives for a fantastic show just along the promenade.
October 3rd (Wed)
We walked along East Nanjing Road through the shops and the nonstop people traffic. At the end was the Huangpu River Cruise which we enjoyed for an hour. 
After we headed to Nanjing Road again to shop some more and eat. We headed towards Jinmao Tower around 5 so that we could see the sunset. We got some beautiful pictures of the city from 88 floors up.
October 4th, 2007 (Thursday)
We went to the Yuyuan gardens and hit up the bazaar that’s just before it.
We went to the Yuyuan gardens and hit up the bazaar that’s just before it.
After leaving the gardens, we saw a little blond boy wandering by himself in the bazaar. He looked to be at most 4 or 5 years old. We didn’t see his parents around. Jenna and Erin ran after him and he ran into the gardens. They finally got him to stop and our group eventually made it to a corner with security and a loudspeaker on it. We didn’t know what language he spoke at first, but eventually they realized he was French. By the time we had gotten to the corner, not only was our group there, but there was a French group and a Chinese group staying with him. The French girls spoke into the loudspeaker and 10-15 minutes later his mom showed up. There was a moment when his mom came and ran to him and they hugged. At that moment, the Europeans and the Americans started bawling. The Chinese were beaming. I turned around to see what was going on and all I saw was everybody crying. It was a good moment. It was also the absolute worst place to lose a child, in a bazaar full of people who don’t speak the same language.
After that, we went to the Shanghai Temple of the City. It was crowded, but not as bad as the bazaar. After the temple, we split up and tried to find the Indian restaurant I had written down. Turns out it doesn’t exist and neither does the other one 3 blocks from it. So by this time, everybody’s pissed because they’re tired of walking and hungry and of course, I feel bad and this was the one thing I wanted to do and it was out of the way and yeah it didn’t work out. So our group went to a hot pot restaurant across the street from the non-existant Indian restaurant. At least that was good. Then Michelle and CJ left to go back to Chengde.
We went to a tea ceremony with 3 girls and a guy we met on the street. We went in for a nice tea ceremony and had ridiculously expensive tea. Then we paid 258 kuai. We realized later we were scammed because we started to tell Caroline about it after we had got back and she pretty much told us what happened because it happened to a couple of other guys in the hostel that she had just talked with. But at least we got a good luck trinket out of it. We also have their pictures because we thought we had made friends with them. Eh.
October 5th, 2007 (Friday)
Mr. Donut was our breakfast as we searched for info about Special Olympics. Then we went to Longhua Temple and afterwards, we saw the Special Olympics. There was hardly anyone at the Special Olympics which was sad. It was free too, but that didn’t draw any attention. There were these little guys (9-10 years old) who were just adorable doing their floor routines. After the Special Olympics, we went to see the Chinese acrobats. It was an amazing show. After the show, we went to City Walks restaurant and had a fantastic Western meal. I had 4 cheese pasta penne and shared it with Jenna. Caroline had chicken cordon bleu and I think Erin had barbecued pork chops. It was a wonderful way to end our trip.
After that, we went to the Shanghai Temple of the City. It was crowded, but not as bad as the bazaar. After the temple, we split up and tried to find the Indian restaurant I had written down. Turns out it doesn’t exist and neither does the other one 3 blocks from it. So by this time, everybody’s pissed because they’re tired of walking and hungry and of course, I feel bad and this was the one thing I wanted to do and it was out of the way and yeah it didn’t work out. So our group went to a hot pot restaurant across the street from the non-existant Indian restaurant. At least that was good. Then Michelle and CJ left to go back to Chengde.
We went to a tea ceremony with 3 girls and a guy we met on the street. We went in for a nice tea ceremony and had ridiculously expensive tea. Then we paid 258 kuai. We realized later we were scammed because we started to tell Caroline about it after we had got back and she pretty much told us what happened because it happened to a couple of other guys in the hostel that she had just talked with. But at least we got a good luck trinket out of it. We also have their pictures because we thought we had made friends with them. Eh.
October 5th, 2007 (Friday)
Mr. Donut was our breakfast as we searched for info about Special Olympics. Then we went to Longhua Temple and afterwards, we saw the Special Olympics. There was hardly anyone at the Special Olympics which was sad. It was free too, but that didn’t draw any attention. There were these little guys (9-10 years old) who were just adorable doing their floor routines. After the Special Olympics, we went to see the Chinese acrobats. It was an amazing show. After the show, we went to City Walks restaurant and had a fantastic Western meal. I had 4 cheese pasta penne and shared it with Jenna. Caroline had chicken cordon bleu and I think Erin had barbecued pork chops. It was a wonderful way to end our trip.
October 6th-7th, 2007 (Saturday and Sunday)
We had a long and tiring ride back to the Shiz.
We had a long and tiring ride back to the Shiz.
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