 |
| Shanghai at night |
So we only had one full day in Shanghai but we meant to get
the most out of it. Our itinerary for
the day was follows:
- Visit silk factory
- Visit royal park
- Visit local market
- Have lunch
- Visit Shanghai museum
- Climb to top of one of the landmark skyscrapers
- Have final supper
- Enjoy chines acrobatic show
- Visit Bund at night to see lights.
 |
| spinning silk cocoons |
Obviously this meant another early start. We were down from
breakfast at 7.30am and on the coach by 8.15am.
Both Mike and I liked Shanghai.
It captured how we had imagined China to be: a mix of the anciaent and
modern. It was obvious to see that there was wealth in Shanghi from the flower
adorned streets to the well kept colonial style buildings as well as the huge
investments in the financial area.
 |
| Making a silk duvet |
Our first visit was to a silk factory.
Here I relived an earlier school experience
where we were shown the silk moth caterpillars living on the
mulberry leaves and their stages of
development until becoming pupae with a silk cocoon. The machinery that was
used to spin the thread looked ancient and I wondered whether this was for our
benefit or whether this is still the main method used. It still appears to be
very much driven by manual labour.
The
demonstration included showing us the twin pupae. Here the cocoons are much
larger and the threads are more tangled. They use these to make silk duvets. I
was hooked when I saw these – they were so light and yet so warm. I bought one
and then thought I may as well go the whole hog and bought 6 pillows. Being
anti allergenic I thought these would make excellent presents for Louise and
Richard. The problem then was how to get them home. Various people in our group
offered me luggage space as I had only brought a small suitcase but
hey presto outside the shop was a vendor
selling large holdalls that expanded to comfortably fit my suitcase and allow
me to pack around it so yet another purchase!
But I did resist the silk pyjamas and other lovely silk items that were
on sale.
Our second visit took us back to a more traditional
China.
We walked through commercial
streets where vendors sold directly onto the street before we reached our park
destination.
This was of a typical southern
chinese style with wooden buildings with low eaves, stone formations, flower
gardens and water features.
We had left
the rain behind us and it was a bright sunny day although much cooler. It was
very relaxing to spend an hour walking around the garden, sitting in the sun
and watching the Chinese photo themselves where each shot was so carefully
posed.
From here we walked into the very busy market place. It was
easy to get lost in the numerous passageways but as it was our last day we had
to get some final bits: presents for Mike’s grandsons and postcards for the
family.
Unlike any other holiday it had
not been easy to find postcards and now was our last opportunity. This was not
an easy task with our language constraints but eventually we made it back to our
meeting place having completed our objectives and having bought pretty Chinese
postal stamps.
We were then taken to a restaurant for an early light
lunch. Due to us needing to get to the
theatre for 7pm it had been agreed we would have an early lunch but there was
nothing light about it. Again we must have had about 8 courses of meat, fish,
vegetables and rice.
 |
| Shanghai museum |
Our next stop was the museum. We were told that due to the holiday
we should expect large crowds and that we would have to queue but then our
guide found a way around this. With over 50% of the group being over 70 we were
all allowed priority access. One of the advantages of travelling with an older
group. Again we had about an hour to
spend here so Mike and I concentrated on the paintings and ceramics. I love the simple lines of the Chinese brush
strokes that are used to create paintings of chinese mountains and country
scenes and I bought a small print as a reminder of this. We also managed to fit in a quick visit to
the café where Mike had his normal latte and I had oolong tea.
As I said earlier we were extremely lucky with the weather
which was still very bright and clear so perfect to go up to the 100
th
floor of the skyscraper known locally as the 'bottle opener' due the shape of
its final storey.
Again we had been
warned of queues but whether it was because it was later in the day or whether
it was the cost, which at 300 yuan must been expensive for many Chinese people
we were quickly into the lift which then took us up at a rate of 8 metres per second to the 95
th floor. From here there was an escalator to the 97
th
floor and then a final small elevator to the 100
th floor.
The views were breath taking. You could see
all the way out to the East China sea but more impressive was the cityscape
built around the Yangtze immediately beneath us.
It was an excellent visit and once again where
many of us were stars of the show for the local Chinese who seem to love being
photographed with us.
 |
| Preparing Peking Duck |
 |
| Mo and Norman |
 |
| Mike and Lisa |
And so onto the coach for a short drive to the restaurant
for our final dinner. David had ordered peking duck for us to start and with
two whole ducks per table there was plenty to eat along with all the other
dishes that were provided. The meal ended with a cake and celebration of Mo and
Norman's 40
th wedding anniversary. Everyone has been so impressed
with Mo who had such a nasty accident to her leg on the trikes we took out at
the Hutong in Beijing. Mo has battled her way through the trip, using a
wheelchair where possible to see most of the sights that made up this trip and
with a smile throughout. We were all pleased to celebrate with them both. But
time was still ticking on and we had to be at the theatre for a 7.30 start of
the acrobatic show. We made it by 7.20pm.
What a show!
There were definitely
parts where I really worried for the future health of these gymnasts who seemed
to be able to bend themselves into all sorts of inhuman positions. But the
skills and mastery had to be admired.
I
particularly liked an elegant display where a couple performed an acrobatic
display held by ribbons suspended from the ceiling and I know Mike loved the
motorcycles which culminated in 7 bikes roaring around the inside of a
relatively small cage.
I was really
pleased that we manged to squeeze this in but it did mean a very hasty exit so
that we complete our day on the Bund before 10pm.
It turned out that we had about 20 minutes to
wander along the river front to admire and take photos of all the elegant ( and
not so elegant skyscrapers).
I would
like to say an excellent end to a very busy day in Shanghai but we still had to
return to the Hotel and repack our cases to accommodate all the bedding I had
bought.
We both eventually fell into bed
around 1am with alarms set for 5.30 and 5.45 as we had to get luggage outside
by 6am and leave the hotel for the airport at 7am.
What a trip!
Obviously this meant another early start. We were down from
breakfast at 7.30am and on the coach by 8.15am.
Both Mike and I liked Shanghai.
It captured how we had imagined China to be: a mix of the anciaent and
modern. It was obvious to see that there was wealth in Shanghi from the flower
adorned streets to the well kept colonial style buildings as well as the huge
investments in the financial area. 
Our first visit was to a silk factory. Here I relived an earlier school experience
where we were shown the silk moth caterpillars living on the mulberry leaves and their stages of
development until becoming pupae with a silk cocoon. The machinery that was
used to spin the thread looked ancient and I wondered whether this was for our
benefit or whether this is still the main method used. It still appears to be
very much driven by manual labour. The
demonstration included showing us the twin pupae. Here the cocoons are much
larger and the threads are more tangled. They use these to make silk duvets. I
was hooked when I saw these – they were so light and yet so warm. I bought one
and then thought I may as well go the whole hog and bought 6 pillows. Being
anti allergenic I thought these would make excellent presents for Louise and
Richard. The problem then was how to get them home. Various people in our group
offered me luggage space as I had only brought a small suitcase but hey presto outside the shop was a vendor
selling large holdalls that expanded to comfortably fit my suitcase and allow
me to pack around it so yet another purchase!
But I did resist the silk pyjamas and other lovely silk items that were
on sale.
Our second visit took us back to a more traditional
China. We walked through commercial
streets where vendors sold directly onto the street before we reached our park
destination. This was of a typical southern
chinese style with wooden buildings with low eaves, stone formations, flower
gardens and water features. We had left
the rain behind us and it was a bright sunny day although much cooler. It was
very relaxing to spend an hour walking around the garden, sitting in the sun
and watching the Chinese photo themselves where each shot was so carefully
posed.
From here we walked into the very busy market place. It was
easy to get lost in the numerous passageways but as it was our last day we had
to get some final bits: presents for Mike’s grandsons and postcards for the
family. Unlike any other holiday it had
not been easy to find postcards and now was our last opportunity. This was not
an easy task with our language constraints but eventually we made it back to our
meeting place having completed our objectives and having bought pretty Chinese
postal stamps.
As I said earlier we were extremely lucky with the weather
which was still very bright and clear so perfect to go up to the 100th
floor of the skyscraper known locally as the 'bottle opener' due the shape of
its final storey. Again we had been
warned of queues but whether it was because it was later in the day or whether
it was the cost, which at 300 yuan must been expensive for many Chinese people
we were quickly into the lift which then took us up at a rate of 8 metres per second to the 95th floor. From here there was an escalator to the 97th
floor and then a final small elevator to the 100th floor. The views were breath taking. You could see
all the way out to the East China sea but more impressive was the cityscape
built around the Yangtze immediately beneath us. It was an excellent visit and once again where
many of us were stars of the show for the local Chinese who seem to love being
photographed with us.
And so onto the coach for a short drive to the restaurant
for our final dinner. David had ordered peking duck for us to start and with
two whole ducks per table there was plenty to eat along with all the other
dishes that were provided. The meal ended with a cake and celebration of Mo and
Norman's 40th wedding anniversary. Everyone has been so impressed
with Mo who had such a nasty accident to her leg on the trikes we took out at
the Hutong in Beijing. Mo has battled her way through the trip, using a
wheelchair where possible to see most of the sights that made up this trip and
with a smile throughout. We were all pleased to celebrate with them both. But
time was still ticking on and we had to be at the theatre for a 7.30 start of
the acrobatic show. We made it by 7.20pm. 
What a show! There were definitely
parts where I really worried for the future health of these gymnasts who seemed
to be able to bend themselves into all sorts of inhuman positions. But the
skills and mastery had to be admired. I
particularly liked an elegant display where a couple performed an acrobatic
display held by ribbons suspended from the ceiling and I know Mike loved the
motorcycles which culminated in 7 bikes roaring around the inside of a
relatively small cage. 
I was really
pleased that we manged to squeeze this in but it did mean a very hasty exit so
that we complete our day on the Bund before 10pm. It turned out that we had about 20 minutes to
wander along the river front to admire and take photos of all the elegant ( and
not so elegant skyscrapers). I would
like to say an excellent end to a very busy day in Shanghai but we still had to
return to the Hotel and repack our cases to accommodate all the bedding I had
bought. We both eventually fell into bed
around 1am with alarms set for 5.30 and 5.45 as we had to get luggage outside
by 6am and leave the hotel for the airport at 7am. What a trip!
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