a month ago today in china - september 8

The second of a series of 12 or so intended installments of pictures, detailed adventure - continues here. [DO mouse over the pictures for the captions!]

Day 2
Shanghai itinerary:
"This morning, tour Old Shanghai and travel along the Bund, the city’s elegant riverfront promenade. After lunch in a local restaurant, tour a silk carpet workshop for demonstrations of this ancient art form. Then visit the Shanghai Museum, featuring displays of ceramics, bronzes and paintings. Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant and a Chinese acrobatic show."

Woke up, and tipped the hotel people . . .

. . . then off, to . . .

Yuyuan Gardens
This roughly 5-acre spot is located in the center of old Shanghai and was built to please Chinese officials - it is one of the most lavish gardens around.

After touring the gardens, there is a huge marketplace just outside . . . where we haggled for cheap gifts. That was a heck of a lot of fun - we could've used a little more time - but were on a schedule :( .

After the Yuyuan Garden and market, we were off to lunch. This was to be a traditional Chinese lunch, coupled with a visit to a silk workshop. Though the silk shop was very beautiful, we were disappointed to have killed two hours with so many things to see in Shanghai.

Following the silk workshop, Sharon and I decided to strike out on our own--sans guide--and skip the scheduled museum tour (really? ew.). We wanted to see, and experience Shanghai for ourselves. Our idea was to go to the newer side of Shanghai and see the city from an observation deck of a new building - maybe the new Shanghai World Financial Center - the tallest building in China.

After discovering that after having only opened its doors 2 weeks prior, the observation deck was closed today. :( We were directed to the nearby Jin Mao Tower observation deck, which stands only 13 floors shorter.

Other photos from this set that mustn't be missed:

After "seeing the entire city of Shanghai", it was back to the hotel for some R&R poolside . . . a blog post . . . shower, drinks, and dinner. *exhausting*

Following dinner, we were treated to a performance by one of Shanghai's 2 Chinese Acrobat troops. Cameras were strictly prohibited - I only managed to snag one photograph before I became overwhelemed with fear that the Chinese government would swat my behind for breaking the rules.

The show let out later than we expected - and we were supposed to meet up with Dawn's husband Bob, for a drink at the bar in his building. We were so late, that he jumped into the elevator of his building and was coming down to look for us . . . as the elevator door opened, he began to walk out and we just so happened to be walking in . . . funny story how we nearly missed him, yet bumped into him at the same time!

Bob, it's gotta be rough living in the JW Marriott and having a SWEET bar only a few floors away. Get me a job in Shanghai, will ya? Thanks for the great time - we wished that we had longer to spend.

Oh, and the obligatory short bottle of wine waiting for us before bed. :)