We were a little bit confused when we awoke today. We received two wake-up calls, one around 6:45am, and another around 7:30am. We couldn't remember which time we were supposed to meet up with the rest of the group. James thought it was 8:30am, and Erin thought it was 9am. So, we decided to head down around 8:30am and if no one was there, then we would grab breakfast. However, when we went down around 8:30am, everyone was there, so we didn't have time for any breakfast.
We were fortunate yet again, today the weather was sunny and the temperature was near 65 degrees Farenheit. Our morning began with a walk down Nanjing Road, where Howard explained to us that many of the retired folks in Shanghai dance on the streets in the morning. We noticed several different types of dancing – there were ladies dancing with streamers, people practicing Tai Chi, and some middle-aged couples ballroom dancing. We stopped for a few minutes and danced together, and then James danced with a Chinese woman for a few minutes.
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| James was the only group member to act on Howard's advice to "mingle" with the locals. |
We continued along our journey to the Shanghai Museum. Entrance to the museum was free, which was nice. The museum was clean and modern on the inside (always nice!), and was organized into several different exhibits. We immediately went to the top floor and decided to work our way down. We stopped in the “Jade” room and learned more about jade and its importance in Chinese history. We also enjoyed the “Coin” room which showcased many different types of coins that were used throughout each Chinese dynasty (they all had their own!). By this point, Erin was beginning to feel the effects of skipping breakfast, so she decided to leave the museum and run out and try to find something to eat or drink.
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| The Shanghai Museum. |
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| Examples of early Chinese coinage. |
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| This is a Chinese Jade "Death Mask" meant to give protection in the afterlife. |
Our next stop took us to the antique market in Shanghai. The market was an intersection of streets dedicated to used products (and some new!), where the vendors all tried to bargain their goods. James ended up purchasing some antique coins at the market. He asked Howard what a “good price” might be on the coins before he even began bargaining, this helped him make sure he didn't get ripped off.
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| James bargaining in the Shanghai antique market. |
Howard took us to the insect market next. The market was filled with different animals and insects. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it! We saw: crickets, turtles, fish, birds, cats, dogs, rabbits, snakes, and spiders. The market was very noisy and smelly (as one might imagine), so we didn't stay too long.
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| Some of the many animals available for purchase. |
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| The entire market was alive with the sounds of animals, none louder than the birds. |
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| As many variety of crickets as you could want... |
Finally, we stopped at the tourist market. This market was extremely large – it probably encompassed 20 blocks. Howard set us free to walk through he market and explore on our own once we were here. We walked and walked and walked, looking at all of the items. We stopped in a “2 Yuan” store, where James made a few small purchases before moving on. We decided to get our names (in Chinese characters) carved into stamps in the market as well. While the man was carving them, Erin made the executive decision to take us to McDonald's to rest our feet for a few minutes and to eat a snack. About 15 minutes later, we walked back over and got our stamps – which were awesome. Because they were inexpensive, we decided to have our last name made into a stamp as well.
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| A close look at the artisan carving our names into Chinese character stamps. |
After the “Sherer” stamp was completed, we were ready to leave the enormous market and head back to our hotel. We walked for what seemed like forever before reaching our hotel. We rested for about 2 hours before meeting up with our group our final dinner together. When we walked into the restaurant, we saw large tanks full of living sea creatures. We knew this meant that our dinner would probably include some seafood – we were hoping, however, that it would not be alive at all by the time it reached our table. Luckily, the only seafood Howard ordered for us was shrimp, and it was not alive by the time it arrived. It was however, still in its shell, which made eating it a bit more difficult. During dinner, many of us were having difficulties dealing with the smoke. Despite there being “no smoking” signs throughout the restaurant, nearly everyone around us was smoking.
Following our dinner, we took the subway system one more time. This time, we were going to an acrobat show! We arrived at the show just as it was beginning. We were blown away by some of the amazing stunts that the young performers did! Many of the performers were children, so it was very impressive.
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| A scene from the acrobatic performance. |
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| Eight acrobats in action - some of whom were less than 8 years old! |
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| The motorcycle sphere, which had up to 5 bikers inside at once! |
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| We joined the entire cast for a very large group photo after the performance. |
When the acrobatic show was over, Howard led us back to the hotel. It was nearly 9:45pm by the time we arrived. Because it was our last night of the tour, several of us decided to go out for a drink together. Howard suggested a nearby “cafeteria” as he called it. We were skeptical at first, but then quickly realized that cafeteria just meant that it was a bar that also served food. We all enjoyed the buy-one-get-one-free drink special and ended up staying until the cafe closed!
Some of the group decided to go elsewhere after that, but we headed back to our hotel as we had to check out in the morning and get ready for our next adventure – a 2-day ferry ride to Japan.
