We woke up feeling refreshed today and were ready for our visit to the Wuzhen Canal and Shanghai. Our tour bus left at 9am, so we were able to take our time getting ready, which was nice. The drive to Wuzhen took about 1.5 hours and by the time we arrived, we were ready to do some wandering.
Wuzhen is an ancient canal town, that has been preserved to help share some of traditional Chinese culture with tourists. It was even a day for a first for us - we entered the town via a Chinese gondola! We were not able to take a gondola ride in Venice because it was so rainy, but we made up for it here in China! (Who would have thought?)
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| The rest of our tour group in the Chinese Gondola immediately in front of us. |
Wuzhen is set up like a "Henry Ford Museum," where the homes and shops are kept just as they existed for hundreds of years. We walked through the town and viewed quite a few of the small museums and homes scattered throughout. We especially liked the "museum of beds," which displayed many of the different types of traditional Chinese beds, as well as the clothes dyeing exhibit and the distillery, which allowed us the opportunity to sample some very strong traditional Chinese spirits. James even purchased a small handkerchief from one of the local markets than was hand-dyed.
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| An example from the traditional clothes dyeing shop. |
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| A bed that slept 12 from the "Museum of Beds." |
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| Tabith and Howard the tigers rest comfortably above Wuzhen Canal. |
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| Despite a bit of a chill, Erin smiles on the bank of Wuzhen Canal. |
Once we had explored all of the Wuzhen canal town, we hopped back onto the bus heading for Shanghai. Our tour guide told us earlier in the tour that Shanghai is his favorite city in China as it is filled with culture and shopping, so we were very excited to arrive.
We really lucked out in terms of location – our hotel in Shanghai was located in the heart of the city! We were incredibly fortunate as this made exploring the city much easier. Once we arrived in Shanghai, our tour guide gave us a few hours to relax. However, we opted to venture out into the city instead. We walked outside the hotel and went right, as the front desk attendant had pointed that direction when we asked him about where the closest post office was. Within a block or two, we located the post office and purchased some stamps for our post-cards. We continued walking, and hesitantly decided to turn down one of the streets (we hesitated because we didn't want to wander too far off from the main road).
As we turned turned down the street, we walked into what looked like Shanghai's version of New York's Times Square. Nanjing Road, as we later learned was the name of the major road, was a large pedestrian street (no cars allowed), filled with big shopping centers, big buildings, and most noticeably, lots of lights. We quickly learned that the giant blue Gumby-type character on many signs was the symbol for the World Expo, which took place in Shanghai this past October. Many countries around the world showcased at the expo, including the United States of America, and there were still remnants of the event displayed across the city.
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| The lights and crowds of one of Shanghai's downtown districts. |
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| One of the unique-looking busses devoted to weary shoppers. |
We walked down the busy street, gazing at all of the buildings and lights. James quickly pointed out what he believed was a “Dollar Store,” so we decided to go in. The store was on the 8th floor inside a mall, so we took the elevator up and exited heading to what we thought was a discount store. We quickly learned that the “Dolar Store” as it was named, was not a discount store, but rather a chain restaurant in China. We laughed at ourselves and left. We headed back to the hotel and met up up with the rest of our group for dinner.
Our tour guide took us to a restaurant that was literally across the street from our hotel. He ordered several dishes for us to try, and he also honored our requests for more chicken dishes, rather than obscure insects or animals.
After dinner, we took the subway system in Shanghai – which was surprisingly modern. We had to go through security first (we had never done this before for a train system), before scanning our entry card in front of the gate. The underground system was extremely efficient in that it had a time schedule above the waiting area that informed you how long before the next train would arrive. There were also barricades blocking you from getting too close to the edge. The only openings in the barricades were located where the subway train doors actually opened. Our tour guide warned us that the doors only opened for 30 seconds before closing again, so we had to be quick about getting on.
We stayed on the train for one stop before getting off. The train took us underground below the river in Shanghai. When we exited the subway, we were in the business district of the city, where there were extremely tall buildings. Howard led us into one of the tallest buildings in Shanghai, the Jin Mao Tower, also the home of the Grand Hyatt. We purchased tickets to head all the way to the top, up nearly 340 meters! The views from the top were amazing! We could see the river, and all the way across it. There were lights everywhere. It reminded us of going to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City, but in this case, the line was much shorter.
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| Oyster-made pearls while-you-wait. |
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| Some festively-colored boats in Shanghai's harbor. |
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| A view of the Grand Hyatt's guest floors from the top of Jin Mao's interior. |
Once we were done visiting the Jin Mao building, we took a ferry back across the river. The ferry was quick and easy and provided great city views. We walked back to the hotel taking in all of the city sights and really enjoying ourselves in Shanghai. We didn't get back to the hotel until after 10pm. We were exhausted from the long day. Howard notified us that the next day would also include a lot of walking, and that we needed to be up and ready by 8:30am.
