Shanghai, China

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I arrived in Beijing after taking the overnight train from Mongolia and took another overnight train down to Shanghai. The size of both cities was really overwhelming. I remember that on the approach to Beijing on the train we were in the city for several hours before we actually got to the city centre. It was the Chinese National week and both cities were totally crammed with chinese tourists. My first impression of Shanghai was that it is very modern and felt like a western city. The hotel was conveniently located about 1 minute away from the main shopping street called Nanjing Street which was like Times Square, fast paced and full of neon lights.

For the first few days in Shangahi it was great to immerse myself in the comfort of shopping malls and Starbucks. When mum arrived in the city a few days later we went to the main sights of Shanghai. We spent the first day walking along The Bund and took the sightseeing tunnel accross to Pudong to see the Oriental Pearl Tower, then sat by the river with an ice-cream. On one of our free evenings before we were due to meet up with the tour group we went to see a performance of chinese acrobatics at The Yun Feng Theatre which was spectacular. The young group of performers did contortionist acts, juggling, cycling and balancing acts. It was really a highlight of Shanghai. I've put some pictures of it below.

After a few days in Shanghai we met up with our tour leader and group of 12 who we were to travel with for the next 2 weeks. We were a mixture of nationalities from England, New Zealand, Ireland and Denmark and meshed together really well over the 2 weeks. Our guide, David took us all out to a local restaurant to try loads of chinese dishes. It was really good to try a variety of dishes on a 'lazy suzie' and have an expert to help us order.

We had another 2 days in Shanghai with the group. We went to the Shanghai Museum, several Buddhist temples and pagodas, another district known as the old town which had lots of shopping and a tranquil garden in the centre called The Yu Gardens.

From Shanghai we then took a train to Nanjing, about 4 hours west of Shanghai.

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