Still Alive!

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Hi guys - it HAS been awhile, but access here in the big city has been pretty near impossible. Shanghai is a city of 15 million and I sure experienced some culture shock on arrival - have spent the evening uploading lots of photos for you, but none of Shanghai yet.

I decided to treat myself to some spa time in Shanghai, and so booked into a higher end hotel. I registered for their frequent guest program hoping that would give me a better rate but no luck. However, when I arrived late on Thursday imagine my surprise to find that i had been upgraded to the executive floor, junior suite with many complimentary things like breakfast and full happy hour etc etc. And imagine their surprise when I waltzed in with my backpack - and their greeting letter was to MR Taylor...some things never change no matter where you are.

I have explored the french quarter, the old city, Nanjing Lu, visited the Shanghai museum, seen a performance by the Shanghai acrobats and walked tens of miles I'm sure. Shanghai is great but I am ready to move on. The next couple of weeks I will be with a small group as we head out to the water villages starting tomorrow, and then on to Xian, Pingyao, Datong and finally Bejing. I am not optimistic about internet access so if you don't hear from me for a few weeks I promise to offer lots of pictures then.

And yes I enjoyed some major spa time. Ready to hit the road again.

Hope you are all well!

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