The Bund Brewery
After our first evening stroll on the Bund, we needed to rest our feet and have a cold drink. On first glance, we knew the Bund Brewery would be pricey - everything western in that district is. And when the menu came it was confirmed! We ordered anyway, hoping the beer and pop would come in large glasses. In Jinshitan a bottle of beer is about 10 kuai in a restauant and a soft drink about 5 kuai. The bill came to 100 kuai for the two drinks. I wanted to get a second glass and share Rick's beer, but they wanted to charge an extra 10 for that as well! Barb's pop glass held about 1/3 of a can of pop. Our most expensive drinks in China (well, equalling my 30 kuai water in Dalian, but that was another story!).
For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more 
