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Published: December 28th 2009
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Yesterday we had a relaxing slow morning so we could sleep in and pack up. We had a driver take us to the Beijing International School to see a play called “The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge” with our new friend Yuanyuan as one of the cast members. Kirsty, her mom, gave us free tickets to attend and it sounded like a fun way to spend our last afternoon. The play was a comedy and we enjoyed seeing “Broadway in Beijing.” Then we headed for an Italian dinner at Annie’s nearby at Chaoyang Park, before heading to the train. The driver dropped us off and pointed for us to go inside. The signage was all in Chinese characters but at least the numbers were recognizable. We found the waiting lounge for our train and crossed our fingers that we were in the right place. Luckily a very nice man sat next to us and he made sure we found our right track and car and berth! We were very pleased to see how clean and nice the cabins were. We purchased 8 berths so we could have two cabins to ourselves, and good thing because our luggage took up one lower berth
in each cabin! Each berth had a private TV but of course no English TV. They provided slippers which was great as we made our trips to the bathroom! We were happy that each end of the train had both a Chinese and a Western toilet! We watched a movie on the lap tops and headed off to sleep…well some of us anyway . I actually slept quite a bit, but Mark, Steve and Diana were awake a lot.
We arrived in Shanghai at 7:30 and had a minivan take us to our JW Marriott hotel. The lobby is on the 38th floor with amazing views over People’s Park. This hotel is in a much more central location with a subway stop across the street! We had asked for connecting rooms but they did not have any available so they upgraded us to a King suite with a double room two doors away. We were thrilled with our huge room and great views.
After a breakfast in the executive lounge we took two taxis’s and headed to Yu Yuan Gardens. We enjoyed walking around and taking photos. We then followed a walking tour through “Old Shanghai” and saw a food
market, the bird and flower market, an antique market, and a piece of the old Shanghai wall before taking the subway back to our hotel. The kids were exhausted so relaxed in the room while Mark and I walked around People’s Park and took a quick tour of the Shanghai Art Museum. We are now waiting for happy hour in the lounge while we check email, Facebook and update the blog. We are hoping this happy hour is as good as Beijing and can be dinner for us tonight! We are looking forward to see the night time sky from the 59th floor!
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Nancy
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That sounds like a great way to travel!