Zhengzhou to Guangzhou - via Shanghai

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We ventured next to Zhengzhou to visit the Shaolin temple. We treated ourselves to a nice hotel and had a hotel car drive us to the temple, it was great to be able to afford such luxuries.

At the temple we saw the Shaolin monks performing their martial arts in a show, it was very impressive. We also saw young monks practicing around the temple grounds, a Shaolin monk school. The monks were friendly, some of them wanting to practice their English with us.

After Zhengzhou we went to Shanghai, the best place to shop! Shanghai was much cleaner and more welcoming than the other places we had visited which had sometimes been a bit of a struggle. The Chinese culture is very different to ours and almost no-one speaks English, except in Shanghai (not that they should but it makes it difficult).

In Shanghai we spent a lot of time at Xiang Yang (Fake) Market. We also browsed Dong Tai Lu Antique Market, admiring the communist kitsch, and Yu Yuan Bazaar, a tourist haven set in traditional Chinese buildings.

One night we went to see the Shanghai Acrobats who were amazing. The stunts they performed were daring and great fun to watch.

To get a good view of the city from above we went up the Oriental Pearl Tower. Unfortunately it was smoggy so we couldn't actually see that far, though apparently this is often the case.

On our last night we treated ourselves to a meal at 'M on the Bund', THE place to eat in Shanghai. Obviously it is also the place to be seen as we were soon dining amongst Hollywood superstars. The food was fantastic and the company wasn't bad either!

On leaving Shanghai we headed to Guangzhou to chill out for a few days before leaving for Hong Kong.

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