The DCs explore Shanghai

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City Shanghai, China
Language Mandarin
Currency Chinese Yuan - 5Y = NZ$1
Climate high 35c - low 27c -hot and very sunny
Awake early (around 6am) we thought it would be a good idea to venture out along the Bund and witness the early morning Tai Chi and other morning exercises that the Bund is renowned for.
On the way we passed a lovely bakery that sold wonderful pastries and great coffee. We bought three varieties of goodies and 2 coffees for our breakfast. All up a total of about 42Y or approx NZ$8.
Jennie’s typical excellent navigational skills were sadly lacking after such a yummy breakfast and so after an unscheduled 1-2 kilometre scenic detour - it was too late to witness the early morning Bund activities. Instead we decided to carry on walking towards the Old City and the Bazaar near the Xu Gardens. Upon entering the Old City area we were immediately immersed into their normal way of life, with fresh produce displayed on the ground, all types of seafood and meat cut up and hanging. We found the equivalent to our $2 shop- the 2 Yuan shop, where Jennie bought some stickers for the girls in Argentina (Max’s host sisters). The Bazaar was far more commercial - but very buzzy with crowds of people enjoying the many dumpling restaurants around the famous Huanting teahouse set near the Yuyuan Gardens.
Finally, after poking our noses into a couple of the quaint stores, we made our way to the Bund area and walked the length of it up to Nanjing Road. As we walked, the sun had burnt through the smog and we both realised we were getting slowly grilled! We found a lovely fern grotto below the Bund to sit and escape from the fierce sun for a while. We walked along the pedestrian section of Nanjing Rd and then made our way through the People’s Square before heading for home for a swim. Found the pool at a balmy 27’C.
We watched a movie on TV in our room as we unwound from the busy day - It was a James Bond movie dubbed in Chinese - set in Egypt and other parts of Europe - made us feel quite international. We then had a chance to start our diary and catch up on some emails in the hotel bar over a bottle of Beaujolais for 330 Yuan (NZ$66 Ouch) - there went the daily food allowance! Off we went for dinner at around 10.00pm and got kicked out of the first restaurant as it was closing. Well we thought it was closing, but when we went past an hour later it was fuller! We had found a franchise restaurant (No, not McDonald’s!) It was like a Chinese style McD’s - called Mercuries where we could order from the pictures. Again, very nice fresh food.

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