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Published: November 22nd 2006
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Shanghai skyline at Night
The view from Oriental Pearl Tower We arrived in Shanghai on Monday, after travelling for almost 48 hours straight. The train from Cheng-Du to Nanjing wasn't too bad considering the time we were on it, although when I finally got off the train I felt like I was still on it, swaying from side to side, then we got another train from Nanjing to Shanghai. It was so nice to have a hot shower & some proper food, well we thought we were going to get proper food!
We went to a little place down the road & they had an English menu, (always a blessing!). So we both ordered Beef in Oyster Sauce, (trying to get the lady to understand that we both wanted the same thing was an absolute nightmare!). In the end after talking about it to every other person in the restaurant she came back to us and checked we wanted two, (was it really so hard to understand that we both wanted a meal?!)
She strangely understood when I asked for two beers & for some rice, Claire got a bit annoyed with her. We got our meals & the beef was not beef, so we both sat & ate our meals, (which were tasty) & thought we were eating dog; (dog however is a delicacy in China & it is unlikely they'd serve it to us at the prices they were charging).
When we got back to the hostel we had a few beers & made friends with an Aussie guy who was convinced I was Irish, a Canadian/Norweigen & a Brit from Crawley, (who looked like Mark Owen from Take That but shorter!). They tried to insist that what we had eaten for dinner was infact a genitically modified guinea pig that was the size of a dog.
Tuesday - We headed out & went for a walk along the river although it was a rainy day. We came across the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, (which we thought was going to be a journey under the river showing us the history of the Shanghai skyline as we went, however it turned out to be a strange light show with funny noises!)
We were then at the other side of the river, (it was still raining), so we flipped a coin & fate decided that we would go to the Shanghai Aquarium where we saw Penguins, Seals, Crocodiles, Sharks & lots more. The highlight being that Claire & I got to stroke a Bamboo Shark!
From there we headed to the train station & brought a ticket to go to Fuzhou on Thursday, (not sure how long we'll stay there), then we'll head to Guangzhou before going across to Hong Kong. On the way home we went up the Oriental Pearl Tower, by this point the fog & mist had cleared, it had stopped raining & we had a good view of Shanghai skyline at night.
Went for food again on the way home but this time Claire & I shared two dishes, (again the beef dish was not beef as we know it in the UK), so who knows what we keep eating!
We sat in the hostel bar & made friends with some more Brits & got to bed about 2.30am, having a couple of beers & Baileys, (obviously not together!)
Wednesday - It was a very rainy day & before we left the hostel our room mate, Rudey from Austria, came in soaked to the skin. Not letting the rain put us off we headed to the old Chinese area, with traditional Chinese Buildings & lots of little stalls & markets. I could have got carried away buying lots of cheap nice things!
The rain was getting too heavy so we went to a tea house which was lovely, it had a stream running through the middle of it, a little bridge you crossed to get to the seats & lots of red lanterns. Claire had Jasmine tea & I had Green Tea, we both had some dumplings &relaxed watching the crazy rainy day outside.
We walked around a bit more but the rain was getting too much. We had been shouted at by the lolly pop man for crossing the road when the green man wasn't flashing, (although the cars, bikes & scooters still go when the man is on green so whats the difference?). Claire had been hit by a scooter who was just crusing down the pavement, (scooters should not be allowed on the pavement!), she was not injured but we decided to get some food stocks for our train journey to Fuzhou tomorrow & then headed back to the hostel for a nice warm Baileys coffee & sit down in the warm on the sofas.
We have just been out for food & are just having a few drinks in the hostel. We are supposed to be just having a few beers in our room tonight & an early bedtime, (as we need to get up early for our train tomorrow), however we have just met more lovely people so might stay up drinking with them!
Apparently the weather is warmer in Fuzhou & Hong Kong so bring it on!!
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