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Published: September 30th 2017
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Geo: 31.23, 121.47
After being awake off and on most of the night last night, I woke-up feeling much better today. Today is a free day for us to explore The Bund and the western financial district (where all the Americans and Europeans and other ex-pats live and work in Shanghai). We were awake and feeling okay. Kamie ate breakfast on th 17th floor. I skipped. Apparently, several people skipped. Later in the day we met our fellow travelers around town and learned many were stricken with the travelers diarrhea last night. Eh. By noon I was eating some crackers and Sprite and we decided to go out. It was very sunny and beautiful today but cool - 40s. We took pictures, saw lots of westerners just like us, and didn't see any deals you supposedly will find in Shanghai.
Just some interesting information... most of the Shanghai you see today is about 10 or 15 years old. The recent skyscrapers and apartment buildings and etc... all of that is a part of another government relocation project. They cleared the old places here and built skyscrapers, a western mall, etc. There is a small area near our hotel that is the "old"
Shanghai, the poor area, the way it used to look. I find it interesting that everywhere we have traveled, if the government wants to change something, even if your family has been leasing an apartment from them for 40 years, too bad - they just tear it down and build whatever they want. Sometimes, the people end-up better but most people have to move out of town so the people with the money can live in the well-located, new high-rises - the expats, mainly or the people with some sort of social or powerful government standing. Also, Shanghai is the first city we have traveled where the locals are flat-out RUDE to westerners. They see us, with our nice clothes, spending our money, and they hate us. The majority of the people on The Bund are American Chinese who are visiting China as tourists. It is all a facade. This is what I thought all of China was because that's what I saw on TV but this is not China, not at all.
Today Kamie & I walked and met several other travelers from our group along our routes so we talked and chatted and walked. We walked all the
way to the end of the Nanjing shopping district down to The Bund and got some good pictures just before dark. We saw the Pearl Tower, the Bottle Opener, banks galore, lots of interesting shops, etc. I bought tea at a tea shop today. Kamie bought a funky-looking hat. We went in and out of shops today but again, Shanghai prices are ridiculous as they are all selling to foreigners. We ended-up walking over four hours plus. We found another Subway and against my better judgment, I just ate half a sandwich. Kamie made sure he got the right sandwich tonight.We are back in the room now, it is Friday night around 7:30pm and we are cold and tired. I am finally homesick. I miss my Simon and my Scaredy - I hope they are both doing well. I'm ready to come home where everyone looks like me. I'm tired of the staring. I want to drink water from a faucet. I want to open my eyes and my mouth in the shower. I want to sleep with my Simo. I'm finally ready to come home and see all you round-eyed people. Ha
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