Saturday, Oct 15 - Shanghai

Saturday, Oct 15, 2011 Shanghai
The fact that this city has over 23 million people makes it overwhelming at the very least. Our ship was docked 45 minutes from the city and we were not aware there was a free shuttle so we arranged to take a tour. There is so much to see and do we know we will not have enough time. Unfortunately, we had four in our group that got lost and cost us an additional hour.
The first stop was the Jim Mao Observatory, an attraction at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai. We raised 88 floors in 45 seconds to a wonderful view of the heart of the city and the Huangpu River. In the center of the hotel you can look down all 88 floors to the lobby below. We then went to Old Town and a visit to the Yu Gardens. It was a typical Saturday afternoon and packed with tourists as well as locals. Following the gardens, we went to the fourth floor of a tea house to sample several teas and participate in a tea ceremony. After some great shopping including two (real fake) Rolex watches for $2.50 each and silk ties for under $1.75, we then went to an extremely popular restaurant with the locals to try some of the steamed buns and a local beer. It was well worth the 30 minute wait. We were seated in front of the glass window where we could watch them making the buns. The delay from the lost passengers caused us to miss a performance by local acrobats back at the ship. We also missed a ceremony on the pier to celebrate that the Diamond Princess was the first ship to sail into the new port. We barely made it back in time for our dinner seating and an evening of dancing and shows. Despite the delays we still had a great day.