Shiny Shanghai & Overnight Trains

We reached Shanghai by our first of four overnight trains a few days ago. The overnight trains are interesting and actually kind of fun. Each carriage has 3 bunks high, 6 bunks to a compartments and about 10 compartments. There are little ladders to climb up and down and bedding is provided. There are also a few fold down seats and tables in the corridor so you can sit out there to get a change of pace. From Beijing to Shanghai it was about 12 hours.

Shanghai was significantly different and better for me than Beijing. We did an orientation walk or better yet an 8-hour march through the city. We visited the Shanghai Museum which I really enjoyed. It was just enough culture to keep me interested and not bored. We went up into highest building in Shanghai called the Shanghai World Financial Center which kinda looks like a giant bottle opener. The city is teaming with skyscrapers and neon signs. We then took at ferry over to the Bund and walked back to our hotel near the Nanjing Pedestrian Street. Our hotel was really centrally located which was great.

The next day I went with Abby and Steph from my group to a water town about 30 km outside of Beijing. We took a local bus which was cheap but took a long time. It was like a little Asian Venice. We saw some beautiful gardens and took a little boat trip through the canals. We saw a lot of interesting things like a 100-year old pickle shop, bbq-ed pigs feet, dead chickens for sale, live crabs and turtles for sale to cook. It was a really nice day and definitely recharged my batteries. Later that night we went to an acrobat show that was really entertaining. I saw some acts I have never seen before.

On Saturday, I slept in because we had another overnight train that night. This one was from Shanghai to Xi'an and was 17 HOURS. I actually slept better this time around and didn't mind the trip. We did a city walk when we arrived and I wandered off by myself through a couple street markets and a normal mall. I decided I wanted a foot massage and asked the hotel staff to write down a place that I could give to a taxi driver. I did that and got dropped off by another mall and was pointed in a direction but alas, there were no massage places anywhere I could find and again, no one spoke any English to help me. I went into the mall and found an information desk in a department store and one of the employees spoke English. I described what I was wanting and she asked me to follow her. She took me downstairs and I was thinking there must be a salon in the store. But again, another miscommunication brought me to the massage chair and foot bath department....where they were selling them. I told them again what I wanted and they didn't know where one was so they let me use one of the massage chairs for 20 minutes for free. All in all, it ended up ok. Chalk it up to a good travel story I guess.

Today we visited the Terracota Warriors which was really cool. I really enjoyed this site which was really well done too. This afternoon I went with 3 others from the group for a massage and then dinner. The massage was pretty great but different than I am used to at home. We were all in one room together on lounge chairs fully clothed. They started off soaking our feet and massaging our arms and hands. Then they moved to our feet and legs and then we laid down and they massaged our backs. It cost about $15 for 80 minutes - pretty good deal! Then we had a nice dinner of pork on pancakes and then did some shopping.

Tomorrow we are headed to Chengdu via plane. We plan to visit a panda sanctuary and the tallest Buddha in the world and Leshan. Life in China is getting better and I am getting anxious to go home but sad my adventure in ending. Til next time friends!