Day 9: Shanghai Bund, Museum, Acrobats

Arrived in Shanghai. I was wiped out from not much sleep - there were smokers next door and the smoke came into our compartment. Impressions of Shanghai: very humid (we are clammy and dripping), huge highrises, traffic very bad, interesting architecture especially for the new buildings, lots of contrasts of old and new, construction everywhere.

Met our city guide, Ally (she said, for Ally McBeal!) and drove to The Bund, the famous riverfront area. Lovely old Western style buildings along the Puxi (west) side of the river (the Huangpu). The opposite side which you can see in the photo of me below is called Pudong (means east side of river) and it's totally modern with hundreds of skyscrapers. (Note, though we did not see blue sky the whole time we were in China (because of the haze from air pollution), it's not quite as bad as this photo which was taken on a misty day.)

Then a visit to the impressive Shanghai Museum which has amazing collections of everything from minority group costumes to furniture to porcelain etc. Then back to the hotel for rest and a shower and then a fabulous show by the Shanghai Acrobats.

More about Shanghai>>