12
Jun 08

Shanghai Touring

June 12 Today, we toured around in Shanghai. First, we went to Pudong, the new burgeoning world-class skyscraper district and checked out the surroundings from a tower observation deck. Tower in the park is alive and well. Second, we visited the Xintiandi District. Basically, a Shanghai version of Faneuil Hall, old city fabric repurposed for high end retail. Third, we went to some very nice traditional Chinese gardens with special rocks that were almost certainly “lucky”. We milled around the surrounding street markets and had jasmine and love butterfly tea in a traditional Chinese tea house. The touring finished with a river cruise with the Pudong skyscrapers on one bank and classical architecture of the Bund on the other, there were even fireworks. We had a drink to end the day with an unexpected performance by Phillipino lounge singers.

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11
Jun 08

Arrived in Shanghai

June 11 After connecting in Chicago for a 14 hour flight, I arrived in Shanghai Wednesday at 2pm (local time and day). We waited at the airport for all classmates to arrive, then boarded our delayed bus to get to the hotel in downtown Shanghai. We got to the hotel at 11pm, putting our door-to-door total travel time at 30 hours (not including time changes). We are 12 hours ahead of Boston time, don’t change you watch, just flip AM and PM. An itinerary for the next few days was distributed, we’ll be touring in and around Shanghai for a few days, leaving for Beijing on Sunday.

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