The arrival procedure in China was efficient and did not take too long. Not the case for everyone! As we waited for our own turn at the desk an incident was unfolding before us. A young woman was being turned away from entry. I am not sure of her nationality as I could not hear well enough to detect her accent but she was a native English speaker. It seemed that she did not have a valid visa and she kept saying 'I have a letter inviting me here', which she proceeded to wave in the face of the official who remained unmoved. She was told to go elsewhere to try to arrange a visa as there was no way she was being allowed to enter without. I wonder what happened to her on a Saturday afternoon, trying to enter China without the required paper work.
Miracle of miracles - our bags had arrived with us. Our guide was waiting and we started the journey to our hotel in the centre of Shanghai. Joe gave us a potted history of Shanghai and China during the one hour drive. He also asked why or how we had chosen China Odyssey for our trip. I told him that I was impressed with my email exchanges with Andy particularly as he had removed, at my request, a number of visits to things like silk factories and jade museums that we knew were only government stores with greatly inflated prices.
Our hotel, The Bund, was wonderful. Breakfast, buffet style, was sumptuous. A wide variety of Chinese and Western style food both hot and cold. A chef was available to make fresh omelette's on request with your choice of fillings. The variety of steamed buns were delicious. I have never seen such an enormous bed, king size double. There was room to hold a party on it!! Wonderfully comfortable. This was to be the norm for us in China.
Our hotel was just a short walk from the Nanjing Road so once we were settled in our room we went for a stroll. It was early evening and the street was buzzing with people simply strolling up and down. Every few minutes we would be accosted by a street hawker, often on roller skates, trying to sell us things that we did not want. The main sales item was a pair of mini rollers to fit onto shoes complete with flashing lights. This road is a magnet for a promenade at night. Most of the shops have prices way out of our league. Lots of carved jade and gold, magnificent to look at but, certainly in our own case, only to look at. We might have saved hard for this trip but.....not hard enough for those prices. This was the only place in China where we were to find a bar to sit and watch the world go by whilst enjoying a beer. At most other locations it was necessary to go into a restaurant or hotel to buy a drink. The unwanted part of sitting to have a beer is that you will be accosted by beggars, sometimes whole families of them. They also accost you whilst shopping but it is easier to walk away. We had been warned not to give anything unless we wanted hoards of beggars to appear, as if by magic, apparently from nowhere. Shanghai was the only place that this was a problem, although the beggars must also have existed in most places.
We would only be staying 2 nights in Shanghai and the following night we would go to the Shanghai Acrobat show so, Joe asked if we would like to take an evening cruise on the river that first night. Why not, we decided, and it was a very good decision. The neon lit buildings seen against the night sky is a trip definitely not to be missed.
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| Just a few of the throng |
Joe met us later to take us to the river cruise. You cannot believe the crowds, mostly Chinese with a few foreign visitors. Joe spoke to someone in authority and we bypassed the queues in order to board the next boat that would be departing. It was nice not to have to join the 'bun fight' for a place.
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| Mick and Chris on the evening river cruise in Shanghai |
It was a cold and windy evening, threatening rain, but the neon lit buildings were fantastic to see. The rain turned out to be no more than 'spitty spotty' and soon cleared up altogether although it remained cold. A wonderful start to the trip. Having slept on the flight we felt surprisingly fresh. Do not be fooled by the absence of people in the photo. The boat was filled to capacity but after a quick look the lights most people descended to one of the lounges for shelter or hot drinks. We simply did not want to miss anything so stayed on deck.
