Friday

Day 7.

MagLev train to airport & back up to speeds of 430km/hr

Silk factory selling quilts, covers & other stuff. I got a table runner. The quilt would have been a good idea but I was in 2 minds. I'll probably regret it.

Onto one of the market hubs...for tourists mostly. But we wandered around & I got a few things before we went for another banquet lunch.

Local market after that. Where the real shopping can happen. Bargains. Hassles & lots of little shops selling all the same stuff. Picking which person you want to bargain with is the challenge. We opted for people who weren't in our face. Chances are they're English was as good as our Mandarin. But we punched numbers into a calculator we were happy to pay. And that people is how you shop. Pay what you want to pay & be happy with what you getter bearing it's all 'made in China'

Dinner was earlier than old people have high tea & was another array of western style Chinese food. We filled out our appraisal forms for the tour. The guides were better than we had anticipated. The hotels were lovely. The food monotonous (even by Chinese standards) & the places we visited were the highlight. Would we recommend these trips to anyone? Absolutely. - but beware the pace is not for everyone. Come prepared to be on the move & always going somewhere. Sleep when you can, keep your camera out & enjoy the fact that all you have to do is be inspired by a country that was here doing its thing for centuries before JC himself walked the earth & someone wrote a book about it. And that; out of respect & pride, they preserved so much of their history that we can freely visit today.

After dinner our last 'program' was the Haungpo river cruise to enjoy & soak up the city of Shanghai in all its night light glory. Again, the guides know how to manage the itinerary to ensure we have the best experience (it was much better to finish on that than the show last night)

Drinks at the bar with others to say farewell before a shower & bed. Tomorrow we are on our own


The lights of Shanghai from the river