Friday, September 25, 2015 ~ Shanghai

We ate a good breakfast this morning, but we decided that breakfast at the Shanghai Sheraton Hotel doesn’t compare with the Beijing Sheraton. At 9:30 we met our guide, Kristy. She first took us to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower where we took a very fast elevator up to see the panoramic city view. All the important buildings were labeled in English.  

After that, we walked down to experience walking on a glass floor to view what was below. With my acrophobia, I felt numb all over. I was determined to succeed, however, and I did! 

Challenging Acrophobia

We passed a roller coaster and other things kids would like, then we took an elevator down to the Shanghai Municipal History Museum. It had reproductions of cars, street scenes, and many other items from Chinese history. Our group went through it rather quickly, then we went to lunch. The food was O.K., but it didn’t compare with Guilin food. 

Historical Beauty Parlor

Next we toured a silk demonstration facility where the process of using the silk from the silkworms is shown. Fabric is made from cocoons that have one worm inside. Fillings for silk comforters are made from cocoons with two worms inside. We had the opportunity to buy things from the showroom, but I didn’t see anything I wanted. When I was here before, we went to a silk factory where women were actually working taking the cocoons out of boiling water with their bare hands! This place was much more commercialized and had a bigger showroom to buy silk products. 

Silk Comforter Filling Demonstration

We walked along the river on the Shanghai Bund. Then we had the opportunity to do a little shopping in Old Town. Anita and I went shopping for silk scarves. We weren’t finding anything when suddenly an enterprising man on the street told us to follow him. He must get a kickback from the stores he takes tourists to if we buy. He took us to three stores before we found anything we finally liked, and we bargained for the price we wanted to pay. 

Decorative Wall at the Shanghai Bund Where Each Flower is in a Small Removable Pot

We went back to the hotel for a short break to get ready for dinner and the Shanghai Acrobatics Show this evening. Our guide took us to another restaurant that is frequented by tour groups. That may be the reason our food is mediocre here. When guides take us to their special favorite restaurants the food is good.

The acrobatics show this evening wasn’t as good as it was in 2001 when I saw it. There wasn’t nearly as much acrobatics as then. This was more like a vaudeville show. Too bad we couldn’t see more of what I thought we would see.  

9000 steps, 3.83 miles

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