Shanghai

Shanghai…first I had planned to be here for 4 days. The cruise took two
of those days. Then a cancelled flight back from the Gorges means I only had a
half-day in this fast-paced modern city, which is the largest in all of
China–about 14,000,000 people.

It’s about 11 PM Thursday evening, and I just got into my hotel after a
fun, fulfilling afternoon and evening in Shanghai. For me it was the
quintessential Shanghai experience. This is good since I fly to Beijing at 8 AM
tomorrow morning.

I met the quintessential woman from New York City while we
were both looking for Yuyuan Gardens. We found the gardens, did a little Xmas
shopping, had a delicious vegetarian dinner at a small, not-so-fancy restaurant
for about $2.25 each.

We then took the world famous night cruise on the Huang Po
River with beautiful, spectacular citylights on both sides of the river.
Shanghai is warmer than Xian since it is on the coast plus the sights were so
beautiful so we stayed outside, even though the boat was heated.

Then about 8:30 PM, we went to the famous Peace Hotel, formerly the Cathay
Hotel in the 1930’s and 40’s during the time when Shanghai was a haven of
scandal and immorality. The inside of the hotel is much as it was then. It
reminded me alot of the architecture of buildings I saw in Havana in 2000. There
is still a jazz band of Chinese men playing music from that era. They were good
and played songs my mom and dad loved in their teens…"Let Me Call You
Sweetheart", "Autumn Leaves" and so many more.

I had my perfect Shanghai experience all in abouty 8 hours. Amazing! 
🙂