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Thursday - May 17 - Up at 0530 - preparing
luggage - Watching BBC news on flat screen TV - Breakfast at 0600- - best
waffles to order so far, plus juice and all - we take opportunity to check out
the hotel swimming pool and exercise rooms
on top floor - Check out of hotel at 0915 with luggage already taken by Vantage
as usual. Then bus ride to Hu Qing Yui
Tang Traditional Chinese Pharmacy. The bus lets us out at the entrance to Hefang Jie street, lined on both sides with
shops. We enjoy the walk and window shop along the way. There will be more time
for active shopping on the way back. The pharmacy museum and shop is in an
interesting wooden old-style building. There a doctor of Chinese medicine gives
a lecture on the principles of Chinese medicine including use of herbs. Then he
invites each traveler to come forward and have a personal medical assessment.
This is performed by taking the pulse, examining the palm of the hand and the
tongue. During the walk back we examine antiques, swords, souvineers, medieval
armor, and admire the colorful buildings. I stop and put on a suit of model
Tang Dynasty armor to pose for photos -
cost 160 Y - made immediately with digital camera and a Kodak printer. There
are many Chinese posing, mostly in civilian imperial court robes. In addition
to receiving the photos from the shop, I give my camera to a young bystander
and ask him to take some photos. It doesn't enter my mind that he could easily
disappear into the crowd with my camera. But he is honest and even refuses my
offer of a tip. Again we travel by bus to another elegant Chinese restaurant in
the Marco Polo Hotel for a 12 or 13 course luncheon, including beer and Coke.
They serve so much food in order to display variety that people can not eat it
all. By now at least we know not to eat too much of the first courses in order
to be able to sample the later courses. It is a shame so much goes to waste
unless the restaurant has some way to give the remains to charity. There is
chicken, fissh, many vegetables, beef, rice, fruit including candied pineapple.
All this is set in a gorgeous decor. Then we go by bus again, to the train
station. This also is much better than any train station I have seen in Russia.
There is a huge crowd of Chinese travelers, but they are very orderly. Vantage
has reserved our seats all together in one car. This is a high speed special
train, but an even faster train will be built next year.
We arrive in Shanghai at 1505. Of course the Vantage bus is waiting. The
Shanghai train station is also modern and
very clean. Now the bus takes us on an even more impressive multi level,
elevated expressway than those in Beijing. There are four levels criss crossing
at the intersections. We arrive at the Regent
Hotel in Shanghai, 1116 Uam Am Road at 1545. In contrast to Hangzhou the
hotel is set in the midst of a multitude of modern, glass and steel high-rise
buildings. Again, this hotel is a step up from the last, amazingly. It has it
all as usual, well stocked rooms with very modern decor, with a Chinese flavor.
A gorgeous entrance and lobby area. The hallways have heavy carpet and soft
lighting. An army of help standing around. We see more Chinese tourists in the
lobby than were in the previous hotels. We walk across the street to buy water
and Coke, not wanting to pay hotel prices. Water is 1 Y and Coke 2.5. We skip
going out to eat and prepare for an evening at the theater. At 1850 the bus
takes us to a performance of the Shanghai
Acrobatic Troupe in a beautiful theater in the Shanghai Center. The streets
are full of colored lights, there are lights blinking in the trees. The tall
buildings are flooded with colored lighting. Now we see Shanghai traffic in
full operation. As the bus turns left across traffic cars nevertheless dart
around on the left in the lanes for opposing traffic. Even with the bus
blocking traffic as it tries to turn cars are pushing ahead. The
Shanghai Grand Theater is a huge complex
set in a huge building between two modern hotels and all linked with escalators
and courtyards. The buses enter on ramps to discharge passengers in an atrium
inside the complex. The acrobatic performance is spectacular - a mix of high
acrobats, knife thrower, jugglers, various scenes, clowns and acts. Then back
to the hotel and sleep.
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