On Saturday we tried to fit in as much as possible. We started at the Urban Planning museum in the People's square. it sounds very dry but it was a very interesting exhibition on the urban development of Shanghai from 18th century to-date and beyond. Then a brief visit to the opera house in the same square, which is architecturally interesting. Then to pedestrian XIan Di quarter where we had lunch at very nice Shanghainese restaurant called Ye Shanghai - great dim sums!
Then on to Yu gardens in the Old Street district. the gardens were designed in the 1550s with successive courtyards and beautiful pagodas, lakes with koi fish and high rockery. in one of the halls we came upon a tea ceremony - the Chinese guy talking us through the different types of tea we were tasting was so convincing I bought a lot more, bloody expensive Tibet grown teas to address every possible ailment. If you fail to recognise me in the near future, it could be put down to drinking copious amounts of No5 sweet tea which not only heals rhinitis but promotes female facial beauty and puts paid to hemorrhoids too!
From there we parted company with Theo who returned to the hotel and I went on a shopping spree in the adjacent streets with antique stores. I returned laden with shopping bags and just in time to pack, clean up and leave for the French district and the Coconut Paradise - a highly recommended Vietnamese restaurant. A combination of couple of cocktails and spicy food, despite the long walk after our meal, kept me up most night gazing through the drapes at the amazing night skyline.
Sun 21st August
The following morning, after breakfast we took a taxi to the Bullet train station for the last must-do thing in Shanghai..a ride to the Pu Dong airport. It was worth all the dragging around of our 3 suitcases and 3 pieces of hand-luggage! The train took 6-7min to get us to the airport and at top speed it did 431klm..
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