We have docked at Wusong Shanghai International Cruise Terminal, about 25kms from the CBD, so shuttle buses are the go again. Sadly it's a very grey day with rain showers forecast. So with wet weather gear in hand, we proceeded with our trusty guide, Ros, who had it all planned for the 8 of us, including a 'birthday boy'. We have been to Shanghai before so have seen a few of the city highlights, but all new today.
The ship's shuttle bus took us to The Bund (right in the heart of this very attractive, modern city) which is a lovely, long stretch of paved waterfront, strewn with cafes and architectural symbols on the banks of the Huangpu River. We're surrounded with great views, especially the iconic 'pink' Pearl Tower - but she was not so pretty on this grey day - and along the main street, the lovely old buildings blending with the modern. A coffee stop was in order to warm us up and dry off a little. We then took the underground tunnel in mini train pods, and had a colourful light show beneath the river, to the other side.
We then caught 2 trains (after the usual fun? of purchasing the tokens) to the Maglev Fast Train which goes directly to the airport. We weren't about to catch a plane, it was just the experience of reaching just over 300kmph and literally took about 7 minutes – felt like a plane ready to take off!! Then it was another fast return trip and time for lunch in a Japanese Ramen noodle restaurant, whose staff didn't speak any English – interesting!! Back on another train and with good fortune we got off right outside the underground markets, which were huge and simply amazing – good quality 'bargains' in a beautifully clean marketplace.
It was time to surface and with fingers crossed, we were hoping for finer weather, but no luck – it was getting worse!! We all decided to cut the rest of our day/night tour off and instead find a nice warm pub, but without luck, we opted to head back to the ship.
After hot showers, we met for drinks, followed by a very happy birthday dinner for Bob.
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