2. We tour ShangHai and begin our river cruise

Day 3

After a good night's sleep, we went to the hotel's breakfast buffet. Here were eggs, bacon, some kind of sausage, bread for toasting, croissants, several kinds of fresh fruit, donuts, cereal, tea and coffee. Also included were several unfamiliar Chinese foods. We stoked up with an American-style breakfast.

TV signal tower and skyscrapers create an eerie silhouette in the smog of ShangHai

Among the things in our luggage was mouthwash ... and Bill needed some badly. We went to the China equivalent of a 7-Eleven located across HuangShan Highway. Okay, we can navigate the money but reading labels is something else. Bill found a bottle that looked like mouthwash so he bought it. In our room, it took about 15 seconds to realize that Dettol was something else. It burned and caused his lips to numb ... and it took a lot of water to stop the stinging. So much for mouthwash.

Then we boarded a local tour bus which took us to the Bund, or waterfront. The ride took us past many, many residential areas where laundry hung from nearly every window. Ming, our local guide told us that many Chinese like to air-dry their laundry - they do not trust clothes dryers. 

At the Bund there were many people everywhere. Some were visitors from other countries. Vendors selling postcards, fans, figurines, etc. ... most sold for about $1 US. The skyline was spectacular with many tall buildings and lighted signs. There were many beautiful shrubs and flowers and a large statue of Shanghai's first mayor, Chin Yi. The Chinese are very proud of their Bund. 

A few of the many people at ShangHai's Bund

Merchants and customers crowd this block-long outdoor marketplace 

From the Bund, we traveled through the city and stopped at a bazaar -- quite an exciting experience. We wandered down the narrow street with tiny outdoor shops on both sides. One could buy just about anything imaginable, including many kinds of food. Virginia bought a pair of sandals for about $2 US - these were her footwear of choice for most of the trip. 

Our next stop was the Oriental Pearl Centre. The differences between real and fake pearls were explained. From an oyster shell, about 13 or 14 pearls, tiny but real, were retrieved and passed out among the ladies in our group. Behind the counter, a young lady meticulously strung pearls into a delicate necklace. Their retail store was very large and contained pearl jewelry in every form.

Our noonday meal in a local restaurant was our first real exposure to Chinese food. Bill is fascinated with China - the people, the culture, the artifacts -- but he just isn't very adventurous about food. However, he really liked the local beer. 

Laundry hangs from nearly every window in ShangHai

Next, we visited bustling NanJing Road. This story, "Treasure from ZhouShan Qundao", was printed in a previous edition. 

About 5:00 PM, we boarded our ship to cruise the Yangtze River. The Chinese official name is ChangJiang, or "long river". Our cruise ship was hardly fancy. On the first deck were the lobby, front desk, gift shop, a beauty shop, a few guest rooms forward and the dining room aft. There were guest rooms only on the second and third decks. The crew's quarters and engine room were below.

On the fourth deck were observation decks and the lounge which included two bars, many chairs and cocktail tables, a dance floor that also served as a stage and Tai Ji exercise area, a reading room, Ping Pong table and tables for playing Mah Jong, etc. An artist occupied a small space on the starboard. His works were beautiful and Virginia was lucky enough to win one -- it's now hanging on the wall in our home. On the port side, elegant kites were sold.

The guest rooms were small but comfortable, each having a large window. There were twin beds, two chairs, a table and a closet and private bath. The often-cold shower sprayed directly onto the floor, draining into troughs at the base of the walls. Home, sweet home!

Dinner was a great chance to become better acquainted with our co-voyagers. Again, the menu was exclusively Chinese. Bill didn't complain; he just ordered more TsingTao. The coffee was great and no one could ever complain about the service aboard.

In our room, we considered our laundry options. Our luggage, to meet up with us at Wuhan, was still four days away. Looks like it will be jeans and tee shirts for the captain's champagne reception and dress-up dinner on the following evening. Ugh! We had been warned about making our Captain unhappy!

We hit the sack early. Tomorrow would present new challenges.

More to come.

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