China 2007 (23) - Shanghai II (上海)

Day 16, 17
In the next two days we wandered around Shanghai a little more. We went to the Yu Garden (豫园), which is a very beautiful garden, but it was packed with tour groups, leaving us no room to roam.

1. In Yu Garden.


2. In Yu Garden.


3. In Yu Garden.


We had dinner at the Oriental Pearl Tower's (东方明珠) revolving restaurant, but we couldn't get a table by the window because we didn't call ahead and reserve it. There were many tables by the window that were empty at the time. The staff said they were all booked. But I saw nobody came to those tables all night. It was ridiculous! The food was mediocre. If it wasn't for the view, I wouldn't bother to eat there at all. Anyway, lesson learned.

4. Oriental Pearl Tower. The restaurant is at the 267 m (876 ft) level.


The Bund (外滩) was our favorite place in Shanghai. We went there every night. The lights on the buildings nearby were turned on at 6:30 pm, and off at 10:30 pm. The view was beautiful on either side of the river when the lights were on.

5. The Bund, looking east.


6. The Bund, looking west.


7. The Bund in a foggy day. There were so many barges on the river, it's like a water highway.


Day 18
The trip was coming to an end. We were a little sad cause we enjoyed the trip so much. We checked out the hotel early in the morning. Two taxi drivers were waiting in the lobby. They wanted to drive us to the airport for 150 RMB. But I wanted to go to Longyang Road station to take the Maglev Train. They declined to drive us there saying it's too short, so we waved a cab down. It cost 45 RMB to the train station, and the train ticket cost 40 RMB/person. It didn't really save us much money, but I thought it was cool to experience the Maglev Train. Wikipedia says: "The train can reach 350 km/h (220 mph) in 2 minutes, with a maximum speed in normal operation of 431 km/h (268 mph)." We only saw it run at 301 km/h, but it was still cool.

8. The Maglev Train.


(The End)

P.S. $1 was about 7.4 RMB in Nov. 2007.