Shanghai

Thursday-Monday, July 16-20



Thursday:

We left campus after classes on Thursday night to head to the Hong Kong airport. Our flight was at 8:30 and we landed in Shanghai around 11. While running through the airport (only because we had a lot of enthusiasm) we worked up quite a sweat, and when we finally get to the section of the airport where we get our temperature checked for swine flu, the alarm went off..... thank goodness it was for the Canadian guy behind us! He was leading a high school group of students on a tour of London, Dubai, and Shanghai and somehow they let him pass. PHEW! We got out bags, found a taxi, and were on our way to the H Hotel.

We woke up early and took a taxi to an old water village, (NAME), which was about 1 1/2 hours from Shanghai. The taxi literally dropped us off in the middle of a street that looked nothing like the ancient village we were expecting. Unsure of how we would get back to Shanghai, we paid the less than $20 taxi fare, and went out exploring. We found a really delicious Chinese restaurant where we tried some different dishes than we had experienced in Hong Kong. After a super cheap lunch, we wandered to a "civilized garden", and then finally found the old water village where we found a market, and housing along a river canal where boats were used for main transportation. We tried some of the street baked goods, mochi balls, and fruit from the fruit market. I found some of the cutest kids in this town, and none of them were beggars, they were just running around and so happy to see us.