Last Day in Shanghai

Thursday was our last day in Shanghai and it didn't start out too great for me. I started the day with some of the stomach issues that have been plaguing the rest of the group. But with a full day of siteseeing in Shanghai and a flight to Beijing that night I had to pull myself together to head out for the day.

First stop, the Jade Buddha Temple. It turns out that it was the equivalent of a holy day in Buddhism so the temple was packed with worshippers. At first I thought it was a bad decision to be going to the temple on a day like that but it was interesting to be able to see people practicing their religion. As we moved through the different rooms people were paying respect and making offerings. It is quite different than church on a Catholic holy day. The temple was beautiful and the Jade Buddha was incredible. No pictures were allowed of the Jade Buddha but below are a few pics of the outside of the temple.

Our next stop on the Shanghai express was old Chinatown and some market shopping. As we approached the market I was hoping that this market experience would be much better than the one in Vietnam. Luckily, it was, there was still a lot of hustle and bustle but the market was open and the sellers were not nearly as aggressive as in Vietnam. We went to the silk market first and then the pearl market, where less negotiation is allowed. I almost found this relieving, I had a hard time bartering prices with the vendors and I'm sure I overpaid for some items. I'm glad it was a better experience than in Vietnam. Next on the agenda, lunch, which did not go well for me. I thought I was feeling better but after all of the various smells of the food I was feeling horrible after lunch which led me to skip out on the next 2 stops, the Bund and the Urban Planning Museum. I wasn't too upset about missing the Bund since I had seen at night and think that is a much more impressive view.

Our last stop on the tour was the Jin Mao Tower, next to the World Financial Center, an 88-story building. The views at the top were incredible and on a completely clear day I think it would have even been better.

To top off our day we took the magnet train to the airport, an 8-minute train ride replaced an hour bus ride to the airport. Unfortunately our flight ended up delayed for about 2 hours and by the time we arrived in Beijing, got our bags, and then got to the hotel it was 3:00am. As we were standing in the hotel lobby waiting for our keys and passports to be scanned I couldn't help wondering if the trip to the Great Wall would be worth it.