Shanghai

We are at the end of the trip - but what an end! Shanghai has re-claimed it glory as one of the key financial centres in the world. We arrived quite late - and headed to "the bund" for dinner on the river! What a skyline!

The next day was a full one - but wonderful (again)... Our first stop was a silk factory where we saw real silk worms - and the cocoons being un-spun to make the incredible fabric that we have come to know and love. Did you know that approximately 30% of the cocoons are "double" - with two silk worms working together. The cannot be un-spun but are used to make incredible silk duvets. They keep you warm in summer and hot in winter (that is what we were told). Now many in the group will be able to decide if this is true - because lots of us bought them!

Then it was onto the Maglev train - that went up to 300 km when we were on it - but during rush hour goes up to 430 km! A 1 hour bus ride was replaced by an 8 minute train ride...

After a great lunch in the Pudong area, we headed to an incredible bazaar area with shops and street vendors selling everything from jade (or maybe what looks like jade) to dumplings, silk garments, chopstick sets and more! There was even a Starbucks! It is a very popular place... It is also the place where you can find the Wu Garden and the crooked bridge (there were too many people on it to take a picture!)...

After an hour there, we were ready for.... the "fakes" shopping. The Asia Collection has found a 3-story "mall" of knock-offs! We all had lots of fun - and no one came back empty handed (although our wallets were lighter!)... Sorry - no pictures!! This was definitely a "no pictures" place - but we can tell you that everything your heart would desire was here!! You "name" it - they have it!

After an incredible dinner (again!) - off to the Chinese Acrobat Show. It is something to see - many of us agree it is better than the Cirque! What a way to end an incredible visit to China.