10/21/13 - 10/31/13

After Chengdu, I headed to Wanzhou to get on a hydrofoil to see the famous Three Gorges on the Yangtze River. I splurged a little in Wanzhou and stayed in a Hilton, which was amazing. It had all the usual amenities of a high-end Hilton hotel, but it only cost $75 a night! And it was the best night of sleep that I have had since I started my trip! I can't spend that much every night, but it was definitely worth it this time, as it did make me feel much better.

The next morning, I had to get up very early, but I was able to enjoy the awesome buffet at the hotel. It had everything you could think of for breakfast, from an omelet bar, a waffle bar and food for Westerners and Chinese. It did make me think about how much I would love to stay in a Hilton every night! Damn budget!!

Anyway, then I headed to the harbor, where I had to get on a bus to Fengjie, which was a couple of hours away, before getting on the hydrofoil. The hydrofoil would take five hours and would go past all three gorges. The scenery was nice and interesting, but it wasn't really all that inspiring. Unfortunately, it did not leave me awestruck, so the Three Gorges were a bit of a let down. So, I am glad that I decided to take the 5-hour Hydrofoil, instead of the 3-day Yangtze River Cruise. I am pretty sure I would have been very bored on the cruise.

The hydrofoil stopped at Yichang, where the Three Gorges Dam is located and so I caught a glimpse of that as well. I stayed, in Yichang, for the night and then got on a train for Shenzhen in the morning, where I would be crossing the border for my first trip to Hong Kong. I was only there for two days and since I have returned to Hong Kong two more times since then, I will be writing about it at a later time. For now though, I am going to be skipping to Shanghai, my next destination.

Shanghai is the least Chinese city I have been too in China. It is so modern and so westernized that you barely realized that you are in China at all. Walking around the city, reminded me so much of New York City. There are skyscrapers, expensive restaurants, very well-dressed people and all kinds of high end fashion stores, from Chanel to Versace to Gucci. There are also plenty of little boutique shops and mid-range options, as well. All in all, Shanghai is a shoppers paradise! Unfortunately, I am not much of a shopper.

There are a few interesting sights to see in Shanghai, though. One of my favorites was just walking down the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Area towards the Bund. The Pedestrian area is full of many shops, restaurants and vendors, but the fun part is just seeing all the people roaming around. It's a fantastic place to people watch. However, you do have to watch out for the touts and scammers. There are lots of people trying to sell watches, handbags, little roller wheels for your shoes, flying helicopters and of course, "massages." They can be quite persistent. I was sitting in a cafe once, and a tout walked right up to my table to try selling me a watch, nevermind, the fact that I was already wearing one! Despite, all of this, I always enjoyed walking around in this area.

The Bund is another fantastic area to walk around and people watch. It is located on the Harbor at the end of Nanjing Road and extend most of the length of the Harbor. Shanghai has one of the most well-known skylines in the world and the Bund is where you go to see it. I went there several times on my stay in Shanghai and I have to say the views are amazing, especially at night.

I went to the Shanghai Museum, strolled around the French Concession, and went to the top of the World Financial Center to see the views of the city, but my favorite place, other than the Bund, was the Yuyuan Gardens. The Gardens are a sea of tranquility in a bustling city. There are pavilions, rock formations, glistening pools with carp and plenty of pines and other kinds of greenery. It is a nice place to stroll and relax. It is also surrounded by a interesting and very touristy bazaar. The bazaar has many tiny shops, restaurants, teahouses and yes, a McDonalds. I ignored the McDonalds, but I found it fun to stroll through the tiny streets and browse through the shops, though I didn't buy anything. There is also a nice Taoist Temple to the City Gods in the bazaar, which had some really cool statues and interesting architecture.

Shanghai is known as a party town with lots of clubs and bars, however, I didn't go out at all in Shanghai. The reason for this is mostly because I didn't really want to, but also because I didn't really meet anyone to hang out with until my last two nights there. The last two nights I met a couple of Germans, who were working and going to school in Shanghai. They had to work early in the morning, so we didn't go out anywhere, but we did share a few beers in the hostel's rooftop bar.

I had been fighting travel fatigue a little up to this point in my travels. I sort of had a short two-day vacation in Hong Kong, but I was still feeling it at times. I liked walking around Shanghai, but on the last day there, I didn't want to do anything touristy, so it was time for another break day. I decided that I was going to go see a movie. Up to this point, I had not seen a movie in two months! I went to see "Now You See Me", which I thought was pretty good. After the movie, I browsed a bookstore and then the did the one thing, that I was the least looking forward to doing on my trip. I got a haircut! I know that sounds ridiculous, but the thought of someone cutting my hair, that doesn't speak English and that I wouldn't be able to explain what I wanted, freaked me out a little. Luckily, the stylist knew what he was doing and didn't need a lot of direction and so my haircut turned out ok.

Shanghai is a strange city. It felt too much like being back home at times, but there was always that underlying Chinese element. I can't say I did not enjoy it, because there were several things that I liked about the city, but it wasn't my favorite place in China. I think the fact that I didn't really meet anyone to hang out with might have swayed my opinion, because I think this is a city where socializing is a very important part of enjoying the city. I did meet a few people on my last two days, namely the two Germans and then another Chinese girl, that worked at the hostel, but none of them were available to hang out. I think if I were to return to Shanghai in the future, it would have to be with someone or to meet a friend. But, now I am leaving and heading to Guilin and Yangshuo, where a whole new adventure and new friends await me!