The following blog takes place between 15-17th June in shanghai.

Following another overnight train to shanghai we found ourselves in the largest and most modern/ futuristic city of china, shanghai. We arrived in the afternoon to our accommodation at the Jin jiang inn. Our accommodation was located alongside the blue lit roads used in the film skyfall and we even walked under them in the evening. After having some noodles and local good on the streets we went to the yu gardens for a tea workshop where we saw the process of making a variety of Chinese tea from sweet, herbal, green, and other kinds which we tried together. After this we had free time to explore the yu garden markets. A very old fashioned looking Chinese market and amongst exploring with the travellers, the swede sisters and the nhs physician I purchased a Chinese stamp where in five minutes you name in England and Chinese is inscribed onto a stamp with on top the animal of te year you were born in. For 1993 it was the year f the rooster and thus that was my animal. I also purchased a set of chine postcards that showed most nod the highlight of my journey for memories in addition to a bracket with the touism symbol from Yangshuo. For the evening we were treated out to a meal before some of us went to see a Chinese acrobatics performed by the yunfeng stunt charming flying circus where such cuts included a dance with cloths to swing around the air to the titanic celine dion song my heart will go on, a group of Chinese woman holding onto stacks chairs by chair up to nine and performing acrobatics and a steel ball with 6 motor bikes crossing over eachother to Star Wars music( may not sound exciting on paper but on video and pictures its fantastic as a death defying stunt) after this we took the metro and a five minute walk to the blue lot road and back to out hotel. Charlie out tour leader jokingly stated skyfall copied his itinerary with the blue lit road and the ground floor interiors of the jinmao tower where bond witnesses the Hitman kill the guard.

The next morning we took a walk around the bund, a walking area thy overlooks the skyscrapers of shanghai such as the jinmao tower, the in development shanghai tower and other recognisable buildings( the area and some of the street we passed through had been used in a number of the scenes in the film looper where the main character in a 10 minute montage goes to live in shanghai and the climax of mission impossible 3 where tom cruise does a jump across one of the towers( china of course had an extended version with more scenes in shanghai then the rest of the world).

After sightseeing in the hot weather we crossed on the ferry over to the jinmao tower a 88 floor building with an elevator in 45 seconds that goes from bottom to top and excellent photo opportunities and the highest post office in shanghai!!! The tower was also house to a hotel know as the high hotel and the views of the city were stunning and definetky a must do in shanghai for 120 chris yen( until inflation strikes again)

Following this we went for sugar Caine juices and a macsonalds at a nearby mall and then were treated to the Nanjing road, the longest market in china at 5.5 kilometres and led us to the shanghai museum to learn about the calligraphy and coins from the different eras of the dynasties. Later we went back to the hotel for a rest and the. We ventured for dinner to a shanghai restaurant with the shanghai dives of garlice broccoli, shanghai pizza, fish and shanghai steak, a delicious and cheap meal as always with Charlie.

Under Charlie's suggestion myself and the travellers went out to a nightclub for a cheap entry and drinks deal for the rest of the evening. An enjoyable experience which resulted in one of us getting into a fight. Myself being dragged out of the club with the othher after hours of drink and dance,due to the fight( wasn't me). We made it back and the hangover that followed the next morning was cured after mildly spicy noodles an drink from Charlie. When in shanghai the night clubs are a must do and I reckoned the sollo club, they are cheaper to get into and have special weekend deals which makes the clubbing life of the UK at uni seem mediocre in inflation rates with china. The drawback of the hangover was I missed out on a chance to explore the French concession( a highly regarded part if shanghai. A few hours later with the chinese KFC meal and our luggage be boarded our last overnight train to Beijing.

Overall shanghai was a wonderful experience from the acrobatics, the night club and the jinmao tower and it offered another fantastic lightshow if the city across the bund area prior to the night club which topped the Hong Kong one for an hour of seeing the different architecture of the city's lit up buildings. The city is expensive by Chinese currency but with a Chinese citizen like Charlie he helped us with the best meals for cheaper prices as little as 20 yen and even though the Americans and the German Woman with us all the time I understand and respect it is their money and holiday but at the same time I feel for Charlie's role as a tour leader but with 11 years of the job he may be used to this thing happening.

Alas as I sit in the last overnight train I still ponder over returning to expat working life and over a china to return to china again to do things I haven't been able to do( believe it or not what I have done so far is only 10 percent of china)

One more blog to go, one more city to go and one more amazing itinerary to complete now!!!!