Our next Chinese stop was Shanghai, so very different to Beijing. Shanghai is the metropolis of China, full of huge sky scrapers and high rise offices but also bursting with ancient tradition and culture. Queen Mary 2 was berthed at the Port of Shanghai, the biggest port in the world and from here there were millions of containers ready to be shipped around the globe. It wasn't too far into the city and our tour bus was hosted by a young guide called Pinky. ...

Queen Mary 2 made her maiden call to Beijing with our port stop at Xingang, but there were no crowds waiting or bands playing to welcome us like we had in Japan. Instead we were greeted by a huge modern cruise ship terminal building that looked like an airport, in the middle of nowhere! Tianjin is the closest city of 9 million people and is China's 4th largest city, Xingang is Tianjin's modern port area built specifically for industry about one hour away, the ...