For the first time all holiday we were able to have a lie in and not think about setting any alarms! It was lovely and just what we needed.
We left the hotel around 11am and headed towards the Hop on Hop off bus stop - we already prebooked tickets for this for the weekend to get us around the city and see the sights. The ticket also includes entry into a Buddhist Temple, a river cruise along the Huangpu River for an hour and also entry to the observation deck of the Jin Mao Tower.
We started on the red route (the city tour) which took us to the Bund where we decided to change to the blue route (tour around the Bund). Unfortunately the weather is wet, foggy and miserable, not too pleasant so not that great for photo taking especially when all of the tall buildings are lost within the fog - and it's making my hair look a right state!!
We got off the bus by the Pearl Tower but due to the weather decided it wasn't the best day to go up it! We had some lunch (a McDonalds - it was the closest thing and remember it is raining!) and then decided to go the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel. This is a tunnel that goes under the river back to the other side of Shanghai - it's a strange thing - you get in carriages that take you through with basically a light show all around you, rather odd! Best to see the pictures!! When we got to the other side it was absolutely pouring down so we took cover in a shop till the next red route bus came to take us round the rest of the city. When we got to the centre we changed to the green route (temple tour) and went through the older part of Shanghai and saw where the temples are that we will visit tomorrow. Quite odd to see a big shiny gold temple in the middle of high rise buildings!
We've had quite an easy day today, similar day planned for tomorrow but hopefully minus the rain! We still need to do the river cruise, and go up the Jin Mao tower but we need nice weather for that. We decided against a show tonight, possibly another night but if we want to go up the Pearl Tower at the Bund we need to save our money for that.
It's just turned 7pm, and we're having a rest at the hotel before we head back out, this time to Nanjing road, the main shopping street in Shanghai, to find somewhere for dinner and to see the city lit up at night - def the best time to see the city!