Shanghai, China
Our second day in Shanghai. No tour today. We are on our own. We took the ship shuttle into Shanghai. It was again about an hour drive because of traffic. The bus had only passengers that had obtained the Chinese visa. We were on the first bus out at 8am. The port terminal is large and it was about an 8 minute walk to get to the bus. All aboard. 4:30 pm. Last shuttle left Shanghai for the ship at 3 pm.
When we arrived at the drop off point I quickly snapped a picture of it and marked the location on my map app. This way I could show the taxi driver where I wanted to go.
Our destination was the Shanghai Tower. It was party sunny but it was supposed to clear up. It was about 9:30 am and we decided it was now or never. We hailed a cab and were on our way. There is now way that I know of to walk to the tower. No bridges in the area. Lots of tunnels under the river but none that I could find that pedestrians could use.
We were at the tower in no time. It was obvious that this was a popular place for tourists because of the length of the areas that held people until they could get on one of the elevators. It was quite empty at this time. The elevators travel at a top speed of 45 mph. We were at the top in 70 seconds. Very smooth ride. The view from the top was tremendous.
It was hazy and we sat and had a cup of coffee at the top. $5 per cup. More than the cab ride.
Beautiful looking city. Very impressive. We finished our coffee and left. Clear sky wasn’t going to happen. We hailed another cab that was to take us to a shopping area. Not just any area, 500 stores, underground. Stores where there is no bottom price. A hagglers dream.
The taxi driver dropped us off and pointed down. Underground. We weren’t sure where to go. We were in the middle of a plaza with neatly trimmed gardens. A young girl said “sir, you want watch?” I nodded. “You come to my shop”. We followed her into a covered area with escalators in it. Down we went. We had arrived. Our only disappointment was the amount of time we had. It was already noon and I wan’t to be back where the bus dropped us off by 2 pm. I didn’t want to mess around with missing the bus.
I look at electronic items and Terri looked at some silk. We are expert hagglers and had a blast. I bought a case for my phone and a cordless charger for the car. Terri was haggling with every silk supplier in the place.
It was past lunch time and we took a recommendation on lunch with one of Terri’s new “friends” from the market. We looked over the menu and I asked if they took credit. They did not. ATM around? No. I did have 310 yuan. Lunch would be 105. I wanted some cash for the taxi back.
Lunch was great. More dumplings and more fried rice. It was so tasty I could almost stand eating with chopsticks. It was 1:40 and Terri said she wanted to try and catch the 2 pm bus. I didn’t think we had a chance. We had to walk outside and hail a cab. The ride back means back through the tunnels. 2:30 I thought.
We paid our bill and made our way up the stairs. No cabs to be seen around this area. Not enough traffic. We walked a few blocks to a busy street. We hailed and hailed. Most waved back because they had a fair or they just kept going. We continued walking and hailing. The walk back was about 4.3 miles. Very doable but no way to get over the river. We could take a ferry but I didn’t know the location or time schedule.
We walked and hailed for 45 mins with no luck. Terri finally went into the middle of the street and opened a cab door. He nodded and we hopped in. Traffic was bad. We went into one of the tunnels and we were at a standstill. 30 mins to the bus. If we miss the bus we had to take a cab all of the way back to the port.
Getting to the area where the bus would pick us up was not easy. The driver had to get out of the tunnel. pass the area by almost a mile, turn around, turn right and then do a crazy Michigan left. It was 3 pm and we were at the building. The bus was 2 levels down and we would never get there in time. We told the driver that we needed to go to the port. We used the translate app back and forth. I gave him the location and he nodded a yes. I didn’t think I would have enough money to pay him but there wasn’t anytime to worry about that. If we missed all aboard there was a good chance the ship would leave us.
It was only 12 miles to the port but traffic was a mess. The driver told me there was an accident up ahead. The clock was ticking. At 3:45 I suggested we call the port agent. Maybe they would wait for us. The port agent spoke little English and wanted to talk to the driver. I was just glad I had all of this information on my phone. The driver and agent spoke for a few minutes. “What did he say”, I asked the driver. “Call him back at 4:30”.
We finally passed the car wreck and we began to move. It was about 4:10. I told the driver that if he didn’t take a credit card I would need an ATM. He nodded yes but the meter was only at 180. I still had enough cash. “I increase the horsepower”, the driver said through the app. He drove maniacally until we were at the ship. 4:27 pm. I threw all of my cash his way and off we went. It was still 8 minutes up to the ship. Finally, upstairs, downstairs, customs, temperature check, passport, we crossed over and onto the ship.
We asked about the 3 PM bus and if it was already here. Yes it did beat us here. 2 more people still had to make it to the ship but we were aboard.
We had dinner in the dining room. Our dining neighbors Roger and Kathy, shared their experiences and we shared ours. They asked about Beijing and told them we had a private overnight tour. I listed 5 things, including the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. They had no plans yet. I asked Roger if they would like to join us. I could send a note to our guide. They thought about it and thanked us but chose not to.
Trivia was the worst night yet. So many “general knowledge” things that we didn’t know. The Webster that created the dictionary. His first name? I did know what unhappy event happened in 1913. The income tax. We also knew what the tympanic membrane was commonly referred to. Who played John Shaft’s nephew in the film’s remake? Who was Romulus father? We laughed this one off. Most groups did very poorly.
The evening entertainment was a second show by Mike Robinson. Great act. More card tricks and ventriloquism. A 10 act!