Sunday, July 22nd
Shanghai, China
This morning we headed off to the Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The site is a typical Chinese style house that hosted the first Congress in relative secrecy and was almost broken up by police in the French Concession district. The museum had wax figure replicas of the 13 delegates at the Congress, including Mao Zedong. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take any pictures in the museum. We also got to see the actual meeting room where the Congress was held. Lastly, we saw an exhibition on each of the National Party Congresses.
Next we headed to the Yu Garden area and had lunch at my new favorite restaurant – Din Tai Fung. I have now eaten there three times since I arrived in Asia and hope I get a fourth visit in either Beijing or Seoul! I am truly living up to my new nickname! ;)
We took a post-lunch stroll in the Yuyuan Gardens. It was a beautiful and tranquil place in the midst of such a busy city. The area outside of the gardens was surrounded by tons of people so it was nice to get away into the quiet of the gardens and walk around.
Lastly, we headed over to the Oriental Pearl Tower and spent the rest of the evening there. It reminds me a lot of the space needle in Seattle. We opted to go up to the second ball at 263 meters which has a sightseeing and glass floor so you could look all the way down to the street! It was stomach churning to walk on the glass and look below, but I did it and got several cool pictures.
The observatory and glass walkway were packed with people and noisy children. I guess I am getting old, but I thought the kids were out of control, running around and screaming in this enclosed space. It was well before sunset and we wanted to stay in the tower to see it, so we decided to have the dinner buffet in the revolving restaurant. The views from the restaurant at 267 meters were amazing and the sky turned a striking purplish haze after sunset. I wish I could share the pictures with you! And to top it all off, the food was great! It was a nice respite from the noisy kids and crowds below.
Unfortunately, we did have to fight the crowds after dinner as we went down to the glass bottomed walkway to see the views at night. On our way the exit, we had to wait in line for the elevator and I was constantly being rammed in my back and butt by this little kid’s head. It was insane! The concept of personal space is not respected as much here as it is at home, and neither are orderly lines. You have to be aggressive here getting on public transportation or anything else where people are lined up or you are left out. Getting on an elevator is like playing survivor!
On the bright side, before we made it down to the basement there was a roller coaster in “Space City,” a mini-amusement park of sorts. Of course, we had to try it. It wasn’t much of a roller coaster, but it did provide us with a good laugh which was what we both needed after dealing the mayhem of the elevators.
In the basement of the Tower is the Shanghai History Museum. The museum chronicles the history of Shanghai through various scenes and wax figures. The museum was pretty cheesy but we walked through it all and took some funny pictures. It made me laugh since we had started our day with creepy wax figures and ended our day with creepy wax figures! I am just hoping I don’t have any weird dreams with wax figures tonight!
Shanghai, China
This morning we headed off to the Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The site is a typical Chinese style house that hosted the first Congress in relative secrecy and was almost broken up by police in the French Concession district. The museum had wax figure replicas of the 13 delegates at the Congress, including Mao Zedong. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take any pictures in the museum. We also got to see the actual meeting room where the Congress was held. Lastly, we saw an exhibition on each of the National Party Congresses.
Next we headed to the Yu Garden area and had lunch at my new favorite restaurant – Din Tai Fung. I have now eaten there three times since I arrived in Asia and hope I get a fourth visit in either Beijing or Seoul! I am truly living up to my new nickname! ;)
We took a post-lunch stroll in the Yuyuan Gardens. It was a beautiful and tranquil place in the midst of such a busy city. The area outside of the gardens was surrounded by tons of people so it was nice to get away into the quiet of the gardens and walk around.
Lastly, we headed over to the Oriental Pearl Tower and spent the rest of the evening there. It reminds me a lot of the space needle in Seattle. We opted to go up to the second ball at 263 meters which has a sightseeing and glass floor so you could look all the way down to the street! It was stomach churning to walk on the glass and look below, but I did it and got several cool pictures.
The observatory and glass walkway were packed with people and noisy children. I guess I am getting old, but I thought the kids were out of control, running around and screaming in this enclosed space. It was well before sunset and we wanted to stay in the tower to see it, so we decided to have the dinner buffet in the revolving restaurant. The views from the restaurant at 267 meters were amazing and the sky turned a striking purplish haze after sunset. I wish I could share the pictures with you! And to top it all off, the food was great! It was a nice respite from the noisy kids and crowds below.
Unfortunately, we did have to fight the crowds after dinner as we went down to the glass bottomed walkway to see the views at night. On our way the exit, we had to wait in line for the elevator and I was constantly being rammed in my back and butt by this little kid’s head. It was insane! The concept of personal space is not respected as much here as it is at home, and neither are orderly lines. You have to be aggressive here getting on public transportation or anything else where people are lined up or you are left out. Getting on an elevator is like playing survivor!
On the bright side, before we made it down to the basement there was a roller coaster in “Space City,” a mini-amusement park of sorts. Of course, we had to try it. It wasn’t much of a roller coaster, but it did provide us with a good laugh which was what we both needed after dealing the mayhem of the elevators.
In the basement of the Tower is the Shanghai History Museum. The museum chronicles the history of Shanghai through various scenes and wax figures. The museum was pretty cheesy but we walked through it all and took some funny pictures. It made me laugh since we had started our day with creepy wax figures and ended our day with creepy wax figures! I am just hoping I don’t have any weird dreams with wax figures tonight!
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