Shanghai, China Day 2

I can really use one word for our second day in Shanghai, SHOPPING! We were off the ship at 8:30. The shuttle wasn't going to start until 9:30 so we decided to walk. We could see where the drop off point was from our ship, so not very far. It was at the beginning of an area called the Bund. That was where foreigners had built commercial buildings, so looks very western. In front of the buildings is a walk way along the river, nice area. We went into the Peace Hotel first. It was built in the 20's or 30's, very Art Deco and beautiful. It had once been the most opulent hotel in East Asia, Chinese not allowed! As we were headed toward the concierge desk for a map, I saw a VERY tall man with a tiny Chinese woman walking toward us. I told Mel that he must be a basketball player. Mel looked and agreed, it was Yao Ming who used to play for the Houston Rockets! We sort of followed him for a short distance to get a picture. A young girl said something to him in Chinese, I assumed it was permission to take a picture. He politely declined, I had the feeling he had somewhere that he needed to be. We watched him enter the elevator, stooping almost at the waist to get in. Wow, is he tall!

From the Peace Hotel we headed up Nanjing Road, the main shopping street. It turned into a walking street about 3 blocks up away from the river. Stores were just starting to open but it was already busy with people. I saw a beautiful sweater in a window so we went in to take a look. This store was ALL sweaters, set up with different counters which looked like different companies. I found one I liked, paid for it, then went to ask about the one in the window. We were told to look on the second floor. The first floor had been packed with people, the second one, not as much. These were the more expensive cashmere sweaters, just beautiful. Hard to buy just one! We used the restrooms while in the store. They were one star. :( Better than none. 

Heading on down the street we were finally approached by a gentleman who offered to sell us handbags. We were expecting it and looking for it. We followed him into a narrow ally behind the main shopping street. When we didn't find anything he led us to another shop, then another, etc. One of them we had to go up two narrow and steep stairways. They try to hide the knock offs from the police. The building was where they lived, very old and run down. The door to the sales room was modern with a very good lock. We bought a couple of things then told our "guide" that we would be back later. He still followed us for some time, trying to get us into more shops. We were done at that point, headed to the knock off "mall"! 

When shopping for knock offs, you have to bargain. I asked the price of a handbag I was buying for a friend. It was well over $100 dollars. I offered $30. They went lower but not by much. I countered with $30. They again went lower, I started to walk away. They said final offer was about $50. I said $30 and walked further. They finally said, ok, $30. If you decide what it is worth to you and stick to that, more times than not, you will get your price. I wonder how many tourists pay the asking price!?

We stopped in a park to eat the lunch we'd brought off the ship. There was some sort of art display of many different statues there. A lot of people were there looking and taking pictures. We continued on our way, passing the intersection that Mel always mentions to people. It has a Ferrari, Bentley, Maserati and Mercedes dealership on that one intersection!  Shows the wealth China is now enjoying. 

We had been to the knock off mall twice before, but had arrived by taxi. It was quite a long walk to get there but we walked at a slow pace, looking at everything as we went. The mall is 4 floors of individual stalls, each with a seller trying to get us to buy. I did quite a bit of Christmas shopping there so I won't mention what we bought. It was great shopping. I did get a pair of "Cartier" sunglasses. They copied my prescription and had them finished in less than a hour. Mel bought a set of golf clubs, like he needed more! At the end of our marathon shopping, I bought a medium sized suitcase and filled it with our bags. The father of the clubs and glasses vendors accompanied us to the entrance and got us a taxi. It was a good 20 minute ride to the pier. Hadn't seemed like we had walked that far. My pedometer read 5 miles. I still walked another 2 miles on deck when we returned to the ship. We had spent every last yuen we had, the last 10 (about $1.65) on a magnet at the pier. I told her that was how much I had so she accepted it. Another great visit to Shanghai, a city of something like 14 million people. 

I had a massage on the ship today. I get one every month at home so had made this appointment soon after we boarded a month ago. I made the mistake of telling the masseuse that I have found the more painful massages to be more affective.....ow!!!!!! It was very good, but not as good as those I get from Cami back in Discovery Bay. She did work on the bottoms of my feet a lot which was heavenly after all the walking we have done. She also spent time on my scalp, wonderful. It was the highlight of my day, not much else going on this day at sea. Tomorrow we will head to Hong Kong Disneyland, yea!

        

      This is the sunset on the river as the Captain turned the ship for our return out to the sea. The 

                                   smog is horrible but makes for an interesting photo.