Shanghai Summary

Again, please note: there are tons of pictures here.

Tuesday, July 22nd

We arrived in Shanghai in the evening, met our tour guide Candy, and checked into our hotel.

Wednesday, July 23rd


It is just as hot here as in Loudi. We sweated today as we toured Yu Garden, built during the Ming dynasty. Around the gardens is a bazaar area where students ate DQ and Starbucks and bought lots of souvenirs. We spent the afternoon at the Shanghai Museum, the best art/history museum in mainland China. Galleries include Chinese bronze, porcelain, furniture, coins, calligraphy and others, some artifacts dating as far back as 10,000 years.

In the evening we took a cruise on the Huang Pu river, enjoying the night view of the Bund and Pudong. We finished up with some time on Nanjing Road to see the lights at night, and a tour through the French concession where we saw one of the Olympic torches used during the relay through Shanghai.

Thursday, July 24th

We spent the morning in Pudong where we climbed 263 meters up the Pearl tower and got a 360 degree view of Shanghai. At the base of the tower we toured a wax museum of old Shanghai, highlighting how Shanghai went from being “little suzhou” to China’s center of international commerce.

We had the afternoon free to explore Nanjing Road, People’s Square and other parts of Shanghai.

Friday, July 25th

Today we drove to Suzhou, a city about an hour NW of Shanghai, known for its gardens and for silk. First we walked through the Humble Administrator’s Garden. Built in the early 1500s, this garden in Suzhou’s largest and most impressive. We saw bamboo groves, lotus ponds and a bonsai garden.

After lunch, we toured a silk factory where they demonstrated the silk making process. We finished our tour at Tiger Hill, the final resting place of He Lu, the founder of Suzhou. The Cloud Rock Pagoda, built in the 10th century, stands on top of the hill and began tilting over 400 years ago. Our tour guide compared it to the leaning tower of Pisa.

For dinner we headed back to Shanghai to have hot pot. Similar to fondue, there is a boiling pot of spicy broth in the middle of the table. Diners pour raw food into the pot, and fish it out with their chopsticks when it is fully cooked.

Saturday, July 26th

We left our hotel at 6am for our 10am flight to Tokyo. We sat on the plane in Shanghai for almost three hours before take-off. We were afraid we would miss our connecting flight in Tokyo, but they delayed that flight for us. We then sat in the airplane in Tokyo for another two hours. We arrived back in MSP two hours late, safe, sound, tired and happy.