Another hard night on the sleeper train meant I arrived into Shanghai Central Station a little bleary eyed and in need of caffeine and a shower.
After arriving at our hotel by taxi and getting my coffee fix we were allowed to check into our rooms. At 11am we headed out as a group for an orientation walk of the city.
First stop was a walk to the Bund which is situated by the Huangpu River and offers views of Shanghai's world famous skyline. The Oriental Pearl stands out from the other high rise buildings with its alien like orb structure. Other buildings such as the Bottle Opener fade into the background of the Pearl but the skyline itself made for some impressive tourist snaps.
From here we took a 20 minute walk through the back streets of Shanghai to the Yuyuan Gardens which is a complex of traditional Chinese buildings and gardens that feature old tea houses, souvenir stalls and restaurants. There is also a small pond area running through the gardens which is home to turtles and koi carp. This place was a bustling hive of activity and it was so easy to get distracted by people watching whilst eating my giant bowl of noodles.
By mid afternoon most of the group headed back to the hotel to get some rest before we saw what Shanghai's night life had to offer.
At 8pm all of the boys and a few of the girls headed back to the bund for that iconic night skyline, and it did not disappoint. I think it is possibly my favourite skyline ever. Sorry Kuala Lumpur and New York but Shanghai is something special. The way the Pearl Tower changes colour every few minutes meant that no two photos looked the same.
A short walk from the Bund is Captains Bar which is on the top floor of the Captains Hostel and offers rooftop views of Shanghai. It was then time to get on the Gin and the Mojitos. Chris then had a great idea to buy a round of tequila. Hey, when in Shanghai!!! Down the hatches it went and that kicked off what was to be a very messy night.
As the bar slowly emptied we headed out onto the balcony and I think I can speak for us all that right there on that balcony was a 'moment'.
A time, in a place where we had to capture it on camera to immortalise how amazing that moment felt. So here we are. 5 Boys and 1 Girl having the best night.
A time, in a place where we had to capture it on camera to immortalise how amazing that moment felt. So here we are. 5 Boys and 1 Girl having the best night.
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| Chris, Sam, Me, Shaq, Adam and James |
By Midnight the night was still young and we had more drinking to do. After all it was Friday night in Shanghai.
A short walk from Captains Bar is Bar Rouge above Bund 18 and is one of the most famous clubs in the city.
It is renowned for it's stunning Bund views and outdoor terrace and I remember getting out there and bouncing up and down, feeling like it was Christmas morning. House Music, Gin and new friends make for one very happy Nic Nic. Lots more tequila, lots more gin and we were all very drunk. The squad were all pretty weary by the early hours of the morning. One of the girls swiped a bottle of spirit from behind the bar, Chris spent a couple of hundred quid on drinks that he never drank and I dropped a glass of G&T on James' foot.
Home time beckoned but not before throwing my phone in a bush (thankfully James fished it out) and getting my Yuan notes out in the middle of a Shanghai street. I needed to go to bed, and fast!!
The next day I woke up at 8am with the best intentions of going to one of the markets our tour guide had arranged for us. However having less than 4 hours sleep I was still very drunk and wobbly so it was back to bed for me. I finally woke up at 2pm. Still hungover!!! I never learn!!
That evening we went to the famous Shanghai Acrobatics show which was a 2 hour show of traditional Chinese style acrobatics mixed in with a death defying motorbike stunt that was the shows finale.
If you have ever wondered how many people can fit on a small bicycle??? The answer is about 7, which is one of the acts the show began with as the artists maneuvered into position and begin to perform stunts around the circular stage.
I would definitely recommend this more than the Kung Fu Show in Beijing, however the theatre was very hot and I was sleep deprived and hungover so it took a lot of strength not to fall asleep.
The next morning I woke up fresh as a daisy and the memories of the previous days hangover slowly started to disappear. A couple of us in the group wanted to spend the mornings free time at the Shanghai Zoo hoping to catch a glimpse of a Panda.
Shanghai Zoo is in need of a little TLC as a lot of the tanks and pens where very tired looking. Upon closer inspection at the Sea lion tank there appeared to be a dead rat floating in the water.
However we made a bee line for the Pandas and managed to get one decent photo of a bear as he was rolling over into a more comfortable sleeping position.
As we left Shanghai later that afternoon for our last overnight train to Guilin and Yangshuo it dawned on me that the days on this trip were slowly slipping through my fingers. I wanted to savour the last 5 days with these people as much as possible as I knew I was going to miss them when it came to saying goodbye.
Next stop was rural China and lush green fields and mountains.
Thanks for reading, back soon.
Nic x
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