Shang-bye...

We are becoming expert train travelers. We left Xi'an for Shanghai by overnight train, which included a wait in the terminal with 60000000 of our closest friends (ok, i exaggerate). They are a tough bunch - the only way to get onboard is to duck a shoulder and plow through people. If you say "Excuse me" or "Pardon me," you are clearly a newbie.



The ride was fun, though, when we crammed as many of us as possible into one compartment and chatted until we could not ignore the purposeful stirring of the poor Chinese man who was unfortunate enough to get the top bunk. (sorry!)

The next day, Em and I trucked across the river to see the famous "Oriental Pearl" skyscraper. It's the tallest one in Asia (and the third tallest in the world behind the CN tower and..um...some other one. I forget). The admission price was a little steep (about $30) so we admired it from the ground. Couldn't resist taking a picture of the stern warning at the entrance.

the Huangpu river at sunset...

The next day, Em and I discovered some...um...unwelcome visitors in our beds. (of the insect variety). Yuck yuck yuck. We calmly and politely told the hotel front desk that we were outta there. At that moment, we lost all backpacker street cred, found the nearest Renaissance Hotel (we love you Christine!) and enjoyed 24 hours of fluffy pillows, complimentary appetizers, and lightning-fast broadband. We had to drag ourselves out to sightsee...

While walking around the Old City, I somehow found myself pulled over to a streetside kiosk as the guinea pig for the Chinese version of the "Hairdini" (yes, the one from those really bad infomercials). Emily found it entertaining (but didn't volunteer to join me...). The video is taking a reallllly long time to load so i'll add it later. funny stuff.

We capped off our stay in Shanghai with a visit to the famous acrobat show. impressive! If you think you're a decent hula-hooper, check this girl out....

We're in yangshuo now....going rafting and taking a cooking class tomorrow. more soon! xox