Sunday, May 31, 2009

Shiny Shanghai

Day 446
I couldn't believe it but my feet still ached when I woke up in the morning. I got a cab and soon I was at the train station. I slept for almost the entire ride. It was nice, but as it was only 2 hours it wasn't like it was an epic journey or anything.

Once in Shanghai I got really confused because I arrived at the South Station and not the Main Station as I had thought. I argued with the ticket guy at the metro when he told me which line to get on. It only took a few stops for me to realize that he was right. Once I had checked in I headed right back out. Shanghai is a large city and I had very little time to see it in.

My first stop was the site of the first National Congress of the Chinese Communist party. The idea for a communist government came from Russia. Big surprize there. The museum had a lot of picutres on the wall and the oringal seats. Just as I was looking forward to seeing how the communist party finally took control the museum was over. Thank goodness it was cheap.

I walked down the street for about a kilometer and was sort of shocked that there was a random Heineken beer tent on the sidewalk. It was before noon. I then looked high and low but couldn't find the Propaganda Poster Museum, it just wasn't where the book said it would be. After a bit I gave up and went for lunch.

When I was done eating I headed to the Shanghai Museum. This place was amazing. There were sculpture galleries, pottery galleries, caligraphy and art rooms amoung others. Everything was in English. Photos were also allowed which was wonderful.

When I got out of the museum I met a few students from Xi'an, they asked me to take a picture of them. I said yes and they returned the favor. After chatting for a bit they invited me to a tea ceremony, but I didn't much feel like it so I declined. Instead I headed back to the shower for a much needed shower.

I got lazy and didn't bother to leave the hostel for the rest of the night. I had dinner there and spent some time writing before calling it a night.

1 comment:

Dave (LC2) said...

you had a lucky escape with that "tea ceremony", classic scam... trust me you would have ended up with a bill in for several hundred US$!! Hope you're still having a good time...I just spent a couple of weeks in China and had an amazing time..wish i was still there!!!