Chongquing to Shanghai

Day 09 March 13, 2017

Our cruise ship docked overnight in the city of Chongquing. This city served as the provisional capitol of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945 or what we know as World War II.

The captain and officers of the Gold 8 at our farewell dinner

This is the largest city in the world, with a population of 33,000,000 people, a city I am pretty sure you have never heard of. After we left the ship, we took a driving tour through the city. Our tour guide gave us a detailed presentation of the history of Chongquing. Her name was Windy. To put the size of this city in terms you can easily understand, Windy said that if you were on one side of the city, it would take you 6 to 7 hours to drive to the other side of the city, depending on traffic, of course.

Taking our luggage off the ship. Chongquing in the background.

The tallest building in China, over 2,000 feet. Consider the tallest
building in the US is less than 1,00' (the NYC World Trade Center)

We boarded a China Air flight and took a two hour flight to a lesser populated city, Shanghai. (only 24,000,000 people) Shanghai is the most modern city we have visited. It is the center of the Chinese financial universe, their version of our Wall Street. This area of China was influenced greatly by the British and French in the late 1800's. After getting settled into our hotel, our local guide took us on a night time tour of Shanghai. We walked through the Bund ( the colonial riverside of old Shanghai) and the district of Xintiandi. This district was once called the Paris of the East, largely because of the French influence... a beautiful neighborhood. It has been restored to a very nice city walking area with a wide assortment of shopping areas and a number of restaurants.... much like the Alley in downtown Montgomery except on a much larger scale. We then had a wonderful meal, followed by a night time river cruise on the Huangpu River. The light displays on the buildings were fantastic. The pictures do not do it justice. Only six of our little group took the tour. Damien, Edith, Jerry Hankins, Mary Ann, Linda, and me. It was a fun evening.

Our group on our Shanghai tour: Edyth, Linda, Mary Ann,
Jerry Hankins, Damien, Jerry Hatfield, James (our guide)

When we are walking on the streets, the Chinese just ask if they can pose and have
their picture made with us. I don't think they believe Jerry Hankins is George Clooney.

After a great dinner in Shanghai

We returned to the Guoman Hotel. Our hotel has a 5 star rating and is located at Changfeng Park. Tomorrow we will depart the hotel for a city tour and later in the evening take an international flight to Vietnam. Next stop Saigon.

Jerry & Linda, old town Shanghai

City at night, with tallest building lit up

River cruise boat

Did I mention that our hotel is directly across the street from Lego Land? Riley, Ethan, and Samuel would love it.