Catching Up in China: Shanghai Part 1

We spent just two days in Shanghai before we flew back home to Japan. We took a bullet train from Nanjing to Shanghai.  Ben got really excited about how fast we would get going.  I think we reached 300 km/h (which is about 186 mph). 

Shanghai was definitely the most westernized city we stayed in, and for that reason somehow more comfortable to be in.  We stayed in a nice, but inexpensive, hotel just one block from the Bund.  The most amusing thing was that there was some confusion in our booking and Ben, Ellie, and I ended up in a room that was most likely a honeymoon (or something) room.  It was round.  Yes folks, complete with a round bed, lurid pink wallpaper, and a mirror on the ceiling.  It cracked us up! The hardest part was finding a place to put Ellie pack-n-play.  

Anyway, the first place we visited was the China Pavilion. Shanghai hosted the 2010 World Expo but we arrived a few months after it had closed, so the China Pavilion was the only one still standing.  But true to Chinese culture it was outstanding. Because we had Ellie with us in a stroller, we got bumped to the front of a lot lines.  YEAH! Because the lines were enormous!

One of the decorative sculptures outside of the Pavilion

Can you tell how HUGE it is?  Because it's massive, with 13 stories I believe.

Inside, each floor highlighted something about the past, present and future of the China.  The coolest thing was a video presentation that was in this huge round room, projected on the most of the wall space and the ceiling.  It was pretty impressive.

We are fashion gurus.

This portion about nature totally reminded me of Avatar, with glowing trees and whatnot

They had pictures from around China by kids displayed.

Ellie zonked out by the time we reached the halfway point in our tour. We were constantly telling Chinese people not to touch her, even after we put the blanket over her.

And she's still out going down the escalator to the subway.