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你好,
Today was a very interesting day and we managed to fit a lot more in than we had originally planned.
We started off the day with breakfast in the hostel restaurant - I had panckakes and maple syrup - Bliss! We got chatting with a couple of Dutch guys, one guy was working, one was travelling and the third was here for a few months for a college project. We chatted with them for a bit and then decided to head out.
We took the metro to Jing'an Temple - a Buddhist Temple at the very end of West Nanjing Road (南京西路) and wandered the grounds for around an hour. The temple was beautiful and there were different Buddha statues in each of the four buildings which were all aligned on the compass. You could donate a few coins to get a bunch of incense and we could see many people praying at the statues with the incense or giving offerings of food and money. I found it very interesting and stood in the main room with the largest Buddha statue observing and taking in the atmosphere. I decided that I didn't feel right visiting the temple without paying my respects so I got a bunch of incense (and after watching others for quite a while) lit it in a big burner and bowed my head to each of the four compass directions before placing the incense in a giant pit. The smell of incense filled the air and I felt at peace in the place. This temple is probably my favourite of all the ones I have visited so far.
We then proceeded to walk down West Nanjing Road to East Nanjing Road in the direction of the Bund. Now, Nanjing Road is the most expensive street in Shanghai. And when I say expensive, I mean the shops lining the street included Gucci, Prada, Rolex, Cartier, Swarovski, Omega, Lancome, Hugo Boss, Emporio Armani to name just a few. Let's just say that the only shop we went into was the huge Forever 21 we found.
Unfortunately the day was cloudy so we did not witness the sunset over the bund. We took a few photos but the breeze made it rather chilly so we retreated into Costa (the first we had had in China!) and relaxed with hot chocolates and pastries. As it began to get a bit darker we headed back out onto the waterfront to take some picture of the Bund as it began to light up and then we went back to the metro to make our way back to the hostel.
After some searching online we finally found the address of El Luchador, the Mexican restaurant that we wanted to go for dinner. Another ride on the metro and then 15 minutes of following the map I had on my phone and we found it. It was so nice. The atmosphere was amazing and there were so many foreigners! :P We went in and were asked if we had made a reservation, saying no we began to think we might not get to eat here after all, but a passing waiter said that a table for 2 had just become free upstairs. We felt so lucky!
For dinner we had chicken and cheese quesadillas and they were so tasty. We each had a cocktail, Lucie had a House Luchador Margharita and I had a Blue Tingle (Vodka, Blue Curacao, lemonade and grenadine). We couldn't believe it was our last night in Shanghai. Deciding to treat ourselves we had churros with chocolate and caramel sauces. Was definitely the right choice!
We also experienced some of the Shanghai nightlife that night, and we had a really great time :D
I've really enjoyed my time in Shanghai, and can't wait to come back for Chinese New Year!
Until tomorrow,
再见 x
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