Shanghai was the final destination on our amazing journey through China. I was happy that we left this modern and progressive city to the last as we were able to take advantage of the cheap shopping and pick up our first souvenir (a little terracotta warrior that I bargained down but pretty sure I paid too much for).

With a bit of time on our hands we meandered through the streets and took it at a slower pace. This allowed us to really enjoy what Shanghai has to offer and after two months we were craving some good live music. We researched the jazz scene in Shanghai and decided on a jazz/blues bar, The Cotton Club. This was described as being your typical smoky blues bar. Listening to the house band jamming away and with an international clientele and strong cocktails you felt like you were anywhere in the world!

We walked along the waterfront tourist hub at the Bund both day and night to appreciate the famous Shanghai skyline. The Bund is lined with beautiful colonial buildings while across the Huangpu River you can look out to contrasting views of the buzzing international financial centre. There are many high class restaurants in this area, however with our tight budget we opted for sampling some of the local wines by selecting a fine vintage at a local supermarket (ironically we had to purchase a corkscrew as all Chinese wines are corked) and found a relaxing spot along the boardwalk to watch the cruise boats go by and the flashing building adverts.

One of the stops along the metro line is 'Shanghai Circus World'. Aidan had read up on the famous Chinese acrobatics, and having seen it before I was indifferent to seeing another one. However I'm so glad Aidan's childlike whining (edit: logical reasoning) made me give in. The show was crazy! We were right up close (in the cheap seats as well) and witnessed two acrobats hanging from the roof by a long ribbon (no harness or nets) and 8 motorbikes zipping around inside a metal globe. This was nail biting entertainment and I was really scared for the performers at one point when it looked like one of them was going to fall 5m to his death (dah dah dum), but with the amazing talent it was well worth seeing.

Tripadvisor recommended a range of dumpling houses with the 'best dumplings in Shanghai'. We stuffed ourselves with the Shanghai dumplings in one of the cheap recommended joints and after having a few got the hang of first drinking the steaming broth in the dumplings then going in for the delicious meat inside with a healthy serving of vinegar and chilli. Across the road from this place was also a highly recommended fried dumpling restaurant, which we patronised that same afternoon.

For our last night in China we decided to take advantage of the many bars on offer and headed to the Shanghai Brewery located in the French concession. Previous research told us this place showed Super 15 with two games coinciding with their 2-8pm happy hour. Well, travelling on the dryer side for our whole trip we hit the beers and cocktails. After the first game, Aidan was well on this way to being persuaded to do a public demonstration of the haka.

When we left the bar, Aidan saw a guy with a monkey on a leash. Aidan proceeded to yell 'monkey, money', while I politely said no thank you and walked away. With our early flight to South Korea the next morning and all our favourite dumpling joints being closed we metro'ed it back and bought our last street food meal on the corner to our hostel. These spicy noodles made on a wheelbarrow were one of the spiciest meals we had the whole trip and really summed up China - a country with huge variety, cheap, tasty and getting something you don't expect but thoroughly enjoy anyway.