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We sailed 869 nm over two days through balmy days and nights (15 -19c) with partly clouded days to reach Shanghai. The Volendam docked on time (5.04 am) and we were up for an early start. I had picked a leisurely morning tour the see "Old and New Shanghai". We soon found out why the tour left early, the traffic was horrendous. However we enjoyed our 4 hours with a very informative guide. I thought that Hong Kong was intimidating , but Shanghai was something else agian with its 24 million residents. The main view point was the 88 story Jin Mao building the tallest in China. There were hundreds of tourists here, mostly internal tourism and we jostled away with the best of them. Again on the observation floor two nice young ladies asked for photos so I spent some time being photographed. As we were leaving a young lady even grabbed Margaret to be photod together. After that it was off to the Peoples Square to admire the gardens and the buildings in the city's commercial, cultural and political hub. Along the way the guide apprised us of the usual statistics and the city's culture, such as;
the cost of a 100sqm unit $1m and the girls will not marry a man unless he already has a unit.
a car licence plate in Shanghai costs about $100,000 AUD up front, without the car. Shanghai car owners can only use the elevated highways on alternate days so most car owners own two plates one even number and one odd number. The road designs leave Brisbane in the shade and so does traffic control.
Friday April 17.
Once again we set off early for a mostly full day tour. This time the guide told us the timing was the earliest she had been involved in , but at the end of the day proved to be the most succesful as we had unhindered touring at Zhujiajao Watertown the so called Venice of the East. True to it's name it wa built on water and had canals. The town is about 1000 years old and has stone pavement, stone bridges and stone buildings . Overall it was highly photogenic. We started with a 15 minute ride on a punt down the main thoroughfare which afforded good photos followed by a walking tour. There is a Tongtianhe Chinese Pharmacy dating from the Qing Dynasty (1600's) and still operating and also a still operating 1886 post office, one of the earliest post offices commencing just after the establishment of the China Postal Service. On the way back we stopped at a silk factory and saw some very good products. We were due to leave Shangai port at 2 am Saturday. We left the dockside on time ( 2.10 am) but due to heavy fog we were prevented from leaving the harbour until Port Control gave the ok.We finally left the Shangai roads at about 10.30 am as the fog lightened to allow about 1km visibility. The captain put the throttle all the way forward and we went to 20 knots trying to make up time.
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