We pulled into Shanghai (rainy Shanghai) at about lunchtime, and Bobo suggested we take taxis to our hotel, as it was about half an hour away from the main station, (as well as 20 minutes from the nearest subway.. who picks these hotels?) so we separated and met up with each other in the lobby when we got there. Again it was a posh hotel - but apparently rather in a dodgy location - some of the lads went for a stroll down the adjoining road next to our hotel, only to be offered more than just a massage. Bobo even said, in her very innocent way, that it was wise 'for the boys to take a girl with them' if they wanted to go down that street. Haha!

First impressions of Shanghai - wet. It was pouring down with rain throughout our orientation walk into Nanjing Road, the main shopping and tourist attraction. It was so smoggy and hazy in the city we couldn't even make out the buildings on the other side of Huangpu river. It got pretty miserable trudging around in puddles while Bobo pointed out the pharmacies and internet cafes (which were all in English anyway, so it's not as if we wouldn't have found them ourselves). At lunchtime a group of us tried a local restaurant called Aijsen Ramen (bit like Wagamamas in the UK) where we had the speciality dumplings, and drank plenty of green tea! By this time it was about 4 o clock, so everything was starting to close, so we went back to the hostel and got ready to go out in Shanghai!

A friend of Bobo's had recommended a club called Babyface on the other side of town, so, still in the rain (though improvising with strips of cardboard over our heads) we caught a few more taxis into town. Babyface itself was wicked! Really expensive though - there was a mixup with the prices which meant we ended up being thrown out which Bobo was on the phone trying to find the location of a cheaper place to go. On then, to 'Windows', which was pretty much a sports bar with a dazzling array of cocktails for 2 quid! Of course, being English and in the mood for a boogie, we were pretty hasty in getting up on the dancefloor - especially greek Christina, what a legend! We seemed to be gaining an audience, particularly from a group of Chinese lads who tried to make friends. One of them ('Walley') gave Claire the creeps, though Paul had no qualms about befriending the weirdo! There was also a rather large american girl who attracted a lot of attention too, for all the wrong reasons! Paul was pretty drunk, so us and Kirsty decided to take him home before anything bad happened..... But Shanghai nights out are brilliant, and we only spent about a tenner!