Happy Chinese New Year! We stayed in Shanghai for 5 nights from the 16th to the 21st and it was amazing. Although we were slightly disappointed by the Chinese New Year - Someone rightly said that there was probably more celebration in most of the western Capitals than in shanghai. However the Chinese were still out in numbers, especially the police force and at midnight fireworks went off around the city, there just wasn't one huge show over the bund.

Nevertheless Shanghai itself was amazing, there was a lot of culture there especially near the yu yuan gardens and the yu yuan bazaar. On New Year's Day the streets were filled with Chinese and I don't think I've ever seen anywhere so busy. We visited the Yu Yuan gardens which were quite amazing and walked from there to the Bund and then headed for a not so traditional Pizza hut in the main shopping area of Shanghai.

It's safe to say Shanghai passed in a blur, and although it was great I was slightly disappointed by the absence of huge Chinese New Year's celebrations. The best thing about it was probably seeing all the other volunteers again which was great because we hadnt really had a chance to see people from the other provinces since Beijing. We had a few great nights out getting back in the early morning... or early afternoon once.. but I didnt feel that Shanghai really lived up to its reputation as the city that never sleeps, the only thing that really never did sleep was the 24hr McDonalds.

Leaving Shanghai was sad, however the train we were on was really exciting… we splashed out and spent a little extra getting sleepers… wow, possibly the best purchase ever. Even to have a hard bed in a mini not enclosed compartment with 5 other people was amazing.