Day 4 (November 13, 2015) -- Shanghai-Guilin
Friday the 13th! We had a half day tour of Shanghai before taking a flight down south to Guilin, Guanxi. We went down for breakfast at around 6:30 and left our large luggage outside our door which they collected around 7AM. Breakfast was good, with plenty of choices again. We met at 8:30 to start our final half-day tour of Shanghai. It stopped raining but it was still cloudy and a bit chilly.
A picture of old Shanghai on the wall of our room. I believe this is a photo of the Huangpu Park right where Wusong River met Huangpu River near the Bund. This park used to be off-limit to Chinese with a humiliating sign that posted "Chinese and dogs forbidden" at the gate...the time when western countries powered over China. The bridge on the left of this picture (not shown) is called Waibaidu Bridge, which means "foreigners cross for free" bridge. Based on the location, the tall white buildings in the picture might very well be the Astor House Hotel and the Russian Consulate General. We stayed at the Astor House last year when we were in Shanghai. It was the first hotel in Shanghai operated by westerners. The Russian Consulate is still in the same location.
Got to take a picture of the TV above the tub before leaving.
Silk Factory
Final shopping stop in Shanghai--silk factory. We have visited many silk factories and shops on our previous trips to China and had gotten sets of comforters, pillows, and cushions that will last us for many years to come. It was nice to just sit back and watch what was going on. I was kind of surprised that they did not even offer any free or discount items like some factories we have visited in other parts of China. Hmmm...
Lesson on silk worms and cocoons.
What does this ship has to do with anything here?
Demonstration of pulling and layering the silk for comforters.
I must say they did very well selling their products to our group.
threading the silk worm
After the silk factory visit, we had lunch at a restaurant nearby. I believe we were here in 2009 at this same restaurant but we were on the ground floor at that time. This time we had a private room just for our table.
a free glass of beer, or soda, or water at every meal
Our table mates on the land tour portion.
The Bund
We were suppose to walk along the Bund yesterday but it was raining so they decided to cancel. I suppose we had time to kill before the airport so we got a chance to come here on this day. We have been here many times but I still find this historical area interesting. Too bad we were not taken to the Yu Garden area though. We were told that it was not on our itinerary even though we went past it a couple of times.
A huge promenade along the Bund.
Visitors from all over China and around the world.
These old buildings tell the glorious past of Shanghai.
Peace Hotel
Nanjing East Road, I believe
Pearl Tower and the Pudong District across the river.
Time to meet back up with the group.
Group picture of Bus #1 with our local guide, Charlie, before leaving Shanghai.
traffic jam
Zhongshan East 1st Road
Air China-Shanghai to Guilin
Our flight from Shanghai to Guilin was at 4 something that afternoon. There was no group check-in at Pudong Airport, so we had to get our bags from the bus and line up for check-in. They seemed to be very strict about their luggage regulations. Our tour leader kept reminding us that we need to put all our batteries and chargers in our carry-on bags, and all the fluids in our check-in bags. She said even fluid in the right size bottles may still get questioned and will take longer to get through security. Lighters and matches are not allowed at all whether it be carry-on or check-in bags.
My seat on this domestic flight.
We were told that we will have dinner on this flight and here it is...
Salad, fruit, a roll...
...and some kind of fried rice with shrimps. Not appealing, I must say.
Lijiang Water Falls Hotel, Guilin
We arrived Guilin airport at around 7:00PM. Summer, our local guide in Guilin, picked us up at the airport. We were then driven to the Lijiang Water Falls Hotel in the city center of Guilin where we would stay two nights and then one more night at the end of the land tour. This hotel is at a prime location in the heart of Guilin being right next to the pedestrian street and Shenhu Lake. It seemed to be the best, or one of the best hotels in the city. In fact, it is THE attraction every night at 8:30 with a water fall show on the back side of the hotel. Our room happened to be on the water fall side so it was quite interesting.
This is a huge hotel with rooms surrounding an atrium in the middle where they hold weddings and banquets some nights. On one of the nights we were there, they had a big wedding going on in the afternoon which was kind of fun to watch as they prepared for the big event.
Our room on the 8th floor
Quite spacious
When we arrived at the hotel, it was past the water-fall show time so we just called it a day and got ready for bed.
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