Tues 15th Sept. Tour Day 24: Shanghai
We had a longish bus journey back to Shanghai today, getting back in the afternoon. With a bit of free time, I visited the Yu Yuan Bazaar again, took some more snaps, and then went to McDonalds - I figured that we'd been eating Chinese food pretty much all the time for the last few weeks and needed a change! I also found a great souvenir shop tucked into a small alleyway, it had some great stone carvings encased in Perspex and I bought a couple for presents. A very good bit of haggling too - I put a certain amount of money in my back pocket, got it out in the shop and said that was all the cash I had, and managed to snag the two pieces with a big discount.
It was our last group meal in the evening, with most people parting ways the next morning (apart from the ones that joined a week ago, they’d gain some new people and head onto Xi’an and Beijing as part of their 2 week trip). I can't remember why I didn't have any pictures from the meal though, maybe something to do with drinking!
Weds 16th Sept. Final Tour Day
I left the hotel at about 8am this morning. Deng flagged down a taxi, even though I'd asked him to order a reputable one specially. It was supposed to take half an hour to the airport, so I'd left the hotel ~3½ hours before my flight was due to leave which would give me plenty of time to check-in.
After setting off in the taxi, I noticed that whenever the driver pressed one of the pedals, the whole bottom of the car made a huge noise as if everything was shifting. This was rather alarming and I worried about whether the taxi would break down on the way. We got to a set of traffic lights and waited for them to turn green. As they did so, the surrounding traffic moved off but we didn't. I looked across to the driver and he'd fallen asleep at the wheel! I woke him and he drove off, but really slowly, probably because he was worried about his vehicle falling apart if he drove it any quicker. I did think about getting out and flagging another cab down, but since it was only about half an hour to the airport, I decided to stick it out. After another traffic light snooze and more crawling along, we were still a quite a way from the airport according to the mileage signs and 45 minutes had passed by this stage. As he was driving so slowly, I also considered beating him up and stealing his taxi, but wisely decided against this plan of action! I started putting my watch in his face trying to communicate to him that I needed to get the airport pronto but to no avail. Another 15 minutes passed and he then proceeded to drive PAST a sign for the turn-off to the airport! I tried to explain to him that he appeared to have driven past the airport turn-off but he either couldn't understand or was oblivious. I was getting pretty pissed off at this stage and was worried about actually getting to the airport in time. The motorway he was on was pretty deserted and as he approached another airport sign, I frantically gestured to him to pull-off. He then proceeded to stop in the middle of the motorway and peered at the sign - as well as being barely able to stay awake and with a cab which seemed to be construced with glue, he was virtually blind too! I directed him to where we should be going and we got to the airport nearly two hours after we'd set off! As you could imagine, I was fuming and it was only the fact that I had to rush to the check-in desk that stopped me from clocking him one! Anyway, I managed to check-in and catch my flight without any further hiccups.
Looking back, it had been a great trip. It had been very challenging initially and a complete culture shock, trying to get used to Chinese customs, eg. pushing, shoving, spitting. Everywhere we went was packed with people and traffic, although that probably wasn't unexpected as we'd stuck to the main tourist trail. Many of the places were polluted and smoggy, and the heat and humidity was unbearable at times. The language as expected was a big problem and it was infuriating at times trying to make yourself understood, even at our hotels. However, the people had on the whole been extremely friendly, very generous and also very curious about the strange group of foreigners in their country, sometimes to the point of excess. The food was consistently great, flavoursome and fresh, with many dishes I'd never seen in Chinese restaurants and takeaways back in the UK, and very cheap too. The trip was memorable not just for the sights, most of which were amazing in their own right, but also for the expereince itself, the culture, the people, the food, and the trials and joys.
I’d definitely go to China again, possibly visiting some of the less touristy sights and I'd also like to find some places where I could view the wildlife, I'm not sure what China has in the way of National Parks. It would also have been interesting to visit some smaller communities, even try out some homestays, although it would probably be very challenging to try and travel independently off the beaten track. I'll have to invest in a guidebook and try it one day!
End of tour and final thoughts
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Shanghai, Shanghai, China
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2025-02-16