AN AFTERNOON AT THE SHANGHAI MUSEUM.....

March 16, 2007 SHANGHAI/BEIJING

Our last day in Shanghai: This morning was an open morning; Jim elected to explore the city and I worked on my photos and journals. Enjoyed using the broadband access in the hotel (nominal fee of 40 Yuan) and sent my first journal. I’d set up a web based free photo site before leaving home but probably due to the problems with my new computer and the Vista Windows System…it’s not working! [What a change in four years...no more Vista and wireless wifi makes blogging in real time so easy! And, as you see...I've mastered the Picasa web albums.]

Packed for the plane trip to Beijing and left the hotel by bus at 11:30 am; raining again as we headed towards our Mongolian BBQ Restaurant for an early lunch. The restaurant was much like those in the USA except very, very large! I’m getting pretty good with the chopsticks and hardly use the fork at all. Jim refuses to attempt the chopsticks and has been sticking with the fork that they provide at all the tables.

After lunch we drove back into the city center, past the IKEA Store that is very popular with the young Chinese people for decorating their apartments according to Hanna; for an afternoon at the Shanghai Museum. A relatively new museum that has four floors of displays: Bronze, Ceramics, Jade, Money, Clothing and Furniture. By 5 pm we were back on our bus and headed towards the domestic airport for our evening flight to Beijing. Arrived in plenty of time, checked in with the help of our guide Hanna and they only selected one suitcase belonging to Barney and Kristen to open and question items.

Our flight was an hour late in leaving and lasted nearly two hours. They did feed us dinner and when we arrived our City Guide for Beijing, Maggie, was waiting at the exit. One unfortunate incident: Barney’s suitcase caught on the luggage conveyor belt and ripped apart. They did give him a new suitcase to replace it right there at the airport. Not Barney’s day: It was his birthday and first of all he caught his wife’s cold today and then the luggage problems. But, he was a good sport and didn’t complain about all the problems. We were all ready to call it an evening when we finally arrived at the hotel; and what a hotel! Our scheduled hotel didn’t have enough rooms so they have switched us to the brand new Regent Hotel! Wow! We are really going to be spoiled with this one….definitely a five star plus! It has all the bells and whistles right down to plasma TV’s and free broadband internet in the rooms. I’m in seventh heaven. And, Jim is pleased with the location: right in the center of the city within walking distance of most of the sites we’re going to visit. But, for tonight we all went straight to our rooms and enjoyed the view from our rooms. The outside wall is all glass bringing the outside in when the drapes are open. We overlook the entrance to the hotel and on a clear day they say we can see the Forbidden City from our rooms. The question is will we have a clear day?