Trip to China, day VIII; After breakfast, we check out of the hotel - we will go to Shanghai this afternoon. We now go to West Lake for a cruise. West Lake is large and spectacular, with the city of Hangzou as a backdrop. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lake We bid farewell to Jessica who has given us quite an informative tour of Hangzou. We take a 3 hour bus ride back to Shanghai. Along the way, out in the country, we see many small farms. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_China Farmers are held in high esteem in China - after all, they feed the over one billion citizens. There are lots of rice paddies and some vegetables, and rice is the most important crop of all since tons of it are consumed daily. Farmers are allowed by the government to have more than just one child, since the children can help with the farming when they are old enough. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai We arrive in Shanghai, and Ivy has told us how exciting the mag lev (magnetic levitation) train is, and now, we get to experience it first hand. (This was another optional tour). A marvel of German engineering and technology, these trains are the fastest in the world, reaching peak speeds of 431 KM/H (268 MPH). It only takes 7 minutes from station to station over a 30 KM course which is laid out between downtown and the airport. There are two trains and two tracks, adjacent to each other. When one train leaves the city, the other leaves the airport, and somewhere, midcourse, the two trains meet. You can feel the shockwave of the other train and see it pass - if you dont blink. Why dont we have these? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Maglev_Train After driving around the city for a while, we have dinner and then we go to (our final optional tour) the Shanghai ERA Show. There are acrobats performing seemingly impossible stunts, climaxed by 8, count em, 8 motorcycles with riders driving around inside a steel cage sphere, somehow managing to not collide with one another. era-shanghai/era/en/ Afterward, we check into our hotel after another exhausting day. renaissanceshanghaizhongshanparkhotel/ This hotel has a noticeably smaller room than the hotel in Hangzou. But, we have a spectacular view of the city from the 32nd floor.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 16:09:52 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015