Day Twelve - Silk and Shanghai

Our hotel last night was really beautiful. It is set right in the center of the city and has very traditional Chinese architecture but it did not have great Internet access. We got up and headed to the silk factory first thing. It's not really a factory. It just had a few machines in the lobby area to show us how silk is made. We learned about the life of a silk worm and how it spins a cocoon which the workers later unwind into thread used to make silk apparel. Then we got the sales pitch. They had silk comforters, duvets, shams, sheets, and pillows. The whole set was about $800 for a queen bed. I didn't buy. Upstairs was the clothing and scarves. This is where I spend a little bit of money. I got a scarf for me and some other scarves as gifts. We had lunch in the same building up on the 4th floor. It was buffet and just so so. In Chinese so so is Ma Ma Hu Hu (Mama Who Who). Ha. Ha. Another bus ride to our final city of Shanghai. Only two more nights in China! 

We checked into the hotel, I Face Timed with mom, and then we headed out to explore the city of Shanghai. Tom, Dede, and James met up with Alan, Michael's roommate from college at Columbia, for dinner. He is in Shanghai visiting his fiancé's parents. I wanted to see the city instead! We went to The Bund first. It's a stretch of walkway on the river where Europeans had some of the first international businesses. The architecture is very European. There were tons of people walking around. We kept getting our picture taken by the Chinese. They love American girls, especially Kate because she is so tall and blonde and beautiful! We next went to the pedestrian shopping street, Nanjing Road. It has mix of traditional high in stores and what I assume is the equivalent in Chinese brands. We just walked around, window shopped, and people watched. We had McDonalds French Fries with ketchup for dinner before the evening cruise on the Huangpu River. The river was busy with tour boats and also barges both full and empty. The barges were in a steady stream going both directions. Imports and Exports must be booming in this city. The view of the skyline was magnificent and the weather was great; not cold but nice and breezy, a huge change from the last few days of extra hot and humid! When we got on the boat it was still daylight outside. We got to watch the skyline go from day to night. The Chinese love neon lights!!! Some of the buildings lit up as billboards advertising things like Samsung. They also displayed I❤SH for I love Shanghai. We had a great time and a beer.  Another wonderful day in China. Tomorrow is our last full day of touring, I'm headed home soon and soooooo ready for some American food!