Today, we had the morning at leisure in Shanghai before going on a cruise along the Huangpu River to view the Shanghai skyline from the river. After this, we went to Nanjing Road for some retail therapy.

A day in Shanghai.

Huangpu River Trip.

Our coach took us to a dock on the Huangpu River, where we waited before boarding for our cruise. We went onboard & some of us immediately went upstairs to the top deck. There, we found that to sit on the top deck, we had to pay extra. We paid the money & got a table to sit at & enjoy the view whilst we sat in the sun.

The river was huge & we passed many other ships transporting various cargo up & down as we sailed past the old & new parts of Shanghai, looking at various buildings our guide pointed out to us. Unfortunately, the smog in Shanghai once again stopped us from seeing the tops of many of the buildings. When we left the ship, I took a photo of the group next to the ship, ensuring I got everyone in it, except that it is for me.

Photos from the Huangpu River Tour.

After the cruise along the Huangpu River, we took a short walk along the river walk. We watched the local Chinese walk along the river whilst they watched the English tourists walk along the river. Being nosey is a multicultural trait. We soon join the coach again & head for Nanjing Road for a brief bit of retail therapy.

Lost Kiwis & delayed flights.

We were dropped off at one end of the pedestrian Nanjing Road shopping complex but were only given 30 minutes of shopping time. The group walked off in different directions & I jumped into the shop next to where we were dropped off & had to meet the coach. I quickly got all my shopping & then returned to wait for the coach.

I walked outside the shop & met our guide. She informed me that the plane that just over half the party were due to catch to go to Beijing for their return flight home this evening had been delayed & that they would miss their connection to Beijing. She then spent her time ringing different people trying to arrange flights for the England bound amongst us, whilst I waited for the return of the rest of the people from the coach.

We soon realised we were missing one person. Ewen had not been seen for some time. He had last been seen walking around the shops with others but had got himself lost. We were now half an hour late departing & a search party was sent out to check restrooms. John got down on his hands & knees & looked under every toilet cubicle door he could find, hoping to find Ewen. The search party returned & we were about an hour late when our tour rep got a phone call from the hotel to tell us that Ewen was in the hotel; he got lost & jumped in a taxi back to the hotel.

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was certain that there would be no flight for the homeward bound amongst us as the plane they were due to catch, which was coming from Australia, hadn't left Australia. On our return to the hotel, those of us who were staying said our goodbyes to those going to the airport & formed a line outside to wave them off.

This evening, those of us who remained had a meal in the hotel restaurant. After dinner, we all went to the hotel bar & lobby for a drink. As others retired to bed, Tracy & I stayed in the lobby to have a few drinks & wait for Branwen, our guide, to return. We were eager to know that our friends who were going home managed to get off. At about 00:30 the following morning, we could wait no longer & retired to our rooms; we would have to wait till tomorrow to see if they got off safely.