Travel Blogging VIII

Shanghai, China: The DrsC have been here before and chose not to go ashore this visit. There isn't a whole lot to see here, Shanghai doesn't have the imperial relics that are most of what we enjoy about Beijing. Shanghai's role in China roughly parallels that of New York City in the U.S., a financial center.

As a major city it probably only dates back to the colonial period. The famous Shanghai Bund dates to that era and was constructed by Westerners on the riverfront.

We are one of two cruise ships tied up here today, the other is Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas. Shanghai has a shiny new cruise terminal to welcome ships like ours. It's a busy port, much ship traffic in and out, though not as busy as Singapore.

Tomorrow we'll set our clocks for Japan, which is not in the same time zone as China. Tonight we will watch local acrobats perform on board before we depart. The cruise is winding down, GIs call what we have left "three days and a get-up."