Shanghai Excursion

Let’s start from the beginning. My program and about 50 other ICB students accompanied us to Shanghai for a couple days. I made a few friends on the bus to the train station and we all were really rushed to make our train on time. When we got on the train, there were 6 bunks per sleeper cabin. The train ride was 15 hours to Shanghai and back. That’s more than my flight to Beijing! But it was fun because all I did was eat and bond with my fellow ICB students. I passed out in my bed and I only had 8 more hours on the train. 

Finally we arrived in Shanghai! My first impressions of Shanghai were that it was very green in terms of preserving their nature and it’s way more modern than Beijing. The food was alright tasting, but my stomach hated it. The weather was pretty and rainy, but not like the kind of rain that feels dirty in cities...the rain was cleaner. 

View of Shanghai

Modern Italian corner

Talking about modern, I never thought I'd live to see a Rolls-Royce which is my dream car. I just had to take a picture!

Just about to go into the China Art Museum

We traveled to the Pearl Tower to see all of Shanghai which was amazing. 

Waiting in line for the tower elevator

View from the pearl tower

After the Pearl tower tour

Generously giving a helping hand after a long trip to the tower

Shanghai nightlife~~ I met up with a mutual friend who lived in the city and he showed my friends and I one of the hottest clubs in Shanghai. M2 was packed, but not surprising for a Saturday night. That night I partied with some of my Chinese friends and made it back to the hotel before 1. Going to bed at 2, I needed to wake up at 8 for the next trip.

Also, we traveled to a water town outside of the city. That was an experience in itself because I did not have an umbrella. So I was umbrella hopping the entire time. The natives were humble and there were a lot of traditional clothes, artwork, and historical artifacts.

Enough said!~

Bumming some rain shelter from Jamaal

After being stuck in traffic for two hours going to the train station, the program treated us to KFC and we caught our train. The eating, drinking, and bonding continued, however, our teacher decided to have class so we could sleep in the next day. He gave us an assignment to talk with our ICB classmates about aspects of Chinese culture and report back. Once we completed class, I hung out with other students on the train. I actually went to sleep at a decent time but~~~~

On the slow train back to Beijing

There was an elder Chinese man in the bunk next to me and he snored SO loudly! I can usually drown it out with my iPod, but it was dead. My roommate let me use hers but J-pop couldn’t put me to sleep. So I only got three hours of sleep. I didn’t fall asleep until the elder man woke up to start his day (7:00am). 

I loved Shanghai and I was honestly a little disappointed to be back in Beijing, but I had a wonderful experience and made a ton of Chinese friends along the way.