Day 1 in Shanghai

Here we are outside the East China Hotel, ready for a full day of sightseeing.

Our first stop was the Shanghai museum. You cannot imagine the antiquities and the history here -- ceramics, coins, furniture, jade. etc. Here is our newly-adopted mascot. The picture below this one shows the museum.

We made a brief visit to "The Bund," a touristy but nice waterside area. Here is the classic view of downtown Shanghai, with the large TV tower in the background.

Everybody did well in their first "lazy susan" meal at lunch. Lots of easy dishes, with absolutely no ears, stomachs, organelles, and other "challenging" items. Lots of "bing pijou" (cold beer) was consumed, for health reasons only.

We also went to the Jade Buddha Temple, which has a large standing and a small reclining Buddha. This was the first temple experience for a lot of the group, with incense, kneeling worshipers, huge Buddha statues, and intricate and ornate decorations. We did note a disturbing number of gift shops...