July 22 to July 30, 2011 -->
We arrived safely in Shanghai, China one day later than originally scheduled. We flew from Indy to Detroit as scheduled on Friday. Two hours out of Detroit we turned around & went back to the airport due to an electrical problem with the plane. We waited on the plane for a period of time while they attempted to fix the problem. We eventually left the plane to wait in the airport for an 11:00 PM departure, which was changed to a midnight departure and finally the flight was canceled. We were given meal vouchers, hotel vouchers & taxi vouchers & told to make our own travel arrangements to Shanghai. What’s up with that?? We almost canceled the trip & returned to Indy! After much time on the phone & standing in many lines we found out that a 1:00 PM Saturday flight had been added to the schedule. We crawled in bed at 3 AM Saturday in Livonia, MI, which was the closest available motel room to the Detroit airport.
We tried it all over again on Saturday afternoon!! We finally arrived in Shanghai & stood in more lines as we went through customs, exchanged currency, rode the train and rode the subway to our motel. We felt like we had been to Disney World, but there was never a ride at the end of any of the lines. What an experience!
Jim & two co-workers were busy during the days with business. I kept busy exploring Shanghai. There were a lot of people, buildings, taxis, bicycles & scooters. It is a typical big city. It is also very hot & dirty! When I got back to the motel & took a shower I couldn’t believe how dirty I had gotten just by walking around town.
Wednesday we were driven to Suzhou where we stayed for a couple of days. We stayed at the Intercontinental hotel & it was very nice. We all decided it was a little upscale for us though. I finally got a decent chicken breast sandwich at the Subway across the street from the hotel.
We went back to Shanghai on Friday. We actually took the train on the return trip which was faster than driving on the highway. Jim & I walked around town together since his business meetings were over. There were still a lot of people, buildings, taxis, bicycles & scooters!
The trip back to Indy on Saturday was uneventful except for an hour delay in Detroit. We were VERY glad to be home! I am glad I went to China with Jim, but it is not a trip I would want to repeat.
I have attached a few pictures of the sights and FEET around China!
View from Shanghai hotel room.
Flower Clock at Century Park in Shanghai.
Pearl Tower in Shanghai.
Mall in Shanghai
Dessert at the Stone Grill Shanghai
Century 21
Shanghai ferry
Les Mills is even in Suzhou!
Train ride from Suzhou back to Shanghai with Harry (standing) Skip & Brad (both seated).
Yummy Chinese dinner!!
Papa John's pizza delivery Shanghai style!
This is John McIntire from Wisconsin. We shared the taxi from our Shanghai hotel to the airport with John on Saturday. John was also one of the passengers on the canceled flight on our trip from Detroit to Shanghai. He actually stayed at the same hotel we did in Shanghai. It truly is a small world!
Detroit airport from JIm's phone camera.
Barb at the Detroit airport.
Standing in line at Disney World!
Actually this is Immigration at the Shanghai airport.
Authentic Chinese dinner with the China & American co-workers.
Pearl Tower
THE END!!
THE PICTURES ARE VERY NICE AND INTERESTING. WHAT A DIVERSIFIED CITY. THE YUMMY? DINNER DIDN'T LOOK TOO APPETIZING TO ME. HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT.
ReplyDeleteTHE TRAIN RIDE LOOKED LIKE IT WOULD BE FUN. THE HOTEL IS BEAUTIFUL. SO GLAD YOU GOT TO GO AND THAT IT WAS AN ENLIGHTENING EXPERIENCE. LOTS OF DIFFERENT FEET AROUND ALL THE AREAS!!!!
Did the person riding the bicycle use the broom to clean the sidewalks or was the broom holding up the bicycle? Or the steet cleaner taking a nap??
ReplyDeleteThe broom was used to clean the sidewalks. I'm not sure where the person was at the time. There were always workers around who were sweeping or trimming bushes. It looked like a good idea to carry over to the states. Maybe that would help our "jobs creation" program!
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