Before we have to head back to Bejing and back home again, we have a few more days to enjoy the busteling Shanghai.
If you rember our last day in Shanghai, you might remember that it was quite packed. So we decided to take it easy on the next day. This meant that we started off with a visit to a skin clinic for a relaxing facial. Earlier we had bought a discount coupon on an app called Rednote and made an appointment through Wechat. This way we could enjoy a 90 minute facial including a neck and head massage for only 25 euro's. That was a bargain, especcialy for the level of care we got there.
We followed the facial up with a lunch at a local restaurant. Since the clinic was in a more resedential neighborhoud, we took this opportunity to taste some of the local dishises. And they did not dissapoint (as did the lower prices)! After the late lunch we decided to do some more shopping around the Nanjing area with another visit to the Bund Viewing platform. But after dark this time to enjoy the Bund all lit up. If you are ever visiting Shanghai, this is a sight you don't want to miss.
Alright, time for another packed day ~ we want to make as much of our time in China as possible. Unfortunatly it turned out to be a rainy day as well.
In the late morning or early afternoon we took our chances since it was still dry as we sett of to see the 'egg'. This a popular photospot on the North Bund, which is on the other side of the river compared to the other places we visited.
As it started to rain soon after, we made our way over to the Greenhouse Expo. It proved to be the perfect hideout during the rather heavy rain. And it was beautifull inside. They made a big indoor garden modeled after different parts of the earth, like the rainforest and more dry areas like the steppe. Including a bite in the cafe (which was rather hard to find) we spent about 90 minutes in the expo. When we left, it started to dry up a little so we revisited Anfu Road to look for some specific items we hadn't found on our first visit there. We also had a late lunch at a nice Tapas place. That was not the first kind of food I usually think of when visiting Shanghai, but it was a nice change from the other food we had. And the place was charming with seeting places along the window looking directly out onto the street.
Later that night we were very excited to visit another popular tourist spot; Yu Garden. But once we got there, more heavy rain started to fall. This resulted in the tanghulu we bought to take a picture with, to basically melt. And the pictures we had gotten taken by a photographer turned out to be rather bad.
We were however not about to give up. After exploring the place on our own and discofering that the food offerd in the foodcourt was not of great quality we approched an other photographer. And lucky for us, they had a fake Tanghulu to take a picture with. We had a great time taking these and they turned out much better than the first ones. It really dit end our evening on a good note.
The next day was our penultimate day in Shanghai. We did however already pack our bags as we would spend the last night at a different hotel. But before we did that, we left our at the reception and set off to do one of the more cultural things on our 'to visit' list. We made our way over to Jing'an Temple. This is a big buddhist temple at the end of Nanjing West road. It is almost hidden among fancy department stores and shopping malls. For this visit you can pay the small entry fee of about 5 euro's right at the entrance with Alipay of Wechat Pay. Buying insence, what we did, cost a little bit exta. We took our time to explore the temple and see how it was still standing there after all these years. Like a piece of history hidden among the modern world.
After leaving the temple behind we picked up our bags and made our way over to our new hotel for the night; the W Hotel Shanghai. We had chosen this one to treat ourselves to a great and luxurious last night with great views. So we tried to make the most of it by basically spending the rest of the day at the hotel. We were lucky with a room on one of the top floors which gave unobstructed views of the Bund lit up.
When we had relaxed a little and taken some pictures we went down a couple of floors to eat at the hotel restaurant with more great views of the Bund. There we also met up with a friend we had met earlier that trip during the rooftop party. It was lovely to see her again and have a great meal with a great view.
The next morning would our last (half) day in Shanghai. As we didn't have much time before we had to leave for the train station, we made use of the sauna and swimming facilities at the hotel before making our way over to the extensive breakfast buffet at the same place we had dinner the night before. It also gave us a chance to admire the Bund for the last time. I don't think it's a sight you will ever get used to.
Then around 1 pm it was time to leave Shanghai behind and make our way to the train station. We left with plenty of time to spare as we were keen not to repeate the close call in Bejing. This meant that we arrived nicely on time at the station and we even had time to take a quick bit at one of the station restaurants before making our way over to the train. As the route to Shanghai, this yourney to Bejing took about 4 and a half ours. During the train ride we caught up on some sleep and watched a few shows we had been meaning to watch. It made the time go by fast.
Later that evening we arrived at our last hotel for this trip to China. As it was the last night and a weekend evening, we decided to try out the local nightlifte. As such we made our way over to the Bacardi Club where we danced our hearts out until the early hours in the morning.
The next morning all that was left to do was to have breakfast and make our way back to Bejing Daxing Airport to start the long yourney home. With tired feet but a phone (and hearts!) full of memories we headed back home. And as we boarded the plane we knew that it would not be the last time we would set foot in this beautifull country. Untill next time!