Shanghai....very hai.....

Hi All here's the next episode in our travelling adventure...sorry about the weirdness of our blog header - I think the "Great Firewall of China" has blocked access to our blog - so we can't actually see what we've posted - Jeremy, feel free to tidy up areas that need it. I'm working on an area to post all our photos for those who have nothing better to do at work - you know who you are!

Guangzhou was great - the city is very modern and the people very polite. We had a banquet for my uncle's last day lecturing and I managed to put a death curse on everyone there by sticking the chopsticks into the rice once I was done....a big no-no as I later found out as that's what they do at funerals! So after that cultural debacle we managed to wade through the myriad of shopping malls and Miriam found a cool satchel/handbag that means I don't have to lug the backpack around everywhere we go - a very smart purchase....

The best thing about Guangzhou was on our last night when we went to some island where the locals were out in force and had public singing (chinese choir) and dancing (tango/waltz etc..) along the river-front - Both us and the locals had a ball and it made me think that it might not be a bad idea for us westerners to get out once in a while at night and do communal stuff like this. I even played badminton with one of the kids there (about 10) and I'm sure we'll see him on tv in Beijing next year.....

Shanghai is big, we met the rest of our "group" - two of my cousins and 2 friends of my uncle and we set off discovering the sights and sounds of Shanghai, one of the biggest cities in China. We went through a touristy but interesting part of Shanghai which showed traditional life and then went down a busy and packed shopping mall that made Rundle mall look insignificant.

One thing I've constantly noticed about China is the two differing parts of China - the old and the new. You'll probably see in any of our photos where we've taken a shot of some traditional building that in the background there's a gleaming sky-scraper or TV billboard. I hope in their drive for "modernising" China they don't lose the historic aspect of their culture...

We're staying on the 25th floor of a hotel in Shanghai - we've posted a photo to give you some idea of what it's like - we're in the heart of the city but there's less noise in our room than back in adelaide - I'm guessing it's the fact that we're so high up! Here's a photo from our bedroom window.

We're off to Guilin tomorow a small town of about 700,000 people. It's meant to be one of the most beautiful areas in China. It's a pity the Lonely Planet warned us that everyone will try and rip us off! But don't worry we're pretty sharp and no-one can get past our defences.....Stay tuned for our tales of woe and deception. We'll post details of our bank account for the transfer of funds if we lose it all...Jai J'en