Day 11: Shanghai

We started off today with hitting up a three story indoor market. They had tons of knock-off stuff here...from bags to jeans, shirts and watches. We all ran around negotiating with the sellers and getting good deals. A lot of people bought luggage and filled it with tons of stuff to bring home. I restrained myself, but did end up getting a few bags, scarves and a Lacoste shirt for Bryan. It was pretty fun, and a lot less intense than the other silk market in Beijinng.

After the market we got lunch on a ship restaurant and then headed to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. When we got there, there were about 200 children practicing for a New Years celebration show - so cute. We went up to the second highest level of the tower to get a full view of Shanghai. It was pretty cool because they had pictures of the city sky-line all the way back to the early 90's...you could really see how quickly and how much the city has grown. The view from the tower was awesome.

Next, we headed to the Yu Garden Market - it was this huge old-style bizarre of shops, restaurants and food vendors. Lauren an d I walked around to find tea, paintings and a wooden box she was looking for. We really got the bargaining down and got some really good deals - it was fun.

After the market we headed to our farewell dinner at one of the more famous restaurants in Shanghai. It was a really nice send-off. When we got back to the hotel, a few of us walked to Pizza Hut with our tour guide, Vicki. I was so surprised how nice it was - really an upscale Italian chain for them. We got a few pizzas and a few bottles of wine. It was nice to chat with Vicki and everyone. After that I went back to the hotel and hung out with everyone. We were so beat that nobody was really up for going out. We stayed up for a while but probably headed to bed around 1:00. Overall it was a good day, but I was feeling pretty tired just gearing up for the long trip home.