China Dispatch #8
Contributed by: Annika Olsen and Haley Templeton
November 30, 2013 - Today we woke up bright and early, and had to be ready at 6:45 to leave Nanjing to take a train to Shanghai. The train ride was about an hour and a half, and the train traveled almost as fast as a bullet train. Once we arrived in Shanghai, we were starving so we went to a 12 story mall to eat lunch. It took us about thirty minutes to find a place that had normal food. We ended up at a Pizza-pasta place. It was very yummy. Alex mills called it "the bomb". Almost everyone got pizza.
After that, we walked to the Pearl Tower which is the third tallest building in Shanghai, and it is the eighth tallest building in the world. We took an elevator to the top and saw a beautiful view of the skyline of Shanghai. Shanghai is like the New York City of China. The skyline was filled with tall skyscrapers and modern looking buildings. We saw the Xuang Pu River while we were looking through the glass floor. There was a glass floor that surrounded the building that you can walk on. It was 826ft above the ground. All the girls walked onto the glass, but most of the coaches were too scared to step onto it. Some of the girls(like Haley and Annika) were brave enough to do a handstand against the glass wall. Also on top of the Pearl Tower, there were places to buy souvenirs, which included panda keychains, glass paper weights, and ornaments.
After the Pearl Tower, we went to this market in Shanghai that was really pretty. It had lots of little shops with a lot of variety of things to buy. After we went to the market, we went on a boat ride down the river. It was incredible to see the skyline of Shanghai all lit up in neon lights at night. It was cold outside, but it was definitely worth it. After that, we went to check into our hotel. Everybody was exhausted from all the touring today so only about six of us went to dinner. When we walked into our room, we were happy so see that our mattresses were actually nice, fluffy mattresses instead of the wooden box we slept on at the other hotels. Overall it was such a busy day, but it was an amazing experience to see such an incredible city.