Shanghai to Home

Another early start to have our final breakfast with Sarah and Ann. We still can't believe they were on this cruise. We left the ship around 9am and joined our Shanghai Delights and Airport Transfer tour. First stop was the Shanghai Museum. They only allow 8000 people to go through per day. We found the shop a little more interesting than the actual museum. Next stop was Old Shanghai and Yu Gardens. It would be easy to spend hours there but because of our late departure it was a very quick visit. Back on the bus we made our way to Pudong International Airport. It took us about an hour. The Maglev train (magnetic levitation) only takes 9 minutes at about 400 kilometres per hour. Security at the airport was very tight. You are
scanned as soon as you enter. As we were around 5 hours early check in wasn't open. We found a Family Mart and had some "delicious sandwiches ". Actually they weren't too bad. Check in opened at 4pm. It was an interesting experience. They didn't issue my boarding pass because security wanted to look at my bag. After taking most things out we found the problem, it was our luggage scales. I had to go back to the counter with my bag and try again. All okay this time and my boarding pass was issued. We then had to line up at immigration. We found out there we needed a departure form. I presume we should have received one at check in. Luckily they handed us some and we filled them in there and then. Then security again. My carry-on went through but they wanted to check it again. Had to take everything out again, scan it and all was okay. Almost an hour to get through immigration and security. We left on time and we actually slept for a few hours. Quite a smooth flight, the odd bump or two but nothing major. We landed right on time, there was the usual stampede to get off but it didn't do them any good because about half of the luggage went to the freight area and we had to wait well over an hour for it to turn up. No problems with customs and then off to the Virgin domestic transfer area to check in and catch the bus to the terminal.Read more