Zhujiajiao - Watertown

We left the ship at about 9am for our tour, Sarah and Ann joined us again. It was perfect weather, a little cloud and around 23 degrees. Our guide Kelly was excellent. She gave us plenty of information about Shanghai and surrounds plus some Chinese history lessons. We drove along the Bund which looks out towards Pudong which is the new area of Shanghai. It's home to the tallest building in Shanghai at 632 metres and the Iconic Pearl TV tower. The city is very beautiful with lots of gardens. They even have roses growing in the middle of freeways and tollways. The traffic was fairly heavy and we didn't arrive at Zhujiajiao until about 10:30am. There were lots of buses already there and a lot of tourists as well. We walked over old bridges along waterways and narrow streets lined with shops and restaurants. A large portion of the people that live here have their business downstairs and live upstairs. There were several groups of primary school children walking around with teachers. As usual with these tours, time is limited so not much of a chance to buy anything. We did try some freshly squeezed pomegranate juice which was refreshing. We visited the old post office and a shop selling traditional Chinese Medicine. Lastly we hopped on a boat which was propelled much like gondolas . He took us back to our starting point. We boarded the bus and made our way back towards Shanghai for lunch. The traffic was heavy and it was around 2pm before we reached the restaurant. The food was delicious and they had a few western style toilets which was a bonus. The last stop of the day was a silk factory. We were given a short overview of the process from silkworm to spinning and then we were shown how they make a silk doona. They are exceptionally light and don't absorb moisture. Of course the main aim is to sell you something. We ended up with 2 silk filled pillows., 2 pillow cases and a silk doona cover. After our stop we continued on to the ship. It was a great tour and even the other passengers were okay this time. We dropped off our purchases and then went back out for a walk along the Bund and to view the lights. The light show starts at 6pm and finishes at 10pm. It certainly is spectacular. We were heading back to the ship when two Americans approached us, they were having trouble navigating their way back to the ship. They walked back with us and were very grateful we were able to show them the way. Dinner was next and we said our good-byes to our wait staff(Herri, Arief & Romeo) and cabin stewards. There was time for some photos on deck before packing.Read more