Last day in Beijing & flight to Shanghai

Today we packed our belongings, had breakfast and were on the bus by 8 am as usual. Our only scheduled stop was at the Fresh Water Pearl shop where we learned about the various grades of pearls and how sea pearls and freshwater pearls are different. Of course the highest quality are the most beautiful but at over $600 for a black pearl necklace I felt I could look at a lower quality that would be I st as beautiful. Vic shopped with me and we found a beautiful black pearl necklace at a good price and the purchase was made. Happy Anniversary! Because we had a bit of time we were able to stop at Olympic Park the site of the 2008 Olympic Games. We walked to the bird’s nest stadium and the water cube (swimming venue) then made our way back through very hard harmful air quality. Our lunch was in The minority cultural area at a Tibetan restaurant. Half an hour later we arrived at the airport for our 2:50 flight. Through security with ease though theI swabbed both of our belongings as we entered the airport and patted us down as we entered he secure area. Better safe than sorry. Two hour flight to Shanghai during which they served a cardboard box with a white bun, butter, two slices of a very garlicky sausage with lettuce, four pieces of canteloupe and a muffin.

Shanghai is a city of 24 million people, row after row of high rise apartments and many layers of highways.Read more