On arriving in Yichang, we disembarked the cruise and met our guide who was due to stay with us for the shortest period possible. We stopped to take some pictures for a bridge high above one of the Yangtze tributaries, and cruised through the centre of Yichang, stopping at an embrodery museum to see some absolutely outstanding embroidery. There were pieces there that were double sided, but had different pictures on each side, and many pieces that looked like very good paintings. All in all a surprisingly enjoyable 20mins. We then went to the airport.
We arrived at the airport a little early, had a coffee and checked in early. When we went through to departures we discovered the flight was to be delayed a short while. No problem really…
We eventually boarded the airplane 2 hours late, and then proceeded to sit in the plane for 2.5 more hours before finally being cleared for takeoff, so we arrived in Shanghai 4 hours late to find our guide looking very tired having been sat in the airport for 5 hours!
We got up late the next day, to compensate for the previous 2 late nights and early mornings, and took a wander into Shanghai. We won’t be making that mistake again! It was so humid and we were sweating buckets by the time we got into the centre. We took a walk along the Bund and picked up more books for Rosie (finished them again) from the international bookstore. On our way back to the hotel to get ready for the evenings show we also stopped off at Häagen-Dazs.
Having spoken to our new guide, Ling, on the way to the hotel the previous evening, she had managed to book us two tickets to the Acrobatic Show this evening. When we got there, we found our seats were two rows in front of the Australian family we met on the cruise. The show was absolutely amazing and we both would recommend that anyone who comes to China to make a concerted effort to see the Acrobatic Show (unfortunately, pictures were not allowed here either :(). We then took a wander along the food street to find a bite to eat before braving the Metro system at night to get us back to the hotel.