Travel on River to and From Docking Location
Shanghai is the largest city in China with a population of more than 24 million people. It sits on the south edge of the Yangtze River and is a global financial hub. Its heart is the Bund, a waterfront promenade lined with colonial-era banks; it’s like Manhattan’s Wall Street. The Bund (tree lined boulevard) stretches along one bank of the Huangpu River and on the other side is the futuristic skyline of Pudong. Then there’s the old quarter which still has narrow lanes and street markets. Much of the population rides electric motor scooters. The temp during our visit hovered around 50 degrees so riders have blankets that cover the front of their bodies and have arm and hand sleeves to keep you warm. Shanghai is famous for its iconic skyline and while the skyscrapers make for interesting viewing in the daylight, nothing beats seeing it lit up at night. Cost to turn on all those lights is $1.2 million per night.
Day 1 – Everyone (crew, captains and passengers) on the ship MUST have a face-to-face with immigration. We were the second group to enter the terminal and it took us one hour to get through security. We were also not allowed to walk on the Port. We had to be shuttled to our coaches. Our excursion today is to Yujuan Gardens and the Shanghai Museum. We hop a bus to the gardens which are classical Chinese, commissioned by the Ming Dynasty. They are a perfect blend of landscaping and architecture. A 400 year old ginko tree and bamboo groves sit next to ponds filled with koi and cherry trees just starting to show their blossoms. We walked the 9-Zigzag Bridge which was built to baffle evil spirits. Gardens were stuffed with people, and as common in this culture pushing and shoving to get the perfect picture. The footpaths were created with beautiful rock designs and bricks, many of which are cracked and uneven so trying not to miss a single thing and watch where you’re walking was sometimes a challenge. No matter the challenges, these gardens were perfect in their design and spectacular in their beauty.
Next stop was the Shanghai Museum which contains a collection of over 120,000 historical Chinese pieces, including bronze, ceramics, calligraphy, furniture, jades and much more. Because of our late start we only had time to see the bronze on first floor. Didn’t view anything on second, third or fourth floors. The design of the Museum is unique in that it has a round top sitting on a square base, symbolizing the ancient Chinese perception of the world as “round sky, square earth”.
The highlight of the night was the christening of the Viking Sun. The dock was transformed into a Las Vegas extravaganza. A scalloped projection wall was constructed to look like colored fish were swimming and a stage was setup in front of that. There was a 3-sectioned stage which floated in and out of another constructed building where the orchestra was housed. There was cabanas setup for all the orchestra members and performers to relax, eat and keep warm in. There was a large tent for everyone to pass through with red carpets leading from our gangplank to the tent. The owner of Viking, his daughter and the Godmother (each Viking ship has a Godmother) spoke, and then came the entertainers. We cheered as the champagne bottle crashed on the bow of the ship. The Sun Chateau, our dining venue, was a huge round windowed restaurant. We couldn’t make the 5-minute walk to the restaurant because it was on the dock, so shuttles took us from our ship on a 5-minute trip to the restaurant. Appetizers and dinner was served on tables that had revolving centers. When we returned to our staterooms, we had swag bags (of course). This party had to be on par with the academy awards.
Day 2 – Excursion today is to the Garden City of Suzhou which requires a 2 hour bus ride mainly because traffic is so horrendous. We pass the waterfront which is filled with thousands of high-rise buildings with architecture that rivals Manhattan. It’s hard to believe what you’re seeing, apartment after apartment, and 30 – 35 floors high. Elevators are installed only from 10th floor up and many times don’t work. Some people have washers; no one has dryers in Shanghai so there is laundry hanging from EVERY building, no matter how high.
First stop was Silk Embroidery Museum and it was unbelievable. Suzhou is famous for its silk. The Museum doubles as a store where you see samples of the rarest pieces of the double-sided embroidery. Each piece is one of a kind and can take years to complete. They feature the same image on each sides of the artwork, in different colors (black cat one side, white cat on other) or better yet is the piece they call the 2 Kings. One side is a lion, one side is a tiger. The front and back are done at the same time. We watched them do it and I still can’t explain it. There were 5 Master embroiders working on the 2 Kings for 20 months. China can only have 12 Master Embroiders at one time and it takes years to attain that designation. Unfortunately, silk embroidery is a dying art, it’s too hard and the young people have no interest. This was an amazing visit.
Next stop was to board a boat which took us through what’s called the Grand Canal or China’s Venice of the East. That was a bit of a stretch; however, we did go down a winding river which meanders through the city and under lots of bridges. It was stunning to see how 9 million people live. Women wash clothes in canal water filled with trash. The clothes are hanging everywhere along with meat to dry. Many of the houses look as if they could fall into the canal at any moment. Electrical cords wrapped around anything in a vertical position. Our bus filled 2 boats with people so our guide, Johnny, went up the canal with the other boat and jumped into our boat on the way back. He climbed in by saying “Here’s Johnny”. This was a young Chinese guy who was quite a character.
Time for lunch so we head to a Westin Hotel. This place is monstrous in size but knew how to put on a great Chinese lunch. Each table sat 10 people and had a turntable in the center where all the food was placed. You just spun it around until you found something you liked which was not hard. The selection consisted of soup, rice w/vegetables, noodles w/vegetables, fish and rice, beef w/peppers, sweet & sour chicken, mushrooms & greens of some kind and finally watermelon, which tells you that the last dish has been presented and the meal is over.
Next stop is to Suzhou Gardens. All Chinese gardens are beautiful and this one was no exception. It was owned by a family and showed off pagodas, trees of all shapes and sizes, rock pathways and fountains. There was a huge exhibit of bonsai trees that was pretty exceptional. There’s something very calming about strolling through acres of beautifully manicured landscapes. You actually forget about all the millions of people on the outside of the garden walls.
