With an 8.30 flight it was up early, breakfast on the run and off to the airport. Upon arrival in Guilin (Goo-lin) it was straight into it. Guilin is a city in the Li (pronounced Lee not Lie) river famous for its limestone karst landscape and formations. Our first stop was a limestone cave system, , which had great limestone decoration in huge caverns. It was lit by coloured lights, similar to how Jenolan Caves were when I first went there in the 1970s. The difference in lighting between here and Australian caves was interesting and speaks volumes about the difference in culture between the two countries.

After lunch we went to a touristy garden on the river bank and to a dance show. Nothing is quiet or peaceful. Even the gardens are busy and noisy. After dinner we went and watched a demonstration of how the ancient fishermen went fishing on the river on their bamboo rafts, using cormorants to catch the fish.

Today was day of contrasts. Old and new, rich and poor, Chinese and European.

The day started with a walk to a local street market that Lachie and I could see from our room. From our 5 star room we could see a shanty town street market. We didn’t see another westerner, and it was obvious from the curious looks that we got that not too many westerners wander through here. Fresh fruit and vegies, meat, live and not so live birds and fish, live frogs, turtles, eels. The smells (good smells) from the ‘food court’ area told us it was time to head back and meat the girls for breakfast. The contrast was amazing.

After we met our guide Zou (Joe) we headed for The Bund, the old British part of town from the early 1900’s. From here the view across the river to the new part of Shanghai was incredible. Only 20 years ago there was nothing on the other side of the river.

Next stop was the Yu Gardens, a 400 year old garden build by a retired army general. This was in the middle of ‘China Town’. Yes, that’s right, Shanghai has a China Town. It’s an area that modern Shanghai people go to see how people used to live in China. While in that area we had lunch of typical Shanghai fare (or so we were told).

After lunch we headed to a silk factory where we were shown the process of making silk. We found out that there are two types of silk cocoon. The small ones contain one caterpillar and are used to make silk thread. The large ones contain two caterpillars and two threads are tangled around each other, so they can’t be spun, so they are used to make doonas. The process of stretching the cocoon to make the doona is incredible. So we bought one.

Nanjing Road, the main street of Shanghai was the last stop. This is a shopper’s delight. One shop we checked out was the government toy shop – 5 stories of kid’s clothes, toys and games. And the Hagan Daas for an ice cream
Dinner was similar to lunch, but a half hour drive from the hotel.

Final observations of Shanghai: Lots of very well kept dogs. Traffic chaos, but it seems to work well. For a city of 22 million plus people, the traffic was always moving. 2013Road markings, pedestrian crossings and even traffic lights seem to mean little, but everybody keeps moving smoothly. The population density is amazing. High rises for as far as you could see in every direction.

The flight: Arrived early at the airport (Thanks Les), had a quick and easy check-in, and a relaxing wait to leave. The flight was uneventful, but seemed long to me, possibly because of one strange thing: even though it was a daytime flight, all the blinds were closed and lights off, making it feel like night.

First impressions:

1. The roads in Shanghai are amazing. There are huge overhead roads everywhere, often 3 or 4 roads looping above and below each other. I guess when a city is growing so quickly, the easiest place to put a road is above everything that was already there.

2. The traffic was light. I was expecting Bangkok style gridlock.

3. The size of the city: From the airport you couldn’t see the city centre. The drive in to the city took 45 minutes, all at freeway speeds. The city seems so spread out.

4. The Maglev train from the airport into the city is the world’s fasted train, travelling at 437km/h. The 45 minute drive would have taken 7 minutes if we caught the train!

5. The hotel room is the best I’ve ever stayed in. Just beautiful.

Lauren (or should I say ‘Kate’ – explanation later) relaxing.