However, the day before I was due to leave, at 2.30pm, while I was illegally entering a park in Lijiang via a small waterfall as I didn't want to pay the entrance fee, the massive 7.9 Shichaun Earthquake happened. Where we were in Lijiang, we didn't feel a thing (which was lucky as we would have fallen INTO the waterfall we illegally crossing at the precise moment the earthquake hit!), however the earthquake managed to block just about every road heading in and out of the Schicuan province, thus making it rather difficult to get to Chengdu.
After a few phone calls and research, and a very stern warning from my parents about still heading Chengdu, I decided to get on a plane and head to Shanghai instead.
Now, those of you who have been reading my blog and speaking to me a bit about where I have been so far and what the places were like, would all have a general understanding that every place I have been to has been pretty small. So you can probably imagine the look on my face as I cruised into shanghai in the back of a taxi from the airport at 9pm. Every single building was lit up, there were people everywhere and it was M A S S I V E !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was actually quite mind blowing just how big this place was. It felt like every building was a sky scraper and me feel like I was about 2 feet tall.
After arriving at my hostel, checking into my room, and having a quick bite to eat I headed to bed....only to be woken up at around 3am and realising I wasn't feeling very well. So bad in fact, that I spent the next 36 hours vommitting absolutely everything I had consumed in on my trip so far. In my professional traveller opionion (hahaha), I'm pretty sure I got a pretty bad bout of food poisoning from either the food on China Eastern Airlines, or from a potato salad I had the hostel. Either way, the only place I went for my first two days in shanghai was either to the toilet to throw up, or to bed to sleep. Quite the party animal!
Once I finally got over all that (and the fact I lost about 2 kgs in the process!), I got out for my first day and dropped my passport off to have the visa extended. On dropping the application off, with my passport, I found out the process was going to take 10 days!! Most other towns were only 3 - 5. That piece of info threw the rest of my china plans (prior to arriving in Beijing) out the window, and I got myself ready for what I thought was going to be a very painful "almost" 2 weeks in Shanghai.
But then I met Matt and Emma. Its funny how you meet some people when you travel and you don't click at all, then you meet the odd one that you think "yeah, if I met you at home we would probably be mates", and then sometimes very rarely you are fortunate enough to get the chance to meet people that not only do you click with, you know that you are quite possibly going to be mates with them for many many years to come. Thats what happened with me meeting Matt and Emma.
The three of us hung out around Shanghai, seeing the sights of East Nanjing Road, the Bund, going to the top of Jin Mau Tower for great views of the Shanghai and hanging out in the artistic areas of the city. Emma left us about 4 days in, but we agreed to meet in Beijing. Matt and I continued to hang out right up until the day before I left China!
In touring around Shanghai, it was amazing the differences to southern China. Southern China in the Yunnan province was quite traditional and very simple. In Shanghai it was like being in an Asian New York City (even though I haven't yet been to New York, I'm sure you still can catch my drift!) with all the guys and girls wearing designer clothes, listening to modern music and giant bill board advertising signs all the way through the city. For such a large city, Shanghai wasn't overly expensive, however it was around twice the price of everything in the Yunnan Province. Which I guess when you start to make things relative to the earning capicity of the average Chinese worker, thats a pretty big jump in cost.
On my second last day in Shanghai, the Olympic torch made its journey through the city. We all got up early to watch it run on East Nanjing Road, only to be met by a very strong Chinese Millitary Presence right around the city, not allowing us anywhere near the relay. However, later in the day when Matt and I headed out to pick up my passport with its new visa, we "accidently" got stuck in a barricade and we were able to watch the torch run through twice. It was amazing to see just how excited the Chinese were about the Olympics.
The following evening, Matt and I jumped on the Z train express to Beijing.....
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