Asia Awaits: Shanghai Day 2

Day two in Shanghai and we ventured to the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower. We decided to go early to try and beat the crowds but we still managed to get caught behind a few large Chinese tour groups. Going up was not too bad but the trip down was very very slow in a queue with people pushing and shoving. I nearly had a VERY big altercation with an 80 year old Chinese lady who didn't even come up to my armpits !! She was so damn strong that I was concerned I wouldn't win ! My patience ran very thin be the end.

There are 3 viewing areas in the Tower - the first ball is at 98m where the rollercoaster is, the second ball is at 263m where the clear sightseeing floor is, and the third ball is at 351m. The clear viewing platform is quite creepy and Jack and I were not too happy standing on it with hundreds of other tourists. The views are fantastic, but unfortunately the pollution was really bad on the Sunday morning, and we couldn't see too far. The boys had a go on the rollercoaster on our way out, which has 3D glasses and takes you on a very quick tour of the city......

After some breakfast we headed out to Jiangwan Stadium which is north of the city to watch the AFL - Port Adelaide v Gold Coast Suns. First game in China - so quite an historic event to have a ticket too. We took the Metro there which was the best way to get around Shanghai- similar to the MTR in Hong Kong but a lot busier and not quite as clean or air-conditioned.

The ground is quite old but has a super surface and it was great to actually see some AFL live. However, it was sad that the game was supposed to be a sellout and it clearly wasn't. There were loads of spare seats, along with very very high security - not sure why? The game itself was quite disappointing with a very one-sided affair. We look forward to attending again next year, hopefully with a stronger contest, and maybe it will be a licensed event.

We wandered down the street looking for a taxi but with very little Mandarin at hand (yes the boys are learning but weren't of much assistance) it was a bit difficult. However, we managed to get one to stop and we hoped he understood where we wanted to go - thank goodness for smart phones with maps, otherwise we could have ended up anywhere !! We managed to get to our destination with no issues and came across loads and loads of bikes. As mentioned in one of the photos in my previous blog, the bike-sharing companies are huge in Shanghai and there are yellow, orange, green and blue bikes for hire everywhere. Different to other cities where you have to collect and drop off at set locations, in China, you can leave them anywhere when you are done. It uses a QR code scan in an App to unlock the bike and then charge to your account. The issue they are having is that the bikes are left everywhere in HUGE piles - EVERYWHERE! Photo below.

Our target destination was the Zotter Chocolate factory which is an Austrian chocolate company that has a factory in Shanghai. The tour of the factory shows you a video about the company and the manufacturing process, and then you get to go through the factory tasting 250 different flavours. You start out thinking that this will be easy - 250 little tastes, no problem...... but at about 100 you really start to slow down. Jack and Max gave up at about 150. We finished feeling like
Veruca Salt or Augustus Gloop !!

Nice way to end Day 2 :)