Hi all, thanks for the messages recently - Xian is the most we've had for a while which is good, so thanks to those of you that let us know you've been reading!

So our second sleeper train was pretty much the same as the first, apart from the lights were turned out much earlier (before 10pm!) when six of us were in the middle of a game of cards. It was weird coming into Shanghai, as the land looked similar to the English countryside - lots of fields of oil seed rape and more trees than we've come across since we've been in China! When we got into Shanghai itself, it wasn't quite this picturesce but it is definitely far greener than Beijing, which isn't hard!

It was about 12.30 when we got off the train, so by the time we had checked into our hotel and freshened up (which was much needed!!) it was lunchtime. Jami took us and the rest of the group out on another initial orientation and we found a dim sum restaurant (the Shanghai speciality dish) and pretty much packed it out, being as there was 15 of us. We passed on the Dim Sums / dumplings, as tried them in Xian and although they taste ok, they've got a really slimy texture - James couldn't stand them anyway, so I was happy to go with something else. We ended up having a set menu for two, which was far more than we could eat for lunch and actually some of the dishes were not too appealing anyway. It was finished off with a really good Mango dessert (a kind of mousse) which went down a treat though. After we'd sussed out where the essentials were in the city - laundry, banks, post office, internet etc. James and I decided to head to the Shanghai Museum, but it was't until we were on our way that I read in the Lonely Planet that they don't let you in after 4 and it was already 3, so by the time we'd walked there it would have been too late. It was probably a good job, because about ten minutes later we got absolutely drenched by a passing bus, that drove through a huge pot hole full of muddy water! Luckily for James I partially shielded him, but our clean jeans and t.shirts that we'd put in the laundry in Xian were all of a sudden not so clean! If this had happened at home I would have been really annoyed, but after the initial second of anger we both seemed to find it quite funny and used it as an excuse to head back to the hotel and chill out for the evening in preparation for a busy day in the morning.

A busy day was certainly what we had! We got up at 7 and had breakfast in the hotel at 8 (Jac if you don't like Chinese food you may be in trouble, as they have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Although it is alot different from Chinese food at home)- we managed to find something that resembled a Western breakfast though and had a fried egg and some bread, although it did have a really sweet taste, which I think must have been the oil they cooked the egg in - you get used to the mixture of sweet and savoury tastes after a while!

After breakfast we took an hour walk that the Lonely Planet recommended along The Bund (Shanghai's Riverbank area), which meant that we saw lots of landmarks along the way that we wouldn't have known to look at, such as the Huangpu Park - where the Monument to the peoples heroes stood, The bank of China - which is an architectural mish mash but interesting to look out and read about how they kept adding to it to compete with the height of its neighbouring building The Peace Hotel - which is an art deco building that was used as an operations base during the Cultural Revolution. Also the former 'North China Daily News' building, Customs House and the grandest building on The Bund, which is the Pudong Development Bank. These buildings all look very European and compared to the ultra modern view across the river of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and it's surrounding buildings, including two large round globes, they are very dated. Shanghai has some great City skyline views and makes for some awesome photo's, I'm just gutted that my camera isn't any good attaking photos in the dark as when everything is lit up it looks fantastic.

Once we'd walked along the whole of The Bund and pushed our way past other boisterous Chinese folk, especially those trying to sell us the tackiest kids toys -from wind up chicks to wheels to attach to your trainers, we decided to carry on walking and find our way to the Yuyuan Bazaar and Fuyou Antique market where we did a bit of shopping - I bought a lovely brown leather handbag and some beads, which we enjoyed haggling over! This area was buzzing and packed with other tourists and locals. There were lots of beautiful traditional Chinese buildings everywhere and the streets were lined with small shops and market stalls, lots selling the same kind of thing, but a few jems amongst them like the leather shop we found. Once we got sick of the dodgy little locals trying to sell us Lolex watches and not so designer handbags, we jumped in a taxi and whizzed off to Renman Square and Park, where the Shanghai Museum is. The queue was massive, but the sun was shining and this was the last thing we really wanted to see so we happily lined up with everyone else and then strolled round the museum looking at all sorts of Chinese pottery, paintings, calligraphy, dated furniture, historical clothing from different areas in China and best of all the hugest Pots that were for holding wine, all made from bronze with beautifully intricate patterns on them - Bryan I tried to steal you one but thought I'd better not smash through the glass and get arrested when we've still got lots of our trip left! The museum was huge - four floors - and if you had a serious passion for Chinese History and Culture you could easily spend an entire day, if not weekend here. However, for us a couple of hours was enough and by the time we'd finished our legs were aching, so we sat in the park with an ice cream before heading back to the hotel.

That night we went to see the Chinese Acrobats with most of the group. It was a great show and the things they do are fascinating. It was on for an hour and a half, but it was one of those times were we were so engrossed that when it finished it felt like it had only been about half an hour - great stuff! Afterwards we found an American bar and watched the Arsenal v Man United game - wish I hadn't and I don't want to talk about the result! Actually it made me realise how good it is to not watch and get stressed out by sport!

This morning we got up early again and with Kaiden and Keridan (grandson and nan from New Zealand) we took the metro train across the water to the TV tower and paid to go up to the sightseeing floor, at 263 metres, so we vould get a view of the city. It looked pretty good, but due to the haze of the smog not as spectacular as it should be from that height!

Once again we're just waiting to get another sleeper train to our next destination, this time it's a 23 hour journey, so we're racking our brains for games to pass the time as it's going to be a nightmare. Hopefully we've tired ourselves out over the last few days and we'll sleep alot of it - let's face it with only two seats to every six beds, there's not many other places to be other than bed!

Overall Shanghai has been good - It's a huge place with a population of 18 million, so as you can imagine it's as hectic as a city is going to get, but there's plenty to see and do and if you need a quick fix of the West then this is your place - lots more tourists, Western restaurants and Bars etc.

Okey dokes, that's all for now and roll on getting us to the countryside, as I think we've had anough of manic cities for now!