Sunday, September 18, 2011: Arriving in Shanghai
We left the Detroit airport on Saturday, September 17 at 4:30 pm and arrived 14.5 hours later with 12 hour time zone difference-- 7 PM Sunday, September 18. The metro was really convenient--closer even than the taxi. We took metro line 2 to People's square then switched to line 1 to Shanghai Railway Station--entire trip which was about 1.5 hours cost 7 yuan (a little over a dollar) each. We had deliberately packed light--one smallish backpack each which could easily be carried on + I had a purse. We didn't see any other non-Chinese people on the metro, and it was considerably less crowded than I expected. We didn't hit the crowds until Beijing. From the metro we tried to find our hotel. After unsuccessfully asking several people who didn't know enough English to help us,we asked a policeman. He asked a woman who was walking by who looked at the address and pointed up. There on a skyscraper in front of us was the Holiday Inn logo. Problem was getting there since it was north of the train station on the other side of the tracks. We wound up taking a convoluted way since we didn't think we could go through the train station--we were wrong; it was easier to figure out the route in reverse. It looked like one of the crummier areas of town but seemed entirely safe--women were walking by themselves. All of China seemed extremely safe. We were very impressed. We saw one person who had set up camp in the tunnel under the train station and was tucking herself in. Once we figured out how to get to the other side of the tracks we had no problem finding the hotel. It was a very nice hotel. It was a very nice hotel--clean with lots of amenities. The people at the front desk spoke excellent English. We got the key, got to our room--a tiny room with a bed and a bathroom. the phone was ringing when we walked in--it was the front desk asking us to come down since we qualified for an upgrade to a suite since Gary is a platinum member in the priority club. The new room was 5 floors higher--floor 23 with a bedroom and a sitting room with an office area. The bathroom even had a clothesline, something I put to use the next day since we are packing very lightly.
We left the Detroit airport on Saturday, September 17 at 4:30 pm and arrived 14.5 hours later with 12 hour time zone difference-- 7 PM Sunday, September 18. The metro was really convenient--closer even than the taxi. We took metro line 2 to People's square then switched to line 1 to Shanghai Railway Station--entire trip which was about 1.5 hours cost 7 yuan (a little over a dollar) each. We had deliberately packed light--one smallish backpack each which could easily be carried on + I had a purse. We didn't see any other non-Chinese people on the metro, and it was considerably less crowded than I expected. We didn't hit the crowds until Beijing. From the metro we tried to find our hotel. After unsuccessfully asking several people who didn't know enough English to help us,we asked a policeman. He asked a woman who was walking by who looked at the address and pointed up. There on a skyscraper in front of us was the Holiday Inn logo. Problem was getting there since it was north of the train station on the other side of the tracks. We wound up taking a convoluted way since we didn't think we could go through the train station--we were wrong; it was easier to figure out the route in reverse. It looked like one of the crummier areas of town but seemed entirely safe--women were walking by themselves. All of China seemed extremely safe. We were very impressed. We saw one person who had set up camp in the tunnel under the train station and was tucking herself in. Once we figured out how to get to the other side of the tracks we had no problem finding the hotel. It was a very nice hotel. It was a very nice hotel--clean with lots of amenities. The people at the front desk spoke excellent English. We got the key, got to our room--a tiny room with a bed and a bathroom. the phone was ringing when we walked in--it was the front desk asking us to come down since we qualified for an upgrade to a suite since Gary is a platinum member in the priority club. The new room was 5 floors higher--floor 23 with a bedroom and a sitting room with an office area. The bathroom even had a clothesline, something I put to use the next day since we are packing very lightly.
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