Shanghai Day 3

Well the sun came back out today and I got to explore around some more. Had 
quite the dilema since I wanted to visit one of the "water towns" around 
Shanghai (think Venice) and there are several all around the city with varying 
degrees of difficulty in getting to them. The one I wanted to go to (Hangzhou) 
you reach via the Maglev train, which is the high speed train that goes in 
excess of 280 miles an hour but it was a pain to get a ticket so I ended up in 
Qibao which is at the outskirts of Shanghai via the subway. Really cool town 
with canals all through it and various shops and narrow alleyways to traverse. 
Very quaint parts but also parts that were getting a little over commericalized 
(again, think Venice). And of course what do they have there but a street market 
that at first seemed to rival the Night Market, but alas, no sheep thingies! But 
they did have a product that you North Carolinians will really appreciate which 
is deep fried hog's snout! Yessiree Bob, right there on the table next to the 
duck wings in the attached picture! 
 
After that, I headed over to the Yu Gardens area. Beautiful Chinese gardens but 
also a bazaar type environment set in these old ancient style Chinese pagoda 
buildings. Really cool setting but again, got a little too commercial for me. 
Again being one of the few Westerners in the crowd I was easy pickins for the 
people hawking everything from fake Rolex watches to a little human traffiking 
(if you know what I mean). But still a cool experience. And since they had a 
Buddhist Temple at the same sight I had to get my religious fix and ventured in 
for a spin around since these are the people that gave me the 100 years to live, 
so I have to pay them back a little! 
 
Tomorrow I may not be writing an update (hey watch it... was that cheering I 
heard??) since I'll be flying out late in the evening to Chengdu. I'll still 
have a full day left tomorrow in Shanghai to explore and then out to the airport 
for an 8 PM flight to Chengdu. That's where the Panda Breeding Center is so at 
some point I'll be heading over to see the little baby pandas. YAY! 
 
Take care all and thanks for listening! 
 
Jeff