Traveling Again - Shanghai

We saved the best for last on this 17-day trip that took us from Beijing to Malaysia to the Maldive islands back to Bangkok and across China. Our last stop was Shanghai, China's (and likely the world's) mostly cosmopolitan city. I immediately fell in love with Shanghai, with its architecture, river life, and mix of cultural influences.

 on a hazy day from the top of Shanghai World Financial Center

 Yuyuan Garden with SWFC in background

 Yuyuan Garden

 Xintiandi Neighborhood

 Tea Shop in Xintiandi

 Dim Sum dinner - cornbread poofs

 Shanghai night skyline

 The Bund

 The Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou

 Humble Administrator's Garden

 fruits for sale on a cart in Suzhou

 Silk textile factory

 Venice of the East - Zhou Zhuang neighborhood

 Canal town = Chinese tourists

We packed Shanghai and its neighboring town of Suzhou into less than three full days, which means I absolutely have to go back and see more. Shanghai is living evolution with giant skyscrapers filling the sky and old tenements being torn out for new apartment buildings. Suzhou is the springboard for visiting any of China's smaller "canal towns" that lay in the Yangtze Delta. These are popular Chinese tourist sites and it was great to visit a place where even the Chinese go for vacation. Of course that meant that there were a LOT of people there!