Semester at Sea: Shanghai, China (Part 1)

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“China Tomorrow, China Tomorrow, China Tomorrow”

One of the deans on a previous Semester at Sea voyage used to say this to students when they had complaints during the voyage. It was his way to remind students that they were doing something incredible. The ship would be docked in China for 8 days, landing in Shanghai before moving to Hong Kong. Eight amazing days exploring the world’s most populous country as well as its 3rd largest. Warning, this is going to be a series so stay tuned for my continued adventures through this amazing country. 

Touring Shanghai with Semester at Sea

Just two days after departing Kobe, Japan the MV Explorer landed in Shanghai, China. Unfortunately our clearance to leave the ship was delayed much like it had been when we arrived in Japan. I had signed up for the Shanghai City Orientation with Semester at Sea which had been scheduled to begin at 10:30am. Due to the delayed clearance we didn’t start until noon, so we headed straight to the Gull restaurant where we had lunch.

Lazy Susan Lunch

Lunch was served in a manner commonly seen in China with a large lazy Susan built into the middle of the table where various courses and dishes are served. Each diner is given a small individual plate for what they want to take from each dish. Most of the dishes served were identified for us, but others we had to guess, which made it a little bit of an eating adventure. As far as food goes, I did much better in China than Japan as I enjoyed American Chinese restaurants (which serve very different dishes than found in China) before embarking on Semester at Sea.

Yuyuan Garden

After lunch our first stop was the Yuyuan Garden. First built in 1559 during the Ming Dynasty, the gardens have been rebuilt several times and were declared a national monument in 1982. Even during the winter, the garden is considered a must-see destination in Shanghai, but I would love to return again in the spring or summer to see the flowers and waterlilies blooming. The Yuyuan Bazaar, a huge market located in front of the gardens, was full of people and vendors for the Chinese New Year’s celebrations. With the morning’s delays, our tour was so behind schedule that we sadly didn’t have time to explore the market. 

Museum or Temple? Choose Wisely

Upon arrival at the Shanghai Museum, we were told we would have only 40 minutes to explore if we wanted to have time to also visit the Jade Buddha Temple before it closed. The group decided to split up to give everyone more time to enjoy just one of the two attractions. Half the students stayed at the Shanghai Museum, and half went to the Jade Buddha Temple. 

Since the museum was free and we’d already paid for the temple entrance in the tour fee, I chose to head to the temple. I was quite happy with my choice as I tend to be very slow in museums. (I just want to learn ALL about the things I’m seeing so I read every. single. sign.) The treasure of the temple was a 1.95 meter tall statue of a seated Buddha that had been carved from one piece of jade. An extremely impressive piece that weighs three tons! There was also a smaller jade statue of Buddha reclining in the temple that represents his death. Both statues were brought to Shanghai from Burma in 1882.

After viewing the Buddhas and walking around the temple, we were served tea in a tea ceremony. We were given samples of several different teas and told their various uses. When we’d finished there, we headed back to the museum to pick up the rest of the students on the tour. 

Hidden Restaurant

Our dinner was also at a local restaurant that you entered through a silk embroidery museum which was incredible. Despite the cold weather outside, the highlight for me was getting ice cream for dessert. Many places we’d visited were rather cold since it seems quite common in China to not heat buildings as much as we do in the US. Space heaters appeared to be pretty common, but doors and windows were often left wide open.

Final Act of the Tour

To cap off the day we attended an acrobat show which was spectacular, I really enjoyed it and wish I had even a fraction of the performers’ talent. I thought it was a wonderful tour of a really interesting city and looked forward to exploring more the next day.

Independent Shanghai Shopping

The next morning a friend and I headed over to the Bazaar by Yuyuan Gardens that I’d missed out on the previous day. We wanted to check out the wares offered there and absorb some of the culture during the Chinese New Year’s festivities for the year of the Tiger. We had a good time wandering around and bartering for a few souvenirs. I picked up some jewelry and a beautifully decorated fan while my friend bought himself a small carved jade rabbit.

Lunch Language Barrier

We tried, but ultimately failed, to eat at one of the food stalls in the bazaar. They didn’t have picture menus for us to point to and the language barrier kept us from asking for any particular foods. Alas we wound up at McDonald’s, of all places, since we could easily order there. Once we’d finished up our meal, we caught a taxi to take us to the airport for our flight to Beijing. 

The Airport is a Zoo

Travel is ever a challenge. Our taxi driver apparently hadn’t understood when we asked for the airport and instead took us to the zoo. Luckily for us though, the zoo was on the way to the airport. Once we figured out what had gone wrong, we caught another cab to take us the rest of the way to the airport. When we checked in for our flight, we found a large group of other students from Semester at Sea who were taking part in the same tour as us. The tour we were going on for the next few days was organized by The China Guide tour company for Beijing and the Great Wall.

So Long, Shanghai

Less than two days wasn’t nearly enough time to see and enjoy Shanghai, China, but it served as a sample of what more was to come during the next six days. Stay tuned for the next installment of my China series where I explore Beijing and visit my first of the 7 Wonders of the World: the Great Wall.

Read more about my adventures on Semester at Sea!

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