On Monday, the planned wake-up call was 9am as we had to endure a 1 and a half hour bus ride to a traditional Chinese water town. However, the bus managed to leave at 9:30 and we arrived at the town just after 11am. It was a hot and sticky day, so ice-creams were bought and some tempers were high as the group had to weave their way through narrow streets filled with other tourists and shopkeepers trying to get our attention. There were many tourist-type shops, as well as many different types of foods, some making our eyes water as we had to cover our noses as we walked
past. Afterwards, we visited the Cheng Huang Miao temple and purchased a wishing ribbon to wish the Year 12’s academic success and hung it on the tree inside the temple with the thousand other ribbons that had been put up before us.
We had lunch at the water town, and were lucky enough to taste the village’s traditional food whilst being all be able to sit at the same table, which was a pleasant surprise to most day’s lunch and dinner seating arrangements. There were a lot of pork meals, including pork belly wrapped in
bamboo leaves, which disappeared quickly. After lunch, it was time to hop back onto the bus for another hour and a half to head back into downtown Shanghai to continue with our day.
Back in Shanghai, we visited a street much like a market version of Rundle Mall, with a few “20 yuan” stores, the Chinese version of a dollar store. Lots of little souvenirs were purchased, and our haggling skills definitely showed improvement, as Lauren and I managed to go from getting one shirt for 100 yuan to getting 2 for only 70, which
we were incredibly proud of. After this, our amazing tour guide Roxanne tried to introduce us to Shanghai dumplings, however 30 minutes later we were sitting inside of McDonald’s ordering from the screens we were far too familiar with, feeling incredibly happy with ourselves whilst downing our surprisingly good burgers and chips. Afterwards, it was time to go on the cruise, until Lauren realised she had left her phone in McDonald’s and had to make a desperate dash back to the restaurant to retrieve it. A little while later than planned, we made it to the pier where
after a long queue, we were able to get on the cruise. It was a beautiful sight along the top deck, with the large buildings including the Oriental Pearl Tower on full display. Many photos were taken as the view was soaked in, giving us a good idea on just how large and modern Shanghai truly is. The buildings along the waterside were impressive and bigger than anything we had ever seen in Adelaide, providing a big contrast to the country town we had spent many hours at today, showing how diverse the country can be. After getting off the cruise, many photos were taken,
including some with Japanese students who weren’t as happy to be taking a photo with us as we thought they would be, and of course, many selfies were taken on BeautyCam, until it was finally time to get on the bus after an incredibly long day. We arrived at the hotel just before 10pm, a lot later than last night, not overly excited for our early wake up call for the next and last day on our tour. Much to Huang Lao Shi’s dismay and the students’ delight, no Nutbush was done today.
Alannah Begbie
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