Sunday 3rd July 2011

After breakfast in the special lounge on 21st floor, we set off to explore Shanghai. The hotel concierge recommended a route and we left the hotel in oppressive and increasing heat. We walked the short distance along the river to the ferry landing and paid RMB 2 each to cross over to the west side of the river. From here we walked along the Bund or promenade taking in the sights. I was accosted several times to have my photo taken with Chinese tourists!! I suppose I will end up in some peoples' albums who will wonder who the hell I am.

After a stroll for about half an hour we struck inland through a park, a shopping street and a small shopping mall. Henrik tried to buy a camera. The young lady started off at RMB 1,800 and was soon down to 1,200 and 'name your price'. One is never sure exactly what a Sony camera is in China so we moved on with no sale. The heat became very difficult and we were bot getting drenched in sweat so we decided to take a cab to the French Quarter. There we found a nice restaurant, which was air-conditioned and had brunch and dallied a while whilst our body temperatures reached somewhere neat normal.

We decide on leaving that the temperature was doing little but getgting worse so we decided to repair back to the hotel for a swim or a nap. When we got there. we met Giancarlo and Paolo and talked for a while over tea in the Horizon Lounge on 21st Floor. We were awaiting the arrival of Jon from Fearnleys who was flying in from Oslo. When he arrived we discussed strategy for the coming week for a while and then had dinner at the buffet on the 2nd floor which was, as last night an excellent mix of sushi, sashimi, Chinese, Indonesian and other dishes. Our discussions continued regarding the objectives and tactics to be employed  during the week and Jon's expert knowledge and experience of Chinese yards was extremely valuable in putting things into perspective.

Henrik and I made a quick run to the mall across the street from the hotel to buy a small suitcase for him to travel with during the week. The first Mall was full of designer stores, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Tiffanys, Louis Vuitton and the rest. Moving to the next Mall we found lower priced goods and Henrik bought a nice Swiss Army case for a reasonable price, discounted from the labed by 40%!! The job of finding our way back to the hotel was not so easy and it took us some time to navigate the roads and find the hotel again. By the time we got back, we were pretty hot again.

A quick nightcap and we were off to bed as we have to leave at 6 a.m. in the morning to catch our flight to Zhoushan where we will visit YangFan shipyard.

Some photos:

East Shanghai from the Bund

Our hotel from the Bund

The Bund, a broad walkway alongside the Yangtse

One of those strange and wonderful Chinese signs

The entrance to a shopping street