Shanghai

The intrepid travelers arrived in Shanghai after our 24 hours of travel from Minneapolis.  Those who were new to travel by air are now seasoned to long international flights!  Our stay in Shanghai lasted about 24 hours, as this was just a transit city on our journey.  Because we were on our own and not met by any hosts, we navigated getting to the hotel and around the city on our own.  We owe a huge thanks to one of the students, who has studied Chinese for several years.  He acted as a very competent "on the spot" translator to us in a couple of slightly challenging situations, since there were no personnel at the hotel who spoke English.  A half day of seeing some sights of this very vibrant city  (like Manhattan with an Asian flair) ended with an exciting ride aboard a bullet train, topping 180 miles an hour, to our next destination.