While it was possible to get off the ship shortly after 7am, we elected to sleep in a bit and got up around 8. After breakfast, we gathered up our things and because we are 4 Star Mariners, we were able to head for the gangway immediately. At the time we left, they were called WHITE 8 and had issued up to WHITE 16. It was going to be a long wait for some people.
The Chinese immigration process generally went pretty slow. In the terminal they had 10 or so lanes with 10-15 people per lane. Every passport was being checked as well as visas. We did see people turned around because of a lack of visas and a number of passengers were subjected to additional scrutiny. There was a 4-5 Star and Pinnacle Suites line so we used that. One had to present your passport and a photocopy of the passport. If you cleared immigration, they stamped your passport copy and you surrendered your passport to HAL personnel (which we did!). The whole process took around 45 minutes for us.
We headed out of the terminal and caught the shuttle to the Bund stop. While there is a Tourist Information office there, it was closed and there were no other paper maps. I had previously downloaded the Shanghai Subway App to my phone so I had the subway map on my phone.
I should add here that at this time Google and Facebook are blocked in China. However, I use a VPN called Express VPN, and it appears to be working so far. Last year I used another VPN and it became disabled after a few days of use. Using the VPN and our GlocalMe portable internet device has been wonderful in allowing us to maintain our internet connectivity on our schedule and not have to seek out WIFI.
We then walked 4-5 blocks to the East Nanjing Road Station, bought subway tickets to the Longyang station (about $0..65 each or 8 Chinese Yuan). We took the subway to the Longyang station and then walked upstairs and bought round trip tickets on the Maglev train which runs to the airport.
The Maglev train is a ultra high speed Magnetic Levitation train that travels up to 240mph or 400kmh. Those ultra fast speeds are done during two time periods each day. The rides we were on only hit sustained speeds of 180 mph. At those speeds, there is a a bit of side to side motion, but there is no sensation of being on a wheeled vehicle until the train slows down below about 60mph. While the train is labeled as a "demonstration" train, it's been in service for 16 years and is a popular and fast way to get to/from the airport. I recommend doing it and taking a picture of the posted sustained speed on the speedometer reading in each car.
At the airport, we enjoyed some local Chinese food at a restaurant that seemed to be a favorite of the airport workers. My noodle dish was excellent and Angela's pork dish was excellent as well. At the airport we were able to finally find a paper copy of a Shanghai street map which we found to be quite helpful.
After a quick ride on the Maglev back to Longyang, we bought tickets to the Museum of Science and Industry station. We toured the Museum for most of the afternoon and it's a museum clearly airmed at youth. It's a huge museum with lots of interesting exhibits. I think I liked the robot exhibit the best (one robot could solve a random Rubik cube in 43 seconds). Second on my list would be the natural history section with the dioramas. In the rain forest area, I nearly fell on a slick stone but was able to recover.
After the visit to the museum we shopped at a nearby underground shopping mall which appeared to be selling largely 'knock-off' goods. From there we took the subway back to the East Nanjing Road station and got lost coming out of the station and ended up walking a bit farther back to the ship. However, along the way we go to see some neat tool and industrial supply stores.
Our evening entertainment was a HAL excursion to see Chinese Acrobats. It was really really good and only marred by the insensitive HAL passengers who ignored the request to not photograph the performance. On board the ship, every night before a Main Stage show, Bruce, our Cruise Director, will say something like, "If you have a camera, phone or any other device with a light or lighted screen, please power them down and put them away as they are not permitted during show time." Lighted screens are really a distraction.
Back at the ship, they opened the buffet at 10pm instead of 10:30pm because of the shore excursion, so I ate a late dinner and then chatted with Bill & Jeannette, fellow passengers, before retiring to our stateroom to update my blog.
Tomorrow we are supposed to be touring with Yuni, but she didn't contact us today. We'll see how that works out. Stay tuned.
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