This day was less walking than we had done the whole trip. We took the Bullet Train from Beijing to Shanghai. Before we left the US, we got a message from the travel agency asking if we would like to upgrade to First Class for $55 each. We took the upgrade for the extra legroom. I will say that we did not wander into the regular seats, but the teachers who did not choose the upgrade said the seats where quite small and very little leg room. The First Class car was very comfortable and had a restroom readily available. People came by offering snacks, meals, drinks, and even toy trains to purchase during the trip. We did get a complimentary snack and a drink. The snack had three kinds of cookies that were very good. These were some of my favorite snacks on the trip!
The train ride was pretty uneventful. It was quiet and comfortable and a nice rest for my weary legs and feet. The train stations were well organized and the security checks were smooth and fast. However, when we reached the train station in Shanghai, we seemed to have several delays. First, one of our travelers accidentally dropped her phone in the tiny gap between the train and the platform! We had to get security to help get it out (they used a long stick with a suction cup on the end to fish it out). Then one of the group had wandered away and it took awhile for us to track her down. Finally, we were able to load our bus and head to the Bund Riverside Hotel.
The hotel was very nice. The check-in was a bit confusing as the tour guide (we had a different guide for Shanghai) took all of the passports and the desk clerks were going to process them after they gave us our room keys. (Apparently, all hotels must keep copies or scans of guests passports). This caused a problem for some of our teachers since they planned on leaving the hotel. (You should always have your passport with you when traveling in China.) This caused a little confusion and the check-in was not a smooth as in Beijing, but they had to deal with our whole group at one time. We actually got our room assignments and keys very quickly. They just asked for us to give them a bit of time before we collected our passports.
That evening, we were pretty tired so we just chose to eat in the restaurant in the hotel. There were actually two restaurants. One was on the top floor and was out of our budget. The other was a little less extravagant and offered a nice menu. There were some issues in the translations of our orders. The waiter did not speak much English and there were a few things that did not come out as expected, but no major problems (for example, I got a Coke instead of a Diet Coke). I do want to mention, diet sodas in general are pretty rare in China. Often the “diet” option, is the Coke Zero if there is a “diet” option. If you MUST have diet drinks, you may want to plan an alternative.
This was one of the days that we walked the least…only 1.83 miles. We did stand around quite a bit at the train station, and in my personal opinion, I have more problems standing still waiting than I do if I can actually walk.
Introduction to VIPKid Field Trip (November 2019)
Day One – Beijing – The Great Wall and the Golden Mask Dynasty
Day Two – Beijing (Summer Palace, VIPKid Headquarters, The Legend of Kung Fu)
Day Three – Beijing (Temple of Heaven, Tea Ceremony, Pearl Market, Peking Duck)
Day Four – Beijing (Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Hutong, Olympic Park)
Day Five – Bullet Train from Beijing to Shanghai
Day Six – Shanghai (Disneyland and VIPKid Meetup)
Day Seven – Shanghai (Bund, Yu Garden Shopping, Zhujiajiao River City)
