Following the bells performance, we re-boarded Jack's Bus, where we were provided with our (thankfully) last box lunch, to be enjoyed on the way to the airport. I had high hopes for this lunch, as it was provided by the ship's kitchen, but my hopes were dashed when I saw the white bread sandwich. If memory serves me, it was a club sandwich, so I removed most of the bread and managed to eat about half of it. A granola bar and a candy bar rounded out this meal.
Our experience at the airport in Wuhan was equally as orchestrated as the others had been, and we boarded the plane without incident. This time, however, David had an aisle seat and I was in the middle seat; with the window seat empty. I knew that wouldn't last, and sure enough, a very large (not fat, just tall and big) man, wearing huge headphones and carrying a laptop, danced down the aisle and stopped at our row. When we got up to let him in, I gave David "the look", and he smiled and took the middle seat, allowing me the aisle seat. Those who know me have seen "the look", and know what a sweetheart David is.
I've neglected to report that on each of these very short flights, the flight attendants have provided beverage service of sorts. Usually it's juice or water, but on this flight they serve hot tea. On two of the three flights they have also served food. The last flight it was a hot tuna salad sandwich on what looked like a hamburger bun. That was the flight that followed the completely inedible box lunch, and I truly did try to eat the tuna, but couldn't get it past my nose. The food on this flight was some sort of sandwich, but I declined.
A couple of photos of Wuhan follow, showing again the horrible pollution that we encountered in every city we visited.
Upon arrival in Shanghai we were immediately struck with the fact that the pollution was not nearly as bad there, and that the city itself was much prettier than the others we had visited. I finally understood why David had wanted to share China with me. As we were en-route to the Westin Hotel, Jack's cell phone rang, and after a lengthy conversation in Chinese, he announced to us that there was an economic conference taking place in Shanghai, and that some of the dignitaries were staying at our hotel. In fact, it was rumored that the Vladimir Putin was in Shanghai, and that President of Pakistan was staying at our hotel. We had seen a Russian plane at the airport, surrounded by guards, so the Putin rumor may have been true. In any event, this would mean added security throughout the city and at the hotel. Each time we entered the hotel, we passed through airport-style security, with our bags being x-rayed, ourselves passing through metal detectors, and being wanded every time.
The Westin is definitely the nicest hotel we've stayed in on our trip, and after settling into our huge suite, we headed down to the restaurant for our first dinner. This is buffet style, with one entire section devoted to the type of Chinese food that David had expected us to find at the local restaurants: whole fish, chickens and ducks with their heads and feet still attached, and all manner of unusual sea creatures. He sampled a little of that, and I tasted some as well, but I'm ashamed to say that I had lost my adventurous spirit by that time, so I mostly ate things I could recognize.
After dinner our group walked a few short blocks to view the Bund at night. This area is just gorgeous, with all the skyscrapers lit up beautifully at night. Sadly, I don't have any photos of the Bund at night, as we didn't bring the camera with us. David thought he had many from his earlier trip, but I can't find them now. Our friends did take some, and once they send them to me, I'll post them here.
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