Last day in China: Shanghai

Today is already the last day in Shanghai and also our stay in China. How quickly it went by! Today we stroll through Shanghai. We take it easy, as we didn't sleep well at night: the Australians above us were a little loud and the food from Lost Heaven didn't digest too well either.

First, a hearty breakfast with a coffee (!): finally good coffee again. Although I like tea, after almost 3 weeks without coffee, I missed the taste (okay, and the slightly invigorating effect) a bit.

First, one last attempt to replace my discarded jeans: actually, they have my size for once! And the jeans fit too! Complete success. Then it's high time for a pedicure (for me) and a massage for the tense Stef.

Deeply relaxed, we now visit the Jiang'an Temple, a Buddhist temple complex in the heart of Shanghai. Although the gigantic shopping malls are almost normal now, we are still quite perplexed that there are shops incorporated into the exterior facade of the temple. Well, somehow the golden roofs of the Jiang'an Temple have to be maintained! The temple complex is impressive, but you don't exactly enter a meditative state of mind, thanks to the towering skyscrapers above the temple and the street noise (which is considerably quieter inside the temple).

An unsuccessful attempt to have dumplings for lunch (apparently some kitchens close until dinner at 3 p.m.) leads us to discover one of the best burgers we have ever had (at Beef & Liberty, the name of the restaurant puzzles me a bit).

Now we go to the Tianzifang neighborhood, where apparently the neighborhood life in the city can be well observed. Well, again many souvenir shops and food stalls, much more interesting is just outside these labyrinthine shops: there we really see the residents of the neighborhood, who are preparing dinner, hanging up laundry, going shopping. A nice insight and a good conclusion for our stay in Shanghai.

By the way, as a concept, shopping malls are rather foreign to us, but when you're looking for something specific, it's pretty convenient. Especially when you have delicious restaurants on site. But the realization that I don't find shopping malls as terrible as I used to almost scares me. It's high time to escape the Chinese consumer frenzy.

Tomorrow we're going to Korea!