Shanghai by night.

We arrived back in Shanghai to do some heavy touristing.  By now, Charlie was adjusted, so we were able to get out more.  

 Shanghai is spectacular to see at night, mostly because everything east of the river has been built in the past 20 years.  And no expense was spared.  The bright red tower is the Oriental Pearl TV tower and was the tallest structure in China at its construction.  The blue tower far away is the Shanghai World Financial Center- 2nd tallest building in the world at the time of its construction, now #5.  And you can see an unlit building on the right too- that's the Shanghai Tower, which will be the second tallest building in the world when complete.  I sure do love records.

And the new part of Shanghai isn't just that one spot, it goes on for a while.

 On our side of the river is the Bund- or the old part of Shaghai that was developed when Shanghai was the first city in China open for international trade in the mid-1800s.

It was unusually cold and windy so we headed to the ONLY place to shop in Shanghai- Nanjing Road- to buy Andy a hat.  

More awesome Year of the Horse displays, and some good places to get a drink and to indulge the Americans in some ice cream at Hagen Daz.

The next night we headed out again for something even more touristy.  We visited Yuyuan Gardens, which I later learned does actually contain a garden, but is now more widely known for the surrounding Tourist Markets.  That's actually what they are called.  And they were a goldmine for souvenirs to take home.

And during New Year's week, it's the best place to go to see light displays and people watch.

More horses.

Huge horses!

Enormous displays!

Tons of people!

We ducked into one restaurant so I could try something all of the travel shows suggested- soup dumplings.  It's a huge dumpling filled with molten pork fat that you drink with a straw.  That will keep you warm on a cold night!

Don't worry- there was also a McDonald's for the not so adventurous.  

(We did duck into the McD's for a fancy coffee drink at their dedicated coffee bar.)