The main task of our day is to sort our bus/train to Yangshuo which highlights the most frustrating thing about traveling through China by trying to make each other understand what the other is trying to say. It's neither of our faults and they're not rude but it can be hard. I do regret now not having another language to fall back on, obviously French or German would get me as far as English doe in China but it's something I'd like to put right in the future. This leads me onto trying to our ticket sorted to Guangzhou which through the language barrier we are told it will take 9 hours on a train much to our surprise but then eventually reaches 21 hours which gives me a standing count as far as shock. We pay as it's our only option and then change the plans for the rest of the day as we want to do as little as possible before this stupid trip. We go to the Xintiandi area of Shanghai which had been recommended by one of the waiters the night before and it's very different from the capitalist/westernised viewpoint of the other areas of the city more like I'd imagine old Shanghai would have been like but without the colonial buildings. We have the best dumplings of the trip in this part and again I'm worried about the fetish I'm developing for these and the likeness of my belly to them. The contrast leaving this part is striking literally one street takes you away from here and into the vacuum of the western city that it's almost a postmodern copy. The rest of the night passes without much incident apart from the ubiquitous eating as we count the hours down until we get to the train station.
1 vote 
