Wednesday - leaving Shanghai

Wednesday was our last day in Shanghai. After breakfast, we took the subway to one of the local IKEA's, mostly to see what they sold different from American or European versions. K made a few nice finds.

We returned to the hotel to depart with the group at noon, and immediately the day got discombobulated. We were supposed to fly out in the evening to Yichang, where our cruise on the Yangtze River began. But fog canceled the flight which meant, among other things, that our afternoon activities were canceled or severely curtailed.

We got about 20 minutes into our tour of Yuyuan Gardens before the final flight arrangements were determined, so we were hustled away. The silk market was not what we expected - though there was lots of exquisitely made artwork. We didn't buy any of the "deeply discounted" merchandise either.

A final authentic Shanghai meal was replaced by Subway (yes, that Subway) at the airport, as we had to fly out mid-afternoon to Wuhan. Since you're all intimately familiar with Chinese geography, I don't need to remind you that Wuhan is a 4+ hour drive away from Yichang. That meant a lengthy late-night bus ride on a rainy, foggy evening. We finally boarded the ship around midnight, and got to bed a little before one.