20251021 Viking Gems of China and Japan Day 17 – Shanghai, China

Viking Gems of China and Japan Day 17 – Saying Hi to Shanghai and then Bye to China

We docked overnight and awoke this morning in the middle of Shanghai, China.

The Oriental Pearl Tower, a TV tower, is a prominent landmark

The view from our balcony was pretty impressive.

Shanghai has between 25 million and 30 million residents, including the city itself and the surrounding area. This makes it the third largest city by population, following behind Tokyo, Japan, and Delhi, India. Shanghai sits midway down China's east coast, on the East China Sea.

After breakfast, we walked around the open deck, taking in the skyline.

The building toward the left is the Shanghai World Financial Center, informally known as the Bottle Opener, and the 12th-tallest building in the world - the twisty building toward the right is the Shanghai Tower, the third-tallest building in the world

We got off the ship for a bit of a wander before our afternoon highlights tour

There is a really interesting mix of architecture here

We passed several beautifully maintained gardens

The local shopping mall - there wasn't much there

We returned to the ship so we could grab a bite before our 1:15 Shanghai Highlights tour. The tour took us to a single stop where we walked through the Yu Garden and spent time at the Yuyuan Market.

We walked through the market on the way to Yu Garden

I always find the mixes of architecture fascinating

The entrance to Yu Garden

The garden was absolutely packed with people, even though this looks tranquil

Dragons carry a pearl in their mouth - if they lose it, they lose their power and strength

The garden was a mix of buildings, ponds, and plantings - mostly trees

Two dragons, playing with a pearl between them

Our guide, Cassandra (Fang Jing), is showing us a Moon Gate - shaped like the full moon

We left the garden and had free time to explore the Yuyuan Market - it was a sea of people

We were approached at least four times to buy luxury watch and purse knockoffs. They were on every corner. The sheer number of people in the market was staggering. Arlona noted that Americans cannot appreciate what a big city is if they never leave the United States. You can't understand a big city until you visit Asia.

Food was available everywhere

After about an hour of wandering, we boarded the bus for the short ride back to the pier.

We headed straight up to the Pool Grill before it closed to get dinner before our evening activity. After we got food, we found out that the World Cafe opened early at 5:00 and was serving Surf and Turf tonight. Doh! Oh well, there will be another day.

We got ready and headed out for our 6:15 departure for the acrobatic show. The sun was mostly set, and the lights of the city had yet to fully turn on.

The bus ride took about 45 minutes in the Shanghai rush hour traffic. We arrived at the venue just after 7:00 for the 7:30 performance.

It was essentially a theater-in-the-round, with seating about 270° around the stage, with only the back reserved for props and such. The stadium seating was steep enough to ensure there wasn't a bad seat in the house. Each bus, and Viking sent many, had its own section of seats, so it was easy to keep groups together.

Below is a video with snippets of each of the individual performances. Warning - it's about 15 minutes long. That's due, in large part, to the roughly five minutes I recorded of the amazing motocycle death sphere toward the end of the video. They had no less than eight motorcycles, all zooming around inside the mesh sphere simultaneously. It was amazing. The silk artists, ring tumblers, aerial acrobats, trapeze performers, and more were all incredible performers.

We arrived back on the ship around 9:20 and popped upstairs to grab some photos of the now, fully-illuminated city. Viking was very nice and kept the World Cafe open until 10:00 for those returning from late excursions who might not have had a chance to get dinner. That was a nice Viking touch.

The colors were constantly changing

Many of the buildings had animations running on the sides in lights

After that, we grabbed drinks at the Explorers Bar and took them to the room so I could put this blog together. Our cabin steward left the curtains open so we had a nice view of the city lights. Promptly at 10:00, the decorative lighting all turned off. So, the light show in Shanghai must only last until 10:00.

We are scheduled to sail around 2:00 this morning and will be at sea all day tomorrow. We're scheduled to arrive at Jeju Island, South Korea, the following day. This is farewell to China. We've been here for 16 days now, and despite the weather, it's been a great visit. We're looking forward to Jeju Island and continuing through Japan and Mongolia for the next two weeks before this journey is done.