After breakfast we loaded the bus for the Yu Garden. We went shopping near the Yu Garden and then Justin, Katie and I decided to eat lunch at the McDonald's nearby. While at McDonald's Katie's purse was stolen, which contained her passport, additional ID's, money and cell phone. Our Chinese tour guide contacted the police and Katie spent over five hours at the police station and the American Consulate to get paper work done for a new passport. Everyone in the group was worried about her not being able to go home with us tomorrow.
Our group also spent some time shopping at Nanjing Road. Apparently this is the busiest shopping area in the world. Many street vendors were flashing brochures of name brand purses, watches, shoes and sunglasses and trying to convince us to follow them to their shops which are located in alleys away from the main street. I actually did visit a few of these shops with 20 or so others from my group. I would not have felt safe going into the alleys with fewer than that many people. I didn't buy anything there, but others from the group were bargaining with the shop owners in English for a better deal. These items were sold in back alley shops since it is illegal to sell stolen, copied or pirated items in Shanghai. The shops were almost like something you would see in a movie. We entered one shop that seemed really small but there were shelves of shoes that moved like a trap door into a bigger area of the shop.
After our shopping excursion we had one last Chinese dinner and then went to an acrobat show. Tomorrow we go to the airport in the afternoon and get ready for a very long trip home.
Caitlin
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