Thank you, Anthony Bourdain!

This morning, I tried to ship my 55lb road case back to the states. Turns out, that's not going to happen. I'd have to divide my package into two smaller boxes, and the cost would be over $1000. This is a disappointment, but we'll be hauling my road case through China for the rest of our trip. Bleh.

However, the rest of the day was great. Benny, Daryn, and I went on an adventure to a DVD store, where we bought some movies for cheap and some music for cheap. Sarah: I got a nice two-disc set of Mika music, including some acoustic versions. I'm waiting to listen to it with you!

After that, the four of us went downtown to the Urban Planning Museum. The whole museum is dedicated to the brilliance of the Shanghainese when it comes to city planning, and the highlight was the third floor - a scale replica of what Shanghai is expected to look like in 2020. Wow!



After that, we took a quick stroll through People's Park before lunch:



Then, thanks to Anthony Bourdain and 'No Reservations,' we made our way to Wujiang Lu, a side street known for its amazing street food. It was there what we found Yang's Fried Dumplings (specifically recommended by Tony):


...where we ate some incredible fried soup dumplings (see last night's post for a description of soup dumplings):


Also, we ate whole and cut-up grilled baby octopus. Yes, whole. Yes, with the head. Yes, it was delicious!

After lunch, we walked down Nanxiang Dong Lu (East Nanxing Road), which is a pedestrian-mostly shopping district. This is the Rodeo Drive of Shanghai, with high-end shops and such:


After our afternoon on Nanxiang Lu, we came back to the hotel for a little siesta before we go to see a show tonight. After the show, we're all going to meet some other people at a bar for a great last night in Shanghai!

Tomorrow, we have one more day in Shanghai before taking an overnight train to Beijing.