Shanghai

After 8 full days of traveling, our last stop on the Charming Holidays Tour was in Shanghai. I was really burnt out from traveling each day and having jam packed itineraries. Taking pictures caring a SLR on "vacation" was getting burdensome but nevertheless when the occassion rose, I was ready.

Jacky, our main tour guide, literally spent his entire time with us traveling. He made sure we were on schedule. were fed, had rest, and even helped my mother and i send postcards back to the U.S.

Love this photo of my brother - the composition altogether seems just right.

This lady literally walked in, dropped to her knees, and bowed to Buddha.

Monk sighting!

Incense.

A pedastal where birds could eat and chatter about other birds. I waited for a long time to capture some of these winged creatures, but they never came. =(

A few nice guys from our tour group posing for the camera. Lol

This little boy called James "big brother" - it was so cute. He would ask my brother to draw Spongebob and Angry birds while we were on the bus.

We got to visit the Original Chinatown after visiting the Buddha temple. Here, we got a chance to roam freely about for awhile before dinner.

THESE DUMPLINGS ARE THE BEST!!!!! So juicy, warm, and filled with tons of flavor. It's worth the wait, not bad in price, and the perfect thing to eat in Shanghai.

The dumplings here are so popular that there was an incredibly long line to order. This photo only shoes the first half of the line.

They make it right then and there.

Love this photo of my mom.

We got extremely lucky to have dinner on a boat! It took us on a beautiful scenic trip down some asian river lol where we got to see Shanghai at its best - nighttime.

Just to show you how cold, wet, and snowy our day was.

This trip was so much fun and it was really cool to meet new people - especially people my age. We had lots to talk about. They were extremely cool, funny, and liked to drink. Naturally, our last night together was at the hotel bar. Photo courtesy of Vanna Liu.

We all split off the next day - some of us returning home and some continuing their journeys elsewhere. For my family, we were Vietnam-bound!