Shanghai

Shanghai is a beautiful, vibrant, modern city! Actually, I saw it mostly from a bus, as I cannot walk great distances. I need to check on my left hip, once I am back in Zürich. In any case, it is a huge complex with exciting architecture, and no two buildings alike. In the nightime, the lights make the buildings even more exciting. I took dozens of pictures of the various buildings.
I took the shuttle bus into the center in the morning, and ended up buying myself a Chinese Jacket (in bright red! ) although I had not intended to buy anything. While I was in the Silk Building, I saw a demonstration of how slik quilts are made, starting with the ball of silk threads that surround the silk worm, itself. They are opened so the worm is removed, and the ball of fiber is quickly rinsed in clear waqter, then stretched over a small form, and when there are three or four such layers, they are removed, rinsed, and stretched over a larger form. Then they are next stretche d over a large bed size table with 4 or 5 ladies each pulling at it, and finally they are piled together, and fit into a colorful cover, and Voilà! a beautiful silk quilt.
The sunset was a huge ball of orange in the sky.
Then, in the evening, I attended an acrobatic show which was fantastic! Some of the acts were absolutely spectacular! Unfortunately, it was forbidden to take pictures during the performance, and anyway I don't know how to use my camera for night scenes.
Tomorrow, we enter Japanese territorial waters, and no internet electronic equipment (including cell phones) will be able to function until we leave on the 19th. This cruise is really racing to a conclusion. There is also a complicated formality for every guest in order to clear Japanese immigration rules, including temperature, finger prints, etc., and apparently it is madatory for everyone on the cruise, even if they don't intend to go ashore!