Shanghai, China

They had to sail our huge ship about 10 miles up a narrow, crowded river to get to our dock in downtown Shanghai. We took a tour of the city and got a ride on the maglev train. This is a train that floats on a magnetic field and goes about 250 miles per hour. There are only about six of these in the world.

Shanghai is packed with high rise office buildings and even more high rise condos. The river is packed with boat traffic. Most of these are cargo boats that are also the family home of the owners.

Next, we have two days at sea then Hong Kong, Bejing and the Great Wall.

Kobe/Osaka, Japan

Here we are in Kobe. We had a bus tour around Kobe then we took the train to Osaka for a look-around. Kobe and Osaka are really one big city. There are lots of people, cars, and bicycles. Bikes are parked by the thousands with only minimal locking. There are some nice parks, shrines, and temples mixed in among the masses of tall buildings. There is a big bowling center with a sign that says " You can do it".

After our day ashore there was a program of local musicians in the theater on the ship