We arrived in Shanghai yesterday after returning from mount Taishan (by cable cart and bus), to reunite with Arjen, Bin and Maarten, and to visit Bin’s father.

We both feel a lot better, no more diarrhoea, on the contrary, there hasn’t been anything for over three days now. I fear the worst for Shanghai’s sewage system once this sea cucumber drops, since in some places it already has a hard time flushing down some toilet paper…

We haven’t had a lot of time yet to look around here in Shanghai. We arrived late yesterday and went to see the famous skyline of Shanghai. Today Bin’s father took us to Hongzhou, at a 3 hour drive from Shanghai it is supposed to be one of the most famous touristic places in China (for the Chinese). When we got there however it was raining hard and everything looked gray. We took a boat ride over the lake but quickly returned to a very high class restaurant where Bin’s father treated us to the entire menu.

On the way back Bin had to slap her father regularly and put Tiger Balm on his forehead to keep him from falling asleep! After a while he started hitting his own head with a Coke bottle and soon afterwards pulled over in the middle of the highway exit (right on these white stripes in front of the exit sign) to get some fresh air and have a sigarette. We did make it back to the hotel however after which I wrote the first story of today about Adrienne’s hospital visit.

In the evening Bin’s father took us all out to a 12 course dinner. Still full from the lunch we dug in. We refrained from drinking alcohol and toasted with orange juice instead. I can tell you Ganbei’ing (remember this is finishing the glass in one go) a glass of orange juice isn’t all that much fun either. Arjen’s father got a huge vase as a present to take home with him to Holland tomorrow (he won’t be joining us for the rest of our trip). I wonder how he will get it home in one piece.

PS I would like to thank the people who left a comment. It is really nice to hear from you guys!