Firstly, yes that panda is scratching its butt, we have all been there don’t judge and it’s one of my favorite photos from this trip.  So I’ll be leaving China in less than 24 hours, it has been a trip of ups and downs.  I ate so much spicy food, saw so many pandas, and so many people spitting.  It is my 3rd trip here and seriously, the spitting still gets to me.

Fun fact, my current hotel is clearly for prostitution as there is a big glass window to see into the bathroom.  Also the naughty flyers under my door were a giveaway.

It’s the GreenTree Alliance Hotel near Songjiang University for those curious.

I’m going to do a dedicated writeup on the pandas I saw here, the Chinese Opera, and the giant Buddha, but here’s a taste.

The food here seems seriously upgraded from my last trips but that is likely because I was in the Sichuan area which is famous for food.

Fun fact, I only had one near bathroom emergency which is a record for me out here, so I’m proud of that.  Spicy food can be a landmine people, remember that.

Shanghai also has one of the best skylines I’ve seen, I can easily give it that.

Though I don’t really like the downtown area, it feels like any other US city and almost devoid of Chinese culture.  A lot of the signs aren’t even in Mandarin which is weird.  It reminds me of Dubai which isn’t a great thing.  I mean even the giant Starbucks has bouncers which is one of the weirdest things I’ve seen…but they also sold beer so I calmed down(really expensive beer though).

I’ll get more photos from the trip up soon here, on Instagram and Facebook too once I get to some better internet so keep checking back.  I also think I managed to kick my Panda wine addiction, it was a tough 48 hours.