Day 53: Qibao water town

All it does is rain here. It literally hasn't stopped for the past two days. It's also gotten pretty cold. Any colour I had from the first half of the trip is fading fast. Today I had planned to go up Jin Mao tower for views of the city but there was little point as visibility was so poor any higher than the 15th floor which was a bit disappointing. I jumped back on the metro and headed to Qibao, which is a small water town West of the city. Luckily there was a brief break in the weather when I got there. The town is full of lots of little alleyways with food stalls and gift shops. None of the signs are in English, and nobody speaks English, so you have no idea what you're eating. I didn't see any other tourists there either so seems primarily a local spot. I played it safe and went for chicken legs on skewers. At least I think they were chicken legs 🤔

The weather was still shit and there was nothing left on my list to visit, and I wasn't that desperate that I'd visit an art museum. I found a bar to read my book for a bit and had a glass of wine. I then went to kebab on the grille and had a very late lunch/early dinner, since the chicken leg didn't really touch the sides. It's apparently the best Indian in shanghai. I had the set lunch which cost about £6. For that I got aloo starter, chicken curry and naan. It was really tasty and very filling, so I won't need to have dinner tonight. I've been struggling to find good restaurants in the evening so this way I can bypass it altogether and save a bit of money too, as unless you just eat street food then it's fairly expensive. 

Tonight I went to Bar Rouge, as I had planned last night. Although it was no longer raining, it was still a bit hazy, but it was still a pretty view. I went around 7 so it wasn't busy yet, but quite a few groups of people who clearly come here for after work drinks. All a bit too pretentious for me and £9 for a glass of wine 😮

After one drink there I took the metro to French concession area where it's far less high end. I went to a bar called The Boxing Cat Brewery for a craft beer. I'd planned to go to a couple other bars on that street but when I got up to walk out I was almost crying with pain. My left knee has been clicking for a while, but it hasn't been painful. Today that changed and it's getting progressively worse. I'm hoping it's better in the morning as I might struggle to find a doctor. 

Tomorrow I fly to Beijing and I'm looking forward to it. I'm prepared for it being completely different to Shanghai. I think it's going to feel a lot more like China! Looks a more compact city so should be able to walk around more easily. That's if I can walk at all with this knee.