CHANGE OF PLANS!!

Alright… sooo only a couple hours ago, out of complete spontaneity I changed my plans for China!!! The group of us going are Helen, Laura, Gabe and I!  We arrive in Shanghai tomorrow morning around 8am, but probably won’t be able to get off the ship for at least a couple hours, unfortunately, because we have to go through customs and what not.  Laura and I are going to find an internet café then I have a SAS trip from 2-7pm, Zujiajiao Water Village.  My mom and sister went on the same trip when they were in Shanghai last summer, so they recommended it!  We’ll stay on the ship that night and all day on the 17^th we’re gonna check out all the shopping… Nanjing Street, the Bund, Pearl Plaza, etc.  Can’t wait for that! We’ll stay on the ship again that night and then we gotta figure out where the airport is on the 18^th because we booked a flight to Guilin (look up on a map).  It’s about a 2 hour flight and was only $100!!! Such a deal… our flight leaves Shanghai at 12:55pm and should be arriving in Guilin at 3pm.  Once we’re there I think we’re gonna check out some cool caves then stay the night in a hostel. On the 19^th we’re gonna take a river boat over to Yangshuo which is probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in a book haha! It’s known for its limestone peaks and breathtaking scenery… pretty much a backpacker’s paradise.  It has a western vibe to it and lots of foreign travelers are drawn to it.  A lot of Chinese landscape paintings are based on views of Yangshuo, it’s gorgeous!!! Hope it looks as good in person as it does in a book lol.  But anyways, we’re planning on staying in a hostel the 19^th and 20^th there and one day there we’ll probably rent bikes and explore and another day maybe do some hiking, or climbing.  It’s gonna be SUCH a breath of fresh air, especially after the craziness of traveling all over Japan.  It won’t be nearly as expensive as Japan either.  The morning of the 21^th we’ll head back to Guilin where we’ll catch a train to Shenzhen which we can then travel through the subway system to Hong Kong!!! Don’t have any solid plans in Hong Kong the entire day of the 22nd yet, but on the 23^rd, the final day we’re in port, I’m going on another SAS trip to Lantau Island to see a Buddhist monastery. There will be lots of free wifi in pretty much all the places I’m going, so I’m most likely going to travel with my laptop and be able to post pictures again!  Might even try to upload all my photos so far to a site, like Snap Fish, so I can put up a link on my blog and Facebook! We’ll see :)