That evening we had a Welcome Dinner organised by our hosts. There was a great deal to eat with course upon course arriving at the table. We were also entertained by various performers of music, dancing and singing.
The guest at out table was Mr. Shan Jan. He is the head of the district that is our 'Host Town'.
In the pictures you can see the Chinese orchestra and the Chinese dancers who entertained us.
THURSDAY
We spent the whole of today with our Host Town. In the morning we joined them to play many traditional Chinese games. As a gift they gave us some of the games to bring back which we thought would provide lots of fun entertainment at the Macintosh weekend.
After this we broke into two groups to go and have lunch with one of our Host families. Lunch turned out to be a 10 course banquet - however, in the spirit of friendship many of the group managed to polish of huge amounts of the food offered - most completing the exercise with chopsticks, much to the surprise of our hosts.
In the afternoon we visited an exhibition of Shanghai, past, present and future. This was very interesting and in particular was the complete model of the city projected into 2020. We also went on a Virtual Reality trip through Shanghai in 2020. This was like an Imax but 360 degrees so you could look behind to see where you had just been.
After this we joined a large number of volunteers where in a 1:1 situation everyone was given a sheet of paper and some crayons and encouraged to draw a view of the city from the steps of the main Art Gallery. This was actually more interesting than it sounds and very enjoyable. Afterwards we were told we could keep the drawing board and the crayons. On our return to the hotel we were all presented with a toy panda. The pile of gifts grows!
In the evening we visited the Bund. This is a pedestrian walk alongside the river. From here you can see the lights of the city. A truly spectacular view.
Eventually, after a very busy day we returned to the hotel and bed.