Our final area to explore will be the city of Shanghai and the surrounding region.

From Guilin, we fly to the east coast and the city of Shanghai. It’s a 794 mi / 1278 km journey and the flight should take between 2 and 3 hours.

We should not feel lonely in Shanghai. With a population of over 24 million people, we should have plenty of company wherever we go. I believe it is the second most populous city in the world, trailing only Dehli, India.

We will be staying four nights at the venerable Fairmont Peace Hotel. It is located in the area known as the Bund, which stretches along the shore of the Huangpu River and lies across from the modern Shanghai skyline. The area is renowned for its art deco styling and tree lined streets.

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The city is considered very upscale and international in nature. Lots of financial institutions make their home there and we’re told that every luxury brand is represented in the shopping district. You can also find food choices from all over the world! We’re definitely looking forward to the mix of old and new and Chinese and International throughout the city.

The surrounding region will also provide a chance for some day trips. Two areas in particular are Suzhou and Tongli. Suzhou is known for its beautiful gardens and silk production, while Tongli is referred by many as the Venice of China. Both look like beautiful places to visit. Once we have a chance to look at train schedules, we can decide how adventurous we will be.

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Shanghai is our last stop, so after what we hope is an amazing experience, we will be flying back to Toronto and then shuffling back to Buffalo.

So that’s a look at our itinerary. Hopefully this little peek will give you an idea of what we’re looking forward to and whet your appetite to also visit or at least follow along with our blog updates. What do you think of the itinerary?

All that’s left is to cross your fingers and hope for sunshine to accompany us on our journey.

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So here we are in mid-March and a pandemic has been declared. While the virus seems to have peaked in China, it is now spreading like crazy worldwide. Italy, South Korea, Iran and the US seem to be the hardest hit areas, with others close behind. But that may just be because so many others haven’t tested their people yet – like the US.

We’re still hopeful, but definitely not stupidly so. There is so much to consider. First and foremost on our minds is if the Chinese even issue a Visa when the US is in the middle of an outbreak. Why would they want to re-introduce the illness from abroad?

Then there is the issue of being quarantined. Will we have to be quarantined when we arrive and what about when we get home? Since we’ll be leaving from Canada, we may have an issue there as well as when we return to the US.

Watching the illness map change daily, I think that our “Plan B” has been changed to staying home. With the whole world a little crazy right now, we might be better off waiting and just enjoying a so-called “stay-cation” and then venture out next year. (Did I really just say that?)

Cross your fingers, say a prayer and most of all — Stay Healthy!!