Hot Pot for Xmas Eve!

Merry Christmas to all! As the result of our viewers opinion expressed on our quiz we will celebrate Xmas like the locals here in Shanghai. Christmas is entirely celebrated in big cities in China, with Shanghai being top on the celebating list. In our opinion, some locals celebrate and some locals do not so a mix of celebration and normal activity was on the agenda for the day.

Here is how we spent Xmas eve:
- Ate a delightful breakfast with green tea at our Grand Mercure hotel.- Strolled people's park & the pedesteran walking street, Naijing Rd E, with another green tea in hand as it was FREEZING out.
- Fancy hot pot for lunch at the Dolar Shop.- Work out at the hotel fitness centre.
- Tapa Dinner at the Executive Lounge (fusion of Chinese/American food)
- Drinks in the lobby bar.

We throughly enjoyed our day in Shanghai with the Hot Pot experience being the most memorable. It took us nearly 40 minutes to figure out how hot pot worked, what we wanted to order, and to communicate it to the non-English speaking staff. There were fustrating moments at the beginning requiring us to seriously considering leaving the restaurant and ordering McDonalds but we stuck it out and had a terrific time. For those of you not famillar with hot pot it involves cooking food at your table in hot soup stock (meats, seafood, noodles, vegetables). We likened it to European Fondue so be prepared to spend serious time in the restaurant. Our lunch lasted 2 hours. More to follow on our activities of Christmas Day!