Andy was back to his pre-breakfast treadmill 10k runs and had hit the hotel gym early.

After recuperating with the help of a healthy breakfast, we departed out into a wet Tuesday morning and a visit to Shanghai Museum. We had tried to book a reservation the night before, but without success and hoped that by getting there early this would get us through the door.

The museum is located in People’s Square and is one of the most prestigious museums in China, holding amongst other things an extensive collection of Egyptian artefacts. Unfortunately we weren’t the only people with a similar idea about arriving early, and despite the inclement weather we discovered that the museum was booked up for today.

We then implemented Plan B and caught a cab to Jade Buddha temple, a couple of miles away. It proved to be peaceful oasis in the city, with its famous white jade Buddha statues.

The temple was founded in 1882 with two Jade Buddha statues imported to Shanghai from Myanmar. These were a sitting Buddha, 2m tall and weighing in at 3 tons and a smaller reclining Buddha representing the Buddha’s death. The temple now also contains a much larger reclining Buddha made of marble, donated from Singapore.

The first temple we visited was The Chamber of Foir Heavenly Kings which contained the statues of Maitreya and Shanda and the Four Heavenly Kings, who represent favorable circumstance.

Due to the wet weather, the temple was relatively quiet and we were able to stroll around from one temple building to the next without queuing.

The rain even stopped for a while and there was a glimmer of sunshine for a brief period before the light rain returned and we had to put our rain macs on again.

The colours throughout the temple were so vivid and brought about a feeling of calm and contemplation.

A large golden statue of Guanyin stands at the northern entrance to the Great Hall, with Sudhana at Guanyin’s side and sculptures representing the 53 teachers of his life above.

The Statue of Cintamanicakrain above sits in the Hall of Great Compassion of the Temple.

We moved on to the Great Hall, which contains many of the key statues. The Three Golden Buddhas comprises the central sculpture of the Buddha, the left Amitabha, and to the right Bhaisajyaguru.

Next to them were the Twenty Devas statues, covered in gold and lining the eastern and western sides of the Grand Hall.

18 unique golden arhats stand in two groups of nine.

Red lanterns adorned the exterior and interior of the temple grounds.

Sadly it was only as we were about to leave that we discovered that the Jade Buddha Chamber was in the northern section of the temple, on the second floor and required a separate fee to ascend to it, but there was no one to help!

After an enjoyable couple of hours touring around the temple grounds we decided to head down to Wusong (Suzhou) River and walk to its end where it meets Huangpujiang River at the Garden Bridge of Shanghai.

Our walk took us from the Jinggongyuan district and meandered for 6k along a beautiful and peaceful part of Shanghai. We witnessed examples of the ever changing landscape of the city, with some old but mostly new building being constructed.

The path along the river was well kept and we walked past a great deal of greenery interspersed with statues and street sculptures that created an atmospheric environment.

One of the few older buildings we saw was an old French colonial block that had been carefully restored into a cool bar and restaurant. Next door to this was one of our favourite named bars, Beer Lady. As it was still pre midday, we decided not to stop and instead had a coffee break.

A much needed coffee and sandwich within a renovated building with a bias towards clothes fashion studios.

As we walked we passed one bridge after the next, some dating back to the late 19th century when the city was a major trading town and had a Victorian influence in its architecture.

After returning to The Bund, we decided to cross the river over to Pudong. We picked up one of the local ferries and paid the meagre 2 yen to cross. The best and cheapest way to find your way to Dongchang Lu DuKou ferry station.

Once over on the North Bund we took the walking paths to Pudong Art Gallery.

Sadly like the Shanghai Museum we found out that to gain entry to the gallery you needed to have a pre paid ticket. With the rain getting heavier we made a move to the Super Brand Mall and the IfC Mall opposite. Each have incredible designed stores with unique designs and features that set them apart from retail stores in the UK.

On returning to the Bund, with the weather no better, we made the decision to go back to our hotel to dry off and grab a drink and relax.

Early evening we headed out for dinner and a drink at one of the small bars in Huangpu District. The buildings here are older, mostly colonial and have some great independent restaurants. We went back to a place we’d been recommended called Dahuchun, where we filled up on fried meat buns, Wontons and stuffed Spring Rolls.

Tomorrow we return to walking tour duties and a visit to the French Concession district.