Fun in Shanghai!

Posing with decorations outside of a mall

     After moving to Shanghai, I was excited to see all the attractions it had to offer! Although I was just in Shanghai for the Mid-Autumn festival, there were still so many places I hadn't seen! In addition to visiting some of the many big malls in Shanghai, my friend Melissa and I visited the largest Starbucks in the World!

Everything inside the largest
Starbucks in the world was
ridiculously expensive ($20 USD
for a coffee drink, no thank you), but the
interior was simply stunning!

We also went to IKEA to get a few pieces of furniture for my new apartment (sadly, I did not take any pictures in the IKEA, and would definitely recommend it as a great place to explore, especially when homesick).

Part of the interior to the Shanghai Natural History Museum

         However, my favorite attraction that we visited was the Shanghai Natural History Museum. Located within the stunning Jing'an Sculpture park, the Shanghai Natural History Museum is home to many fantastical, and sometimes curious exhibits. For example, in the museum, there were many exhibits showing off live animals (there were even opportunities to touch horseshoe crabs!) and the architecture was simply magnificent, as can be seen in the picture below. With that being said, perhaps my favorite part of the museum might be considered a little bit of a strange choice: the poorly taxidermied animals.

What ah hysterically ugly looking lion

     Maybe it was due to the sheer number of taxidermied animals (there were multiple exhibits dedicated to showing them off), but I couldn't help but laugh at the numerous bulging eyes and bloated faces staring at me.

Why is this walrus so smooth? Don't walruses have wrinkles?

   
     With this being said, maybe the Shanghai Natural History Museum isn't for everybody. However, if you find yourself in Shanghai looking for an off-beat adventure, I would surely recommend Shanghai Natural History Museum.
     This concludes my blogpost for this week! Stay tuned to hear about the first few days of my internship, and as always, thank you for reading, and feel free to post any questions or comments you might have!