Hong Kong by Night

It’s the second of our two sea days as we approach Shanghai. So far, we seem to be noticing the appearance of Chinese patrol boats - disconcerting to draw your curtains and see two just beyond the ship. In fairness, these tend to be viewed in silhouette, so they just might be fishing boats, but I’m convinced they’re grey and therefore unlikely to be innocent bystanders. 

We have a talk from our wonderful captain (a blip may be devoted to him before this journey’s out) telling us about the approach to Shanghai and the navigational challenges that face a ship negotiating a route through the busiest port in the world. We see the charts and the indication of huge numbers of cargo ships waiting their turn to dock. There are huge container vessels but also hundreds of smaller barges to contend with. Added to this are the tides of the Yangtze River estuary, and then the Huangpu river on which Shanghai is actually situated. The depth of the river means we need to sail in at high tide, but there’s also the problem of sailing under the Yangpu bridge. All this means that the process of getting into Shanghai will begin at 2.00 am tomorrow morning for us to dock at 10.00. We certainly don’t envy the task - but we’re so pleased we’re able to dock in the very centre of the city - a privilege only offered to the smaller cruise ships. 

 No exciting photos today - so it’s Hong Kong at night!