A Weekend in Shanghai

A few weekends ago, a group of us went to Shanghai. It was a wonderful weekend away because it was a welcomed change of scenery. The highlights from the weekend were:

• Riding the train for the first time--much quicker than a coach bus and all around more convenient.
• Staying in a new youth hostel.
• Great Italian, Chinese, and Mexican coupled with some spirits and yummy desserts (we certainly got our fill of nice food).
• Stocking up on the latest English editions of Newsweek and buying new books.
• Meeting new friends and experiencing their gracious hospitality.
• Taking a tour of the Huangpu river at night.
• Observing Shanghai from the Jinmao Tower--the fourth tallest tower in the world!
• Enjoying the small things in life (a soft bed for two nights, finding gummi bears, attending an International Fellowship, riding the subway).

Here are the highlights in photos:


The Ferrari store--they sold only Ferrari merchandise, no cars.



It wasn't Krispy Kreme, but it was a darn good old fashioned doughnut (my favorite!)



The bowtie making itself known to the fastest growing car market in the world (Beijing sells 1000 new cars a day and I'm sure the number is similar in Shanghai).



A traditional market in the Old Town.



A not-so-traditional store trying to blend in.



The sides of the buildings are used as ads, that's why they are all colorful.



The Shanghai skyline lit up at night.



The intricate wood on the boat.



The way the light reflected on the water was just gorgeous.



Another similar picture, I know, but I can't help myself, it's just so cool (and it took me forever to get it to turn out right, I had to rest the camera on the railing to get it still enough).



I do love Shanghai, it's a totally different feel than Wuxi and I like switching it up a bit every once in a while.



Megan and me goofing around at the Mexican restaurant (she's flashing the new version of the peace sign that we picked up from watching Chinese music videos on the bus).



Looking down from the Jinmao Tower (the other tower with the two balls is the Oriental Pearl tower which makes the skyline of Shanghai very distinct).



A tree with lots of wishes for good luck attached to it.



Needless to say, the air quality on this particular day wasn't the best.



The construction of another very tall building close to the Jinmao.



Only 10550 km to Los Angeles!



Even though it was a bit muggy, the view was still pretty cool.



The Jinmao sports the world's tallest restaurant, post office, and hotel. This picture is taken looking down into the atrium of the hotel (the hotel itself starts at like the 40th floor).



It is pretty trippy to look down and it sure makes an awesome picture.



The tower is so tall that it couldn't even fit in a picture taken from the ground looking up.

It's always nice to get away for the weekend and I'm so lucky that it's possible to do a quick trip into the big city.

Come to visit China--both Wuxi and Shanghai ;)

rpm