Finally in Shanghai. After a long flight where Harald Swart’s movie the Karate Kid was showed and where one of the radio channels available was dedicated to Oktoberfest music we arrived Pudong Airport. China is massive, and Shanghai is a good example portraying this. Due to the world exhibition and being a major actor on the stage of international business Shanghai is a city of contrasts, a mixture of everything, where high business towers are raging just meters from local sweetshops and windy, worn-down houses. This could tell us of  the last decades of city development as well some of the city’s social problems. With that said, touristwise, the contrast makes this city into such an interesting place. Knowing that most of the buildings visible in the skyline are built within a timespan of 20-30 years, ever since Maos successor Deng Xiaoping declared that communism could be mixed with capitalistic economy. Today these enourmous towers are showing the influence and the power of companies such as HSBC, Aurora and others, and after dark these buildings on the Pudong side of the river Huangpu are showing a massive light show for the viewers. We also visited a viewing platform on the Bund side of the river, and from there you have a good view over to Pudong.

So to some of the experiences from yesterday and this morning:

To get from the airport to our hotel we took the Maglev – I think it means something like magnetic levitation – train which on good days can reach almost 500 kilometer per hour. To reach this speeds the train is placed upon a magnetic railway who literary makes the train fly between the stations. Just one of many new and high-tec technologies which are to be found in China.

The language barrier could pose a problem in China since the language skills are rather limited. Outside the hotel we experienced difficulties asking questions, and even if some says they speak English, it could be hard to understand the meaning because of strong intonation.

There are also customary differences from back home. Last night after we came home and watched a movie, all of a sudden, a Chinese woman stood in our room. She just wanted to give us a newspaper. In Chinese.

The first day in Shanghai was funny and interesting, despite little sleep on our way over. Today we have been having a great breakfast at the hotel, and now we are ready to have a closer look at the city of Shanghai.

By accident I forgot the cable to tansfer photos from my camera to my computer. I will try to find one here in Shanghai. Luckily I found a good photo on flickr. This photo is taken by Sprengben.