Shanghai

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Shanghai

Parting ways with Zander; the 3 of us took a slightly less enjoyable train journey (hard class - lights out at 10pm, music + lights on 8am) to Shanghai. Within 5 minuts of us arriving in our bed area (there are no doors to the 'cabins') and taking our shoes off, the Chinese family within had all fled and been replaced by the guard with a new set of unlucky passengers (I believe money changed hands somewhere). We crossed the Yangtze and arrived in Shanghai - a mix mash of British and French colonial style buildings and massive new skyscrapers (and a pointy thing that looks like an accident between a chritsmas tree and a magic wand).

The geographer in me took me to the redevelopment museum where there is the largest model ever (ever!) of nearly the entirety of Shanghai and every building within thats to be built before 2020. The historian in me took me to the Bund (the riverfront) where you can still see all the colonial style architecture. And the physics geek in me took me on an hour bus ride to the airport, to be taken back again in 8 minutes by the 431kmh MagLev train. Mwa!

We spent an enjoyable St.Patricks day in a swanky hotel bar above an art gallery, where special drinks promotions involving wearing the colour green allowed our wallets a peek inside. Shame the beer was also green. We went to the top of the tallest building in China (4th in the world). We ended up paying to use the lift, since they wouldnt allow us to take the stairs for free (or any money at all). Shame. Spent the afternoon in a Gallery where the art interacts with you - things like LED screens that copy your movement, and my favourite - a doughnut shaped cinema which you ride around inside on a chair, while stirring music is played and images are flashed into view until you hit a red stop button.

Due to the pricy-ness of the bars we developed a new drinking game that served us well throughout China. The rules are simple - with one hand on your beer and one by the cards - you take turns to flip from the deck as fast as possible. Jack = 1 sip. King = 2 sips. Joker = many sips. Its great. Go play it. Its caller Joe Liquor Fiend. We decorated the joker accordingly.

See Ross' photos here: Shanghai

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