Slumming it in Shanghai

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Unfortunately we only had one day to enjoy this enchanting megalopolis. After arriving in the city by bus we found ourselves wandering the dim back alleys of Shanghai. You wouldn't think it would be hard to find our hotel (pictured), but when everything is in chinese charachters and the locals only speak chinese, and you're not even sure you've got the right hotel things can get pretty messy. But we did it and we had a damn good time doing it. After checking in to our lavish room. We decided we hadn't spent enough time wandering the streets and headed out again, this time down the old Nanjing Donglu main pedestrian thoroughfare. The next day armed with our camera we again headed into the city and did what tourists tend to do.. marvelled at the old folks doing tai chi, ate breakfast at McDonalds, took happy snaps of Chairman Mao, bought some cheap clothes, and stood back in general awe as this huge city lived around us. It wasn't until later when Liza's handbag and camera were stolen, that we realized the harsh reality of the so called communist's paradise. Our enthusiam a little dampened, and our shoulders a little lighter, we refused to submit and bought a disposable camera (after some hard barganing) as we needed some proof of our visit!

12 noon came all too soon and it was time to take a taxi to the MagLev station. We somehow left ourselves just 50 RMB (9 bucks) to take a 45 minute taxi. The conciege assured us it would be OK. As we wove out of the city and into the highrise suburbs - our taxi driver unaware of our limited funds - we joked and prayed about going over the 50 RMB limit. The meter clicked on, 24 became 33, and sweat beads started forming. Finally, we saw the sign to the MagLev station, and our taxi driver pulled over at 38 RMB. Micah got out our cash, and low and behold we'd had 40 RMB the whole time! Phew that one was a close shave. Micah could have been left sweeping floors in Xi Hu Pu's (pronounced shee-hoo-poo's) apartment. Lucky for us we could buy the Maglev tickets with Mastercard....So what the hell we bought First Class VIP tickets. The Mag Lev is a magnetic train that reaches speeds of 430 km/h, and we were told it would be a 30 min trip. Ahhh 30 mins of luxury. We boarded. 8 minutes later we were at the airport.

It was with mixed emotions that we bid farewell to the whore of the orient. Ah Shanghai, Shanghai, you made us laugh, you made us cry.

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Photos

Shanghai Centre
Standing on the Bund, looking over the Huang Pu river, at Pu Dong.