Leaving for Xi'an

---

I'm kind of looking forward to getting out of Shanghai today. After four days of polluted air, humidity, traffic snarl, and some serious overcrowding, I'm ready for a change scenery. I basically get back to the hotel around 8pm and pass out until the next morning. Don't get me wrong Shanghai can be as vibrant and exciting as any big city in the world, but it definitely takes time to get used to and can really drain your energy if you're not careful. Looking forward seeing what Xi'an has to offer.

That being said i've posted some pics from the last few days. This includes visting the world's tallest observartory located in the Word Finance Center, you feel like you're on the Starship Enterprise as the elevator, decorated in futuristic bright lights takes you 500 meters straight up in a mere effortless few seconds. You don't even get the ear pop. From there you a get a fantastic bird's eye view of the city but as you look down you also notice the floor is made of all glass and you can see the tiny people and cars directly below you.

We also took a day trip to the ancient canal town of Zhouzhuang. We took a bumpy hour and a half mini-van ride south of town. It could be a quite charming ancient Chinese town with canal boats that remind you of Venice. However, Like most tourist attractions, it's overrun by the hordes of Chinese tour buses. To cater to these folks, the locals set-up a bunch of souvenir stands and restaurants throughout the town that unfortunately takes away some of the charm to the place. But it's understandable, since tourism is the town's lifeblood.

We take this trip with a couple of Chinese friends named xiao ni and xiao li (Little Ni and Li). They work in the hotel gift shop and our family became friendly with them these last few days. Like many young Chinese from the countryside, they came to the big city looking for work and a better opportunity. It was really nice to see them both so excited to be able to visit somewhere they had never been before and the happiness in their voices and eyes gave me a real warm feeling. I hope there are better days ahead for them the the current 14 hour, $300/month life they have now. I feel like they will make it because their energy and drive seem so high.

---

Photos

Me and my new Buddy
Me and "Hai Bao". The World Expo mascot.

Nanjing Road
A major shopping road in downtown Shanghai

People's Square
A shot from a part of People's Square in Shanghai.