Blogs from Shanghai, China, Asia - page 265

I've been in Shanghai for nearly 24 hours and I was correct in assuming that it would be a good place to start my second trip to China. Generally, getting around is easy and I haven't had to much problem find inexpensive and filling food. I arrived yesterday afternoon (March 1st) about 3 in the afternoon, got myself through customs, found someone to ask directions for the Maglev train and caught it to Shanghai. Now, this Maglev is pretty cool...we were travelling at 430 kph at it's fastest and it got me near Shanghai in just a few minutes. It was expensive by China standards, but it was worth the price. I then transfered to the metro carrying my huge backpack and then, carefully following the directions, I made my way to the Hiker Youth Hostel. ... read more

Oh dear, it's been a while since I last updated, and quite a lot has happened in the last week or two. Sorry it's just pictures for now. I put them in chronological order so they'll give you some idea of what's been going on. Ach! I absolutely must update this. I can't get away with this, ok?... read more

Not much to say really. Kind of depressing not being able to speak that much Chinese. Anyway, here are some pics. If it didn't take so damn long to upload these photos, I'd put more up.... read more

It's about time I start writing, now that I have just about survived my first week in Shanghai! Almost every day I've been here, I've had a few weird and certainly memorable experiences, and from now on I'll try to get them all down so I won't forget them. As this is our orientation week, yesterday we had a workshop in the morning on Culture Shock as Americans immersing ourselves in China, and I already feel like this is one of the hardest, but will ultimately be one of the most rewarding places on the Earth for an American to go and plan to stay for a long time. We talked about our expectations of China before we got here, and whether or not they have been true. One thing we all agreed on is that ... read more

Today is our last day in Asia! Tonight we fly to Auckland, New Zealand and begin our Australasian leg. Shanghai has been our last Asian destination. Not a tremendous amount we wanted to see or do here, more of a convenient flight path out (sorry Shanghai!). Shanghai is a real contrast to Beijing. Seems to have modelled itself on Hong Kong zealously, albeit with far fewer international brands to flog. Buildings along one side of the Bund are 1930's art deco, whilst across the river there are skycrapers and uber modern constructions that wouldn't look out of place in Speilberg's AI. Haven't felt a real affinity with this place, though it is a few degrees warmer compared to Beijing which is welcome. Have finally shed the long johns and woolly hat, even painted my toenails this ... read more