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Published: March 25th 2010
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Wow, cant believe its a week already!
The trip to Shanghai started slower then anticipated as the train was delayed by 50 mins but on the plus side the staff were as helpful as they could be. I had no idea where to go when I entered Xi’an station so waved my ticket in front of the ladies face and she took me upstairs and pointed me into a waiting lounge. When it was time to go another lady came to get me and pointed me to the platform.
I am travelling “Soft” (first class), this consists of a TV at the end my bed with no reception (if it did have then I wouldn’t understand it anyway) and the bed incidentally is also the seat, this is hard (but actually great for my back). One of the guards exchanged my ticket for a card with a picture of a train on it, I have no idea what it is, for all I know it could be an invitation to have a dinner with the firing squad although I suspect it’s more likely a meal token, I found the restaurant but it was full of guards from the train
and I wasn’t sure whether it was there own private carriage so I left as I am lost in translation!
I left the train at 13:00 and faced the same panic of “Sh*t where am I” (language withheld as my mummy reads this!) I was going to take a taxi to the hostel, there were plenty of them but a big fence separated us. Reluctant to hand my bags over the fence and climb, I took the tube and found the hostel easily. After a much needed shower I hit Shanghai. One word, WOW, this is without a doubt the best city I have visited.... EVER! If I could get a job here tomorrow I would stay. It has Mark written all over it in the shiny fluorescent letters. This place is what I needed, huge skyscrapers, swanky bars and people who know how to dress the hell up, it puts London into a small boring "wannabe" dark corner and Derby compared to this place well... I wouldn’t want to offend the city of Shanghai by even mentioning it. I think I’ve gathered on this leg that It's the bright lights and glitter that I get my energy from
as I just came alive when I got into the place. The history of Beijing and Xi'an was great but they gave me the impression that China was very rigid and short of life but Shanghai is kicking it's hind legs and has shown me the opposite.
I headed straight for the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. The tower has fifteen observatory levels. The highest (known as the Space Module) is at 350 m (1148 ft). The Tower in total is 1535ft and the views from the observation deck are immense. There are 3 different viewing platforms but the most interesting was the one with the see-through floor which made my legs go a bit jellyish. I love skyscrapers and the whole architecture thing so I was in my element in what I can only describe as China's answer to New York. Afterwards I made my way to the 88 storey Jinmao Tower, this is home to the highest hotel in the world and afforded a great view back to the whole of the TV tower that I had been in earlier.
The building that caught my eye the most and wasn’t even aware of until I got here
Look down from the Oriental Pearl
This Chinese guy held onto my ankles why I leant over the edge to take this shot!! drawfed the former 2, this was the Shanghai World Financial Centre, the best way to describe this is as a 1614ft bottle opener. So nearly 150ft taller then the Petronas Towers (which are more stunning by design) I knew I wanted a closer shot, it was only on getting close that I realised that it too had an observation deck. I bought a ticket and went to the top. The experience was surreal. There was strange space music playing in the enterance rooms, the staff wore white space age tunics and suits and the lift was all white with blue radiating circles on the ceilings and walls. I got to the top and you can really feel the building sway in the wind, the view was stunning. Unfortunately my camera died so I'll have to upload the better pictures from my iPhone later. Afterwards I went downstairs to a swanky restaurant and had what I now think is the best burger I've ever had (I also had Sweet potato fries and they were gorgeous). Shanghai is expensive in the main although the hostel is still selling cheap beers. In fact I’m on my 3rd beer now, paid for all of
them and I've spent £3.00.... Rock on! (it was 47p for a pint of Carlsberg in Beijing).
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mum
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Hi Brilliant photos again, Shanghai sounds exciting, your obviously very impressed with it. its good your seeing so many different sights. Continue to enjoy yourself Love Mum and Dad xxx