Shanghai a Modern City

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I left Beijing via night train to Shanghai. The thirteen hour trip was to be done on a hard sleeper train. The train car consisted of a long open hallway with rooms with no doors. Each room consisted of six bunkbeds with three on each side of the room. For foreigners this is a cheap and comfortable way to travel but for Chinese this is an expensive way to travel by sleeper car. Slipping into bed with a chinese man two feet away it was an unusual experience but was much more comfortable then sitting up in a seat. Arriving in the Shanghai station we were greeted with the sight of a massive and modern city.

After having made our way to our hotel we ventured out onto Nanjing Road which is a modern road full of fancy shops and shopping malls. Walking around the city you are amazed by the size of the city and by the impressive and interesting skyscrappers rising far into the sky. The most distinctive building is the Shanghai TV Tower which is unique in many ways. Heading out at night we headed to the Captains Hostel which has a bar overlooking the bund or waterfront and the Shanghai skyline at night.

The next day I headed to the wonderful Shanghai museum which contains ancient statues, coins, stamps, and scrool paintings from China. Heading over to the old quater we looked around shopping and eating different street food. I ended to night with an acrobatic show which contained many traditional forms of acrobatics and new ones and was a fun way to wrap up the last night in Shanghai. The next day we leave by train to Xi'an.

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