We fly in from Xi'an. What a contrast! From the ancient capital of China to her new economic powerhouse! As we drive in to the city (population: 13.5 million) everywhere we turn there are new skyscrapers with more going up all the time. 

First stop: SHOPPING! We are dropped off on Nanjing road in the midst of department stores, shops, boutiques and a surging mass of fellow shoppers. " Be back here in an hour."

Now that we have that out of our system, we can take a tour of the historical section of downtown Shanghai. We start with Huxinting teahouse and the Yu garden.

Everywhere you go in china, the gates are guarded by a pair of lions. The one to the right of the door (your left) is the female (she usually has a tiny cub under her paw), and the one to the left (your right) is the male (with a ball under his paw).

The Yu garden is a fully restored classical garden in the 16th century style. A Ming dynasty official built it for his father, but it took so long to get it just right that his father never saw it.

We visit the workshop of Wan Hongchen, an artist in paper clipping. He does exquisitely detailed images freehand with scissors and heavy paper.

We are taken by this stand of bamboo, so it follows us home.

He signs and dates the horses we buy for our daughter.

The Bund is the strip along the Huangpo river where the colonial powers built their European style headquarter buildings in the first decades of the twentieth center. Now it has a raised promenade that Shanghai loves to stroll along.

Across the river is the new Pudong district which has been built up in the past three years. The centerpiece is the Pearl of the Orient TV tower, the tallest one in Asia. downstream are the shipyards.

This was once the observatory and semaphore, sort of a control tower for the port. Now the first floor houses the Bund Museum and the second floor is a nice café with an outdoor terrace. The guide tried to tell us that it was a light house.

We finally get to our hotel, the Shanghai Hilton. It is located in the old French concession and the streets we see in the area remind me a little of Paris

After dinner we head back out to an acrobatics performance by the Shanghai Circus

I made a movie of the catapult act (500 KB download).

The finale is a motorcycle act. Big deal: lots of smoke and noise. But by the time they had four motorcycles crisscrossing inside the sphere, it is tense and exciting! See the movie (1170 KB download) and hear the audience reaction!

This was scheduled as a free day in Shanghai. Most of our group wanted to explore the many shopping opportunities that the city offers. We had already done all of our shopping, so we contacted a tour company and hired a car, driver, and guide for a day trip to the garden city of Suzhou

In the evening we rejoin the group for a Bund-by-Night boat ride.

Peter Danford has an interactive panorama of the Bund at Night

We have the morning at leisure so we decide to walk over to the Shanghai Public Library.

Traffic was a heavy mixture of cars, bicycles and pedestrians, but through a lull I managed to snap this picture of somebody's laundry hung out between a utility pole ad a sign post.

For more pictures of everyday life in Shanghai, click here.

On the way we pass the American Consulate, so I decide to snap a picture of the Stars and Stripes.

Now examine the bottom edge of this picture. There are two soldiers from the People's Liberation Army guarding our consulate. The one on the right came running across the street talking very loudly to me. He pointed to the camera, so I showed him this picture using the screen on the back. He examined it closely and went back to his post. Thank goodness for digital cameras!!

The Shanghai Public Library is a large new building much like a university library built in 1996. One of 10 largest in the world, it has 13 million books and manuscripts. This is the old card catalog. The neighboring room has many computers for the online catalog. The software is Ameritech's Horizon. It is fun roaming around the library. The fourth floor has the Friendship Library (many nations) and the San Francisco Friendship Library. We have to check our bags at the door in this section because we don't have a library card, but are otherwise free to roam around.

We take the Hilton Hotel shuttle out to the airport accompanied by two liveried bellboys to load and unload our luggage. Off to Guilin!

Morning cruise on the Li River, then fly back to Shanghai

One last look at Shanghai. The next time we see it, it will have changed again: More skyscrapers, more international businesses, more of the biggest of everything.

Have Breakfast, load our Luggage in a cab and off to the new Pudong airport

And speaking of biggest, the Pudong airport departure building is a mile long open area. One more architectural feat for Shanghai.

We know the adventure has finally come to an end as the American crew welcomes us aboard our flight home.

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