Sandy & Bruce Go Out For Chinese

last night we rode to the top of the new shanghai world financial center, and to the park hyatt which sits at the top of this 1614 foot tower, for cocktails and the most amazing views of shanghai. it was a clear night and i think we got some great shots considering our cameras capabilities. the building is the tallest in asia and third tallest in the world. the building you see out the window in most of our photos is no slouch either. even though we are looking down on it, the jin mao tower is 1380 feet tall.

in shanghai we have been relieved of the obligation of visiting major historic sights. there is no great wall or forbidden city here. instead we have done a lot of walking and seeing. we have visited arty areas or a shopping location and walked in between to see whatever there is to see...and there has been a lot. shanghai is a very interesting city of contradictions. in 1988 the tallest building in shanghai was the park hotel built in 1934. looking at the park i am guessing it to be 20 something stories tall. last night we had drinks on the 92nd floor of the shanghai world financial center, the tallest building in asia and third tallest building in the world. old and new, as new buildings go up right next door is a rundown residential building in an art deco style from shanghai's 1930's heyday. east and west, as this has always been a port city with an international flavor and influence. take a look.

at breakfast in the hong kong executive lounge on our first morning in town (what seems like months ago now) we struck up a conversation with another american couple, amy & neal schaecter...a friendship was born. for many years neal has traveled extensively throughout asia for his business, but this was amy's first trip. while amy returned home from hong kong, neal continued his trip around china and this photo was taken here in shanghai where our paths crossed again. neal, i just wish you had warned us more loudly about shenzhen.

our trip from beijing to shanghai went well. a 6am taxi ride with no traffic to terminal one of the beijing airport, smooth check-in and trip through security, rib sticking breakfast of beef yun-tan...beef stuffed pastry and noodles in a beef broth, surprising, with a fried egg on the side. our flight on hainan airlines was great. a very nice touch when the flight attendants stand throughout the cabin and bow to the passengers before take-off and before landing. wondering if we will see this on a northwest flight anytime soon. we also have noticed the average age of all the flight attendants we have seen on our asian airlines has got be under 30. we landed at the older, but close in shanghai airport, hongqiao. it was a 20 minute ride to our hotel past the never ending seas of high rise apartments in this city of more than 19,000,000 souls. the jw marriott is in a 60 story building with the hotel lobby on the 38th floor. we are on the top guest room floor, 59, in a corner room with a surreal view of downtown shanghai. again i feel we are receiving a payback for all the nights that i/we stayed in marriott last year. our room has at least a 12 foot ceiling, that is a first for us, and the executive lounge is already babying us. after catching up on the blog, unpacking, and napping a bit we hit the streets just after dark. we walked the old shopping street of nanjing to the the famous bund on the huangpu river. from a roof top cafe we took some great shots of the river traffic and of the pudong area of shanghai on the far bank. check out the video of the people we passed dancing in the streets on our stroll down nanjing street. anybody want to buy a rolex or dvd's? we can hook you up.

the jw marriott beijing was a great place to stay. the hotel is about a year old so very modern and bright. it is staffed by some wonderful, attentive people. we were very comfortable and were right at home...8000 miles from home.