Shanghai

Shanghai is as modern of a city as you can get. In addition it’s gigantic. I can’t remember all of the facts and figures but I believe Shanghai is much larger than Manhattan. Getting around Shanghai by taxi or public transportation was initially pretty difficult. If you don’t have a map that has both romanized letters and Chinese characters you’re in for a struggle.  I was only in Shanghai for 3 days but I’m definitely going back.

Pudong during the day taken from the Bund. The city is almost overwhelming.

Pudong at night. There was talk of this “new” technology where you could have moving images on the sides of buildings. I guess its not so new anymore.

Nanjing Shopping District.  I was in China for the May Holiday.  The streets were so crowded that I became a believer that there are really are 1.3 billion Chinese.

This has to be the largest scale model on earth. Its about twice as big as seen in this picture and is on the top floor of the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum. At they museum they say they are big on recycling and “green” development. I guess we will all see the results of a nation 4 times the population of the United States polluting in the next 50 years. I hope they don’t follow the U.S. standards.

This is a cool tree. I think all the leaves are painted gold and the branches remain their natural color… Only in China!

Xintiandi is a re-imagining of Shanghai’s old streetscape as a luxury consumer experience. The city’s hippest commercial district is also its most hyped, and most copied, urban development.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6600367

Mama Mia! My worst nightmare came true. Like a cancer, Mama Mia has spread from Mandalay Bay to China…

One thought that sticks in my mind is that the noodle soup was spectacular.