Friday/ Shanghai上海 in my sights

My trip to Shanghai is on!    I still have jet lag, but I spent the money buying air fare and a hotel room, and there in no backing out.

Shanghai is split in two by the Huangpu River (黄浦江 Huángpǔ Jiāng).  On the west bank is Puxi (浦西 Pǔxī), the older city center, while the newer sky-rise development on the east side is called Pudong (浦东 Pǔdōng).  Does the skyline of the Pudong district not look like a colony on Mars? That’s the Pearl Tower, the one with the spheres and I want to go check it out up close.

My other mission for the weekend is to travel on the magnetic levitation (MagLev) train.   During testing in 2003 it achieved a Chinese record speed of 501 km/h (311 mph).   In everyday use on the short track from the international airport it still reaches speeds of 450 km/h (280 mph).    I arrive from Shenzhen at the domestic airport tonight, so I will not use the train tonight.

I will visit the World Expo on another weekend.   It’s right there in the city as well.

One Reply to “Friday/ Shanghai上海 in my sights”

  1. Enjoy yourself, Willem. I walked around the Pearl Tower area last spring, and rode the MagLev train to the airport. Fantastic!

    Am really enjoying your blogs. Keep up the good work!

    Dale C

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