Tonglu Fuchunjiang Hotel

... game that used about 3 decks for 4 people. It was a terrific afternoon. We all got dressed up to go out tonight. We first walked around the Bund, which is a large boardwalk that runs alongside the River in Shanghai. Matt then took us to the Jin Mao tower, which is the tallest building in Shanghai. We had a drink (which was more expensive than most of our meals) at the highest bar in the world, surrounded ...

... and put the two girls and Pug in it. Then Trey Matt and I stand on the corner for 45 minutes trying to hail a cab. We are spread out like a prostitute ring covering three different corners, still a no go. Finally we get one, I get in the cab and Matt has to run and tell Trey to get in the cab. The cabbie is yelling at me to get in, but I refuse to bring my other leg in the cab. So the cabbie is going down the street about 2 miles an hour, while I have the door open and my foot ...

... has not been very high and it's taken cloudless skies for it to really warm up. The last few days have been great though (we've had a lot of days to experience the place because of our problem) and we've had a real chance to see the city and the lake from all angles (including several man-made scenic spots in the lake such as artificial islands - one shaped like a spoked wheel - and two tree-lined causeways that cross it). I've spent much of the last few days ...

... with the long hair and all, I even look a little different from most visitors, but I see no reason for them to stare slack-jawed as they do. It's not as if they're not used to western visitors or even western faces - they're everywhere in the media here - and I get kind of sick of being looked at as if I've blue skin. It's obviously not considered rude to stare here, but you would think they would eventually realise ...

Considerata ai tempi da Marco Polo come la piu bella citta al mondo, sicuramente con tutti questi anni sara cambiata ma secondo me rimane la piu bella citta cinese vista finora. Non ci sono particolari attrazioni che la rendono famosa, quindi di turisti e pieno ma dispersi per tutta la citta. Le vie del centro sono molto pulite e curate ...

... on earth there is Hangzhou. We have two nights in Hangzhou and tomorrow we are going to Hong Kong. Well that's the plan at the moment but we are having trouble with the arrangements. Hangzhou is beautiful. It's situated beside a lake and the scenery is unreal ...

... to the top. To me, the cathedral was just another cathedral, regardless of its condition and age but Micah complained that it having been built two weeks last Thursday was too modern. We wandered around and found the observatory which was supposed to have been pretty ancient. It wasn't. It was 100 years old or so and not the 1000s I had been led to believe. Still, it was moderately interesting. After that we went in search of a patch of grass to ...

... Chinese city. In other words, there is a balance between East and West. In Hong Kong, the balance is tipped much more to the Western influence. The buzz, traffic, and streams of commuters are exactly like those found in London. English is widely spoken, and for more of the time you feel less like you are on the other side of the world. In search of some history, we yesterday visited the vast New Territories. The Hakka people settled here in numerous walled villages ...

... to the other side of the Huangpu river this evening to view (and photograph) the Bund from a distance. Several travellers I have met have commented that there is little to do in Shanghai. There is certinaly little history and culture, and it is primarily a businessman's city, but I think it's not without interest for it epitomises 21st century China: the speed with which the city has developed is amazing, and the gap between the rich and the poor is particularly obvious.

... go find him and bring him back to have lunch together and it'd really good to see him and hang out one last time. He is here job-searching and yesterday landed a job as an English teacher at a local language school for adults. We invite him along to bike with us and after a slow beginning (bike problems and finding a bike repairman who wasn't too busy playing mahjong!) we get going and stop near...well basically, there ...