Since the weather wasn’t great, we decided to do some shopping. The boys wanted to go to one of the many electronic markets in the city.
We spent a while there while they went from stall to stall haggling until they were happy with the price they got. I have to admit that they are really good at haggling, they learned on the last few trips and it came back quick! When it is something they want and they have a limited amount of money that can be very determined. They were adorable with their calculators in hand and mixture of the limited Mandarin they have learned and the vendors limited English, but they were able to do it. Both of them came out very happy!
Wandering around the city was dizzying but what caught my eye everywhere were the food stalls. The variety and smells of each place made me want to try each one but I had to practice moderation….not easy to do here.
We had to ride the Maglev high speed train while we were here. It runs on magnets and goes up to 267 MPH! In Shanghai it just goes back and forth to the airport, about 19 miles in 7 minutes. The project cost 1.58 Billion to build and is considered one of the safest methods of transportation. It’s on a raised track and it pretty quiet, until you pass the other Maglev on the other track going in the opposite direction…almost sounds like a pop, makes you jump and you almost don’t see it go by, it’s just a second long blur. Boys really loved it!
Shanghai’s metro is easy but crowded. But during the crazy rush hours in Shanghai it saves lots of time. It was fun people watching….or watching people stare at their phones!
China has government cameras EVERYWHERE, on the streets, metro, and even in public cars and shuttles. You see the signs reminding you that you are being watched and you will be punished if you are caught doing something wrong. Big Brother IS watching!
We tried twice, once in the morning and once in the evening, to see the city from the observation deck of the Shanghai Tower…both times it was shrouded in low clouds! The Shanghai Tower is the second tallest building in the world right now at 2,073 feet and 127 floors above the ground. It has the Jin Mao Tower on one side and the Shanghai World Financial Center on the other. The design is unique as the exterior spirals upwards, to help offset winds, and there is an inner tube as well, this acts as an insulator.
Pretty cool airport like Beijing’s.