SHANGHAI

We are now in the Taiwan Strait, between Taiwan and mainland China, proceeding south to our next port, Xiamen. Departed Shanghai last evening after two delightful and eventful days there. Just going up the river was exciting for me, seeing the various units of the Chinese navy moored alongside piers and cargo ships being built in the shipyards.

Shanghai was fabulous.  We arrived late afternoon and almost immediately went on a tour that included going to the 88th floor observation deck in Shanghai's second highest building, after dark.  Took a lot of pictures that MA has previously posted.  One was looking straight down 88 floors in the building's interior.  Scary.  MA took a tour the next day to a village touted as China's Venice, and she's posted a bunch of pictures of it.  Another highlight was a ride on the Maglev high speed train that runs from town to the airport and hits 430 km/hr.  That's fast!!
The river runs right through the city, dividing it into the "old" part and the new.  Barge and big ship traffic run on the river constantly, night and day.  And so do excursion boats which, at night, are lighted up garishly.  The  buildings along the "bund"--a very classy promenade at riverside--are lighted at night as are many other buildings.  The bund is apparently a very popular tourist spot--all day long Chinese folks, young and old, are there taking pictures of each other.  It's a great place to people watch.