Shanghai

During the last week of February, Tom went to Shanghai for work meetings and added two free days to discover this fascinating city. It was certainly not the best season to go: it rained every day and temperatures did not exceed 10°C during the day, in other words: awful weather. We will spare you with details about the work part of the trip, but there was some time to take in a number of sights as well. One of the most famous streets in Shanghai is the "Bund", a remnant from the concession era about a century ago along the Huangpu river. The city has many other picturesque areas such as the Old Town and parts of the former French concession. The brand new office area across the river is known as Pudong and is in a way the New Shanghai. A famous landmark is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. The area also boasts the Shanghai World Financial Centre, the tallest building in China and currently the highest observatory in the world at 474m. A taller building is already in construction next to it. There are also many preparations for the World Expo of 2010. As in many places in China, you can also find some fine examples of "Chinglish" (example from Pudong International Airport).