Arrival in Shanghai

We arrived around 6 PM local time on July 4 to Pudong Airport in Shanghai on Thursday, July 3.  Pudong is a huge and modern international airport.  Going through customs and getting our luggage were a breeze and we met up with Nick and Tianqi outside the baggage claim area.  We found a good sized taxi and took the long trip (over an hour) to the downtown area where our hotel was located.  The traffic was good by Shanghai standards but it is a very big city and the main city area is far from Pudong Airport.  

Our hotel is the Marriott Tomorrow Square Executive Apartments.  It is an interesting set up.  A huge skyscraper (over 50 stories high) set in the upscale shopping and restaurant area, the lower 36 floors or so are these apartments and the upper twenty or so floors is the J.W. Marriott Hotel.  Both are very upscale properties and our two bedroom, two bath apartment on the 35^th floor is quite large with full kitchen and big living area.  The AC worked well which is good since it is hazy, smoggy, humid and quite warm here.  The internet is good too but China blocks Facebook, Blogger, Twitter among others.  It would be nice if they joined the 21^st century.

Nick and Tianqi looked well after six weeks of living at Casa Gao in Nanjing

Alice was happy to be reunited with her "baby" and to finally arrive in China after countless hours in the air

We walked to a nearby restaurant serving American / Continental food called Kathleen’s 5.  It is interesting because it occupies the top (5^th) floor of the 1930’s Shanghai Horse Racing Club building.  It was nice to be in a historic building from Shanghai’s glory days as an international trade center and the evening air was just right – not too hot and not too cold.  The food was expensive (as were the drinks) but it was tasty.  We relaxed and caught up after not seeing Nick and Tianqi for more than six weeks.

The weather was nice as we walked a block or two from the hotel to the restaurant

Our hotel - the Marriott Executive Apartments - were on the lower floors of this impressive building in the "Tomorrow Square" area of Shanghai while the J.W. Marriott occupies the higher floors

We enjoyed the al fresco dining and the view of Shanghai lit up during at Kathleen's 5.  Shanghai definitely looks better at night.

 

 

 

 

View of the venerable clock tower as seen from the rooftop terrace of the restaurant

We watched some live Wimbledon at the apartment while Nick and Tianqi ate their take out desert extravaganza.  They headed for bed and Randy and I stayed up a bit later due to the Jet Lag thing – worse for me than for Randy.  But we slept enough and are currently watching CNN and drinking coffee (Alice) and eating pop tarts from home (Randy).  We plan some sightseeing in Shanghai today before we take a mid-afternoon train to Nanjing, Tianqi’s home.  It is about two hours away.

Nick and Tianqi enjoyed a plateful of desserts from Kathleen's 5 which we brought back to the apartment

So far, the impression of Shanghai is that it is a truly international city with lots of money.  The area we are staying includes shops of pretty much every international high end luxury brand and all the world’s elite car shops (Lamborghini, Maserati, etc.).  The city here seems safe and orderly and clean (other than the crappy air pollution).  Our hotel’s bathrooms and beds were equivalent to those found in U.S. Marriotts.  Of course, we are paying plenty for it all too.

A view from the hotel apartment at night

A view from our apartment at the Marriott

Another view shows the short and tall of Shanghai

Note that this post and the following were quite delayed until I could figure out how to connect to Blogspot with the VPN.  Anything Google related (and Facebook and Twitter) are blocked in China.  Also, I will not be posting pictures until I get better connection to upload them.