This is the view from our hotel window in Shanghai. I had no idea when I took these two pictures that they would fit together so nicely (well, not so much down in front). It was purely luck - only when I got them developed did I discover what a nice panoramic view they created together.
We arrived in Shanghai on Friday, October 5th, 2001 after three tiring flights, the longest being from Detroit to Tokyo, around thirteen hours. It was after dark, and the city lights, as we approached from the distance across a high bridge, were surreal. It reminded me of something out of a science fiction movie - I almost expected to see flying cars ala the Jetsons streaking across the sky. I had no idea how modern and built up Shanghai was. I was soon to discover that much of China was not at all like I expected it would be.
The following pages contain pictures taken in Shanghai. We were only there for two days and were rushed around the city roughly according to our planned itinerary, so picture opportunities were not plentiful. But as you can see, it is a busy, bustling modern city, full of cars and buses, buildings and people, and a lot of history - quite a place to be.