Shanghai

May 6, 2005

After another short but bumpy flight, we arrived in Shanghai. What Xian and Beijing lacked in character, Shanghai made up for, and then some.

There are 16 million people living in Shanghai, larger than Beijing but still not the largest city in China. It is Shanghai that is destined (if not already) to be China’s landmark city as well as replacing Hong Kong as China’s economic center.

During the 90’s there was an effort to bring back the glory Shanghai once enjoyed. There was so much construction going on that it created a shortage of cranes throughout asia. The result is an unmistakable skyline, stunning by day and something from a futuristic sci-fi movie at night and a city that feels both old and new.

We took a harbor cruise at night and I thought about the story of being “Shanghaied” Back in the shipping days, Shanghai was such an attractive place for sailors that captains frequently had to go to the bar district and drug sailors and carry them back to the ship. When the sailor awoke, he found themselves out to sea, thus the term “you were Shanghaied!” You know? I might have to be Shanghaied!