Monday 24th October

Arrived on time in Shanghai and immediately came to the conclusion that this city is a lot more “sane” than both Beijing and Xi’an. Sign posts outside the railway station with directions to the taxi ranks which is just not the case in the other two cities where there is an absolute scrum to get a taxi which you have to hail on the side of the road. Most were occupied but if they stopped and you showed them where you want to go ( has to be written in Chinese or they have not got a clue which is fair enough) and it is not that far they waved their hands and drove off. Not enough dosh . Taxi prices in Shanghai are two and a half times that of Beijing and Xi’an but still very cheap and well worth it to get to your hotel.
Great hotel here in Shanghai (called the Riverview) and I can see why because we have the most stunning view of the “Bund”
It has been peeing down with rain since we arrived ( by far the worst day so far but it is warm) so have not gone far. Seems easy to get around with good subway system as was Beijing. Although another huge city it does not appear to be be as crowded and manic as previous cities.
Ate in hotel for a change as we could not face going out again in the rain. Very good authentic Chinese. We think hotel is Chinese owned. Their is a list in the room of costs that will be charged if any damage is done to beds , tables, chairs, carpets etc. there is also a charge for all consumables even the bathroom toiletries. Bizarre . Having said that the hotel is off first class quality so no complaints.
One problem is that although the hotel has internet it has to be hard wired because there is no wifi. Jolly old iPad has to be fired up with wifi only. Apple get you act into gear. Perhaps I should say , Paul, get yourself a MacBook ! Next trip!!
Found a Starbucks this afternoon to collect mail but that was a bit of a bind, it would not let me send normal mail, did manage through Yahoo web mail, but didn’t bother to fully update blog. It would not let me search via Google either!
Me and Er might not be updating for a few days. May be able to manage text but not photos.
Don’t worry you lot we will be back to bore the pants off you with more info.
Please excuse if we go on a bit but the whole point of this blog apart from letting you all know what we are doing, it is also a daily diary for us. It is easy to forget.

Underground shopping (no shops?) parking, transport hub etc. with absolutely nobody there. Again built for the future