My last full day in China. It's hard to believe that I first booked this tour almost 18 months ago. The two weeks haven't gone quickly at all, I suppose because there's been so, so much to see and absorb.
Today I strolled around Shanghai, not venturing too far as I'm fairly tired and I'm sick and tired of taking photos! This certainly is a town of, um, aromas...some pleasant, some rather earthy.
The traffic here is more constant and chaotic here than anything I have ever experienced. When you cross the road, even when you have a green light, you have to constantly scan 360 degrees all the way across - there is the ever-present risk of being hit by anything possessing wheels. And the footpaths are no safer.
I had to laugh when I saw the scene below. The policeman was giving hell to the driver in the car because he had become stuck in the middle of the intersection, but the cop seemed oblivious to the utter insanity going on round him, with cyclists and pedestrians going in all directions...
Maybe there's a shortage of electricity linesmen...
I took the Bund Tourist Tunnel to travel over to the the Pudong side of the river. This is a tunnel that passes under the river - you get into an enclosed car that travels through a series of "special effects" lighting displays. I think they must have bought every excess fluoro tube in China to build it - pretty lame and tacky, and I'm sure the epiletics love it.
When I bought my ticket I had the option to see the China Sex Culture Exhibition for a small additional charge. With a population of 1.5 billion, I didn't think I'd have the time to have a look.
The Pudong side is full of modern buildings...
The Jin Mao Tower (front) is probably the most beautiful modern building I have ever seen - matched only by KL's Petronas Towers. It has a truely elegant, Asian feel to it. The building behind it is the 101 storey Shanghai World Financial Centre, the 2nd highest building on earth. It is seriously big.I'm so glad the best sign of the trip waited for my last day...
No comments:
Post a Comment