I landed in Shanghai during the night. The flights from Kathmandu to Lasa to Chengdu and finally to Pudong International Airport was long and tiresome. My cousin Xie Ying met me at the airport and we took a taxi back to his condo. I am actually staying at Ying’s new condo. It was just finished and he has yet to move in. Shanghai is split into two parts by the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze. The two parts are east of the Huangpu River, called PuDong, and west of the Huangpu River, called PuXi. I will be staying in PuDong.

Shanghai has a population of 17million and is thus the largest city in China and the largest city in the world. The last time I came to Shanghai in 2001 the area known as LuJiaZui was just one tower; The Oriental Pearl Tower, or as I like to call it the weird spaceship looking TV tower building. Everything else around that area was flat. Now that area is full of tall skyscrapers and modern looking building. I am surprised at how modern Shanghai is. The last few years this place has been in a building frenzy.

One of the first things I check out while in Shanghai is the Shanghai World Financial Center. It’s the giant bottle opener looking building. Originally the top of the building was to have a circular cutout, but once the plans were revealed to the public, the Chinese people complained that it resembled the Japanese flag and the anti-Japanese sentiment made the architect change plans and make it a trapezoidal cutout. And thus we have the current bottle cap opener looking building today.

The Shanghai World Financial Center is a tourist attraction. It sits at 492.0 meters or 1,614.2 feet tall. We were able to visit the 94th, 97th and 100th floor after purchasing tickets. The 97th is the observation deck and you see all around the LuJiaZui area. It is amazing how expansive this city. The Bund which is the area across the river is amazing at night and is completely lit up.

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