The easiest way to get from the international airport to town is on the maglev train. Here are Evan and I, on the train going 430 km/h (267 MPH).


Shanghai - can you say the word without thinking of the exotic and mysterious? It's even a verb (I was shanghai'd!). Today, this city is as modern and developed as any on the planet - Maglev trains, skyscrapers, and all the accompanying traffic, smog and congestion. It's outstanding. This is the viewing platform on the tallest of the skyscrapers. Large blocks of the floor are glass, so you can look straitght down at the street level far (far!) below.


This is the view from the tallest building. The previous tallest building is in the foreground, and the Pearl TV Tower is in the background, near the river.


This isi the same skyline from across the river; the two tallest buildings are obscured by clouds.

Another view of steel and glass - not that there's anything wrong with that.


Other interesting buildings include the performing arts centre...


And the Shanghai Museum.


Across the river from the modern downtown is the historical part of Shanghai, called The Bund. The turn-of-the-century (that is the 19th to 20th century) European architecture is a nice complement to the ultra modern buildings across the river.


Another historic part of town is the French Concession, a region that used to be under the control of French expats. The area is in great condition and hosts a lot of restaurants, bars and fancy shops.


A short subway ride from Shanghai is Qibao, a picturesque city of canals and arched bridges. Alas, it is also a very well-known city of bridges and canals, and when we were there it was PACKED with tourists of all creeds and colors.


As a warm up for our visit to Tibet, we visited a temple in Shanghai. I got this shot of some of Buddha's little menions hiding amongst the sunflowers.


And, around the corner is Buddha himself with the swirling mysteries of the cosmos above his radiant head.


We took the night train out of Shanghai for a two day adventure to Lhasa, Tibet. This train crosses passes over 16,000 feet in altitude and it equipped with oxygen for all passangers.


We chose to travel "first class" by booking a soft sleeper room. The three of us had a roommate for the first night and through most of the second, but then had the room to ourselves as we crossed the Tibetan plateau. Evan, thank you for taking the top bunk.


Smoking is not allowed in rooms, but is allowed at the end of each car so the atmosphere was not pleasant. We tried to combat this problem as best we could. Though we couldn't do anything to preserve our health, we tried to combat the bad smell by leaving pomelo rinds under Angela's bunk. We called it "fragrant trash," a name we trademarked immediately.


The scenary out the windows are beautiful, a stark scrubbly slanted table-top with snow capped mountains in the mid distance. We saw wild asses, yaks, birds, antelope and prayer flags.


Here are some yaks (the guy in the white face is named Yakkity, thank you Evan) seen from the train.