您好 or in plain English -  “nín hÇŽo”.  Yes, the first leg of our journey North is over.  We’ve arrived in Shanghai where we’ll be exploring for a few days before moving on to the main event of our trip away.

There is really only one way to arrive in style in Shanghai.  You have to catch the Maglev Train which whisks you towards the city at breakneck speed. Needless to say that this was to be our choice so we started with the full trainspotters experience. We travelled the same distance it is from Wellington to Maymourn in 8 minutes that’s at least three times quicker than the kiwi rail version.

First impressions of Shanghai are that it is hot and steamy.  Nothing prepares you for the humid heat and the wonders of Chinese bureacracy.

If I were a better photojournalist I’d have come up with a better way of sharing our Maglev experience with you.  Needless to say you’ll have to make do with this.

Yes, we travelled at 301km per hour.  We streaked past the traffic in the adjacent road and whipped around the corners at a rather unnerving manner.  The only downside with the train is that the journey is over just as it is getting really exciting.  Ah, I’ll correct that. The journey onwards from Longyang Road to the French Concession area where our hotel is was more exciting and more unnerving.

We had the pleasure of leaping into a Honkers Taxi. It became clear early on that our driver had not completed the Shanghai version of The Knowledge.  It seemed he was relying on a vocally challenged GPS system to navigate the Shanghai highways.  We ground to a halt at one point on the chevroned area of a folk in the middle of the road so he could ring someone to get directions.  I wish I could say that I was confident that he knew where he was going or that we might arrive alive.  We had to stop a second time to ask for more directions, this time causing a major traffic hold up and almost getting himself run over as he dodged the traffic to get back into his cab.  I don’t know who was more relieved when we did finally find our hotel – the driver or us.  Setting aside the fact we got lost a few times the most worrying thing about our taxi was it’s complete inability to pull away from a stationary position, this really was an exhausted taxi.  I’m all for adventure on holiday but I’m booking a hotel ordered taxi to take us back to the airport when we leave.  One hair raising trip around the congested streets of Shanghai was enough for me!

Here’s the view from the hotel window.

I think it’s a combination of smog and heavy cloud.  We’ve pottered out to check out the local scene and you don’t have to walk far to find the up market shopping area complete with brand name boutiques and Parkson Department store which we lingered in longer than was strictly necessary on account of them having air conditioning.  They’ve also got a supermarket in their basement with all nature of goodies to explore including New Zealand honey.

After a short orientation trip we headed back to our hotel which is a curiosity in itself.  The hotel was originally built as the residence of Sun Ting Sun, a partner of the infamous Shanghai syndicate boss Du Yue Sheng, until the liberation of Shanghai in 1949. During this period the villa was also used to operate the organizations legitimate and illegitimate business operations and at night the cities most extravagant parties attended by the city’s most influential residents.  It’s like stepping back in time in a quaint sort of way.

No sooner had we checked back into our rooms when this is what happened.

Yes, hot steamy and pulvarising rain.  Hardly surprising given the humid temperatures of 28 degrees that feel like 35.  It makes a change from temperatures of 5 degrees that feel like freezing in the Wellington winds.  We won’t let a little rain put us off our Shanghai adventures though.  We’ve got an action packed itinerary of places we want to see during out short stay.  But for now we’re battling heavy eyes and travel weariness.

Tomorrow we’ll be off to see what’s beyond this roof line.  I now our adventures are going to take us to both historical and modern Shanghai which I am curious to find out more about.  Something tells me that there is never going to be a dull moment here in Shanghai.

Oh – we don’t seem able to access Twitter – so we might not be tweeting from Shanghai after all!

zai jian 再见 – or bye for now!