Movin' On Up!

On our last day in Shanghai, we visited the Oriental Pearl TV tower, the second-tallest building in the city. We went to the top and the view was jaw-dropping, and not just because we were up so high, but because as far as the eye could see, it was wall-to-wall skyscrapers, 365 degrees around Shanghai. It was unbelievable. Shanghai is truly a vertical city, the second largest city in China, second only to Beijing, which is a city of 23 million people. There's 21 million people here in Shanghai, all crammed into an area about a third the size of Beijing, so it's no wonder there's nowhere to go but up. There are over 4,000 skyscrapers in Shanghai, many of which are high-rise apartment buildings - rows and rows and rows of them. And then there's more rows and rows after that. And keep in mind that a skyscraper in Shanghai is any building over 20 stories tall, so that number doesn't even include the thousands and thousands of buildings 20 stories or less. Mind boggling to say the least.

There was an observation deck at the Oriental Pearl that included a glass floor. You could stand on it and look straight down at the ground, many, many stories down. It was a nausea-inducing and gut-wrenching moment, stepping onto that glass floor, feeling like you were going to fall to your death, but of course we all did it.  That's how we roll.

When we were done at the Pearl, we met up with Natalie, an old friend of ours who's currently living in Shanghai, teaching English.

She took us to the French Concession for some shopping and lunch. The girls had a well-known Shanghainese delicacy for lunch - pepperoni pizza!  Yes, we came all the way to China and ate pizza, but after eating Chinese food morning, noon and night, the girls were ready for a touch of home. They tell me that it was super yummy.  I noshed on one of the gluten-free Go Picnic meals that I smuggled into China in my suitcase, but found my touch of home in a can of diet Coke.  Then it was on to the Jade Buddha Temple, which was something our tour group had done earlier in the day.  We wanted to see the giant Buddha carved out of a single piece of white jade. 

That evening, Natalie joined our tour group for dinner and a Chinese acrobatics show that was, in a word, spectacular!  Cirque du Soleil has got nothing on these people. I wish I had pictures to share because there just are no words to describe it, but photography was strictly prohibited and I'd rather not be ejected from China for breaking the law before I get to the Great Wall. Guess I'm just funny that way.