Well, an uneventful 15 hour flight out of Chicago to Shanghai resulted in a good nights sleep and a restful 5:00 am wake up this morning. I didn't get much sleep on the flight - maybe 3 or 4 hours. I was able to see the Bourne Supremacy, Disturbia (VERY good movie), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
The flight got in about 2:00 pm yesterday afternoon (1:00 am CST back home). A colleague and I waited for an hour or so for our ride to pick us up, which never showed. We got a cab to take us to the hotel, which is about an hour's drive from the airport. It started off a little scary when we gave the driver the name of the hotel and he got out of the car to ask someone else for directions. The ride was very much different than my previous experiences in China. You can definitely tell that there is a lot of money here. The expressway was lined with trees and soundbarriers to protect homes on the other side from the noise pollution of the traffic. Small spaces in between allowed you to see some of the homes, which were stunning and not so different than ours, although there was an Asian flare to them. There are a lot of highrise apartment buildings. Saturday must be laundry day here, as just about every house or apartment had laundry drying on decks or outside windows.
We did finally arrive at the hotel (Renaissance Yangzte Shanghai) around 4:00 pm with a message to call one of our contacts who profusely apologized for the missed ride - there was a miscomunication on timing, but of course these things happen and all is well. A couple of doubles and a hamburger later I was ready for bed - sleeping has never felt so good! There are several restaurants here at the hotel that I am looking forward to trying out. Our training sessions are all on site here at the hotel, which is nice that we do not have to get up early to travel someplace and then set up projectors and such. I went for a run in the gym this morning that gave a wonderful view of the areas outside. I wish I brought my bathing suit, as the pool looked great after my 45 minute run. If it weren't for the haze and pollution outside it looks safe enough to run outdoors, but it's going to be ridiculously hot the whole time we will be here - it is 9:00 am right now and it's already 90 degrees with a heat index of 104!
The attached pictures are quick views from Google Earth of where I am in relation to the rest of the city. The view out of my hotel shows the park just outside, also visible on the Google Earth shot. It took me a while to find everything (trying to follow what highway I thought we took from the airport). I'm not sure how much I'll be able to see of the city while I'm here - it's quite large. I hope to do some tourist stuff - maybe someone local will take us around. We'll see. I'll have some more pictures later in the week.
The flight got in about 2:00 pm yesterday afternoon (1:00 am CST back home). A colleague and I waited for an hour or so for our ride to pick us up, which never showed. We got a cab to take us to the hotel, which is about an hour's drive from the airport. It started off a little scary when we gave the driver the name of the hotel and he got out of the car to ask someone else for directions. The ride was very much different than my previous experiences in China. You can definitely tell that there is a lot of money here. The expressway was lined with trees and soundbarriers to protect homes on the other side from the noise pollution of the traffic. Small spaces in between allowed you to see some of the homes, which were stunning and not so different than ours, although there was an Asian flare to them. There are a lot of highrise apartment buildings. Saturday must be laundry day here, as just about every house or apartment had laundry drying on decks or outside windows. 
We did finally arrive at the hotel (Renaissance Yangzte Shanghai) around 4:00 pm with a message to call one of our contacts who profusely apologized for the missed ride - there was a miscomunication on timing, but of course these things happen and all is well. A couple of doubles and a hamburger later I was ready for bed - sleeping has never felt so good! There are several restaurants here at the hotel that I am looking forward to trying out. Our training sessions are all on site here at the hotel, which is nice that we do not have to get up early to travel someplace and then set up projectors and such. I went for a run in the gym this morning that gave a wonderful view of the areas outside. I wish I brought my bathing suit, as the pool looked great after my 45 minute run. If it weren't for the haze and pollution outside it looks safe enough to run outdoors, but it's going to be ridiculously hot the whole time we will be here - it is 9:00 am right now and it's already 90 degrees with a heat index of 104! 
The attached pictures are quick views from Google Earth of where I am in relation to the rest of the city. The view out of my hotel shows the park just outside, also visible on the Google Earth shot. It took me a while to find everything (trying to follow what highway I thought we took from the airport). I'm not sure how much I'll be able to see of the city while I'm here - it's quite large. I hope to do some tourist stuff - maybe someone local will take us around. We'll see. I'll have some more pictures later in the week.
2 comments:
Looks like a fun adventure!
Sooooo jealous. Post more pictures!
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