Saying Goodbye

Staying with George and Judy was certainly one of the highlights of our trip. The views from the 24th floor were spectacular and after a few weeks on the road, hot showers were exactly what we needed. We were very thankful that the Szekelys took time out of their busy schedule to make us feel welcome and show us around town.

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The guest bedroom. What a view! The double windows are incredibly air-tight and keep the city sounds away.

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This park is directly below the Times Square Apartments, where George and Judy live. We don't remember the actual name. We called it "pretzel park" and George called it "Google Earth Park" since it was easy to spot on satellite maps.

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skyline

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This park (next to pretzel park) fills with music and people doing Tai Chi every morning.

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After the tepid, low-pressure showers we'd been taking for weeks, we officially declared this to be the best shower in the world upon our arrival.

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This shopping area, Xintiandi, was once a traditional Shikumen housing area dating from the early 1900s. Instead of tearing it down, like most of the rest of the Shikumen houses, developers used some elements of the structures to make a high-end pedestrian mall with vibrant restaurants, bars, and shops. They even kept one shikumen house intact, turning it into a museum filled with typical furnishings of the time period.

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Walking back to the apartment.

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Our window at night.

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Morning exercises.

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On a walk, we came across these people exercising with swords. We decided not to test their technique by challenging them to duels.

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Beautiful rose garden in Fuxing Park. In addition to Tai Chi, people were ballroom dancing and playing badminton everywhere.

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We visited Sun Yat-sen's house. No photography was allowed inside but it was an amazing look at the life of this chinese revolutionary figure, usually referred to as the "father of modern China."

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Peeking into alleyways

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Every apartment seems to have one (or more) of these ingenious racks.

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Judy, tour-guide extraordinaire.

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Ahh, that classic Chinese restaurant... "Papa's Schnitzelhaus"

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modern Shanghai is jammed with high end fashion. We didn't fit in very well.

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Because of the foreign concessions, Shanghai has an interesting mix of architectural styles.

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construction workers lifting supplies with a pulley.

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This Shikumen compound is undergoing renovation.

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Another alleyway between Shikumen buildings. Generally there is one outdoor sink for many residents.

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This guy was hauling a huge TV and a computer monitor (between his legs, hidden from view).

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On our way out of town, George and Judy took us to the JW Marriott overlooking the city. The lobby of the hotel is on the 38th floor and has beautiful panoramic views of the city.

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Judy, George, and Giselle

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Renmin (People's) Park was built recently and is home to the Shanghai Museum. Plaques near where this photo was taken proudly noted that the government had successfully relocated thousands of residents to build the park.

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A group photo before heading to the airport.

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On board the Maglev train to the airport. The train was built as part of a test for a contemplated high-speed railway between Shanghai and Beijing, but for now there's just a short run to the airport.

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Ridin' in style.

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The train reaches its top speed of 431 km/hr (roughly 268mph) halfway into the 8 minute trip.

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The maglev train was faster than any of the Shinkansen trains we rode in Japan.

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This maglev train is the first, fastest, and currently largest, maglev train in commercial operation in the world.

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G, posing with the train and protecting our extensive collection of luggage. We packed lightly but found that we didn't even need many of the clothes we brought. From here we hopped on our plane and, many hours later, were back in the US about an hour before we left China!


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