Alison: Shanghai is a very impressive city. Very modern. It really has the wow factor. The Pudong area is the business district of the city and it is this area that provides Shanghai with its famous skyline of skyscrapers. We had been told that going to the top of the Jinmao tower which is the tallest building in China was a must for views over the city. We decided to go at night to see all the lights and the colourfully lit boats traveling on the river which passes through Shanghai. We managed to survive the metro and got to the Pudong area. We followed the sign to the Jinmao tower and were swept along by the huge amounts of people going there. The price was twice as much as we expected but we wanted to see what it was like going to the top of the tallest building in China so we payed up. We figured some tourist attractions are just worth paying for. We queued for about an hour and a half to get up to the top and as promised, the views were spectacular. Shanghai is quite something to see at night. We stared out at the other towers and Nigel commented that the one across the way looked a bit taller than the one we were stood in. Then I noticed that the Cloud 9 Bar that was in our book wasn't there either. And then it dawned on us.....I don't know how we didn't notice for so long but we were in the wrong tower. Instead of standing in Jinmao Tower 'Shanghai's most arresting modern spire', we were stood in The Oriental Pearl Tower 'Shanghai's poured-concrete shocker of a tripod TV tower'! We weren't laughing at the time because the tower we should have been in was half the price but we can see the funny side now. The Oriental Pearl Tower is actually taller if you include the spire so we think technically we were in the tallest building in China :-)  

Nigel: Shanghai has a lot of Western influences as it has been occupied on several occasions. One of the main influences comes from France. One area of Shanghai is called the French Concession and you can see through the architecture that it is like being in a street in France. There were several parks which were good to walk round and many shops to look in. Good job I left my credit card at home other wise Alison would have made us bankrupt. We even found a Marks & Spencers. There is also a section that is on one side of the river called the Bund. It is meant to be one of the best parts of Shanghai but unfortunately there was a lot of building work going on and most of the buildings were covered up by scaffolding. Builders get everywhere. The work, however, is all down to a big event that is taking place next year in Shanghai called Expo 2010. Not quite sure the main purpose of the event but the jist is that they invite different countries to the city and say how wonderful it is. We say is this not only showing a good side of China and is it a propaganda ploy from the bureaucratic socialist to cover up the negative parts. And that leads me nicely on to the next story. We also read in our guide book that there was a propaganda museum within the city, which showed posters from the 50's - 70's of Chinese anti Western slogans when the communist regime was very intense. It didn't give an actual address in the book, but it showed roughly where it was on the map. Could we find it. Not a chance. Talk about the Chinese government being secretive, we think they had even hidden the museum.