Alison: We arrived in Shanghai on the high speed bullet train from Beijing. Our top speed was just over 300 km/hour and so the journey took only around 4 hours. Shanghai was one of the cities that we visited previously on our first big trip but we wanted to go back because the first time we went, the city was preparing for the World Expo 2010 and so there was a lot of work going on and parts of the Bund were boarded up so we couldn't see it properly. Since we had already spent time in Shanghai we only allocated 2 days to explore.

On the first day it was pouring down with rain but we put on our waterproofs and headed straight for the Bund. The Bund is situated next to the river and is basically a collection of very grand buildings which house the cities landmark hotels, banks, and trading houses. The buildings are very European looking and many of them are heritage buildings. Opposite the Bund on the other side of the river is Pudong. This is where all the modern skyscrapers are which gives Shanghai its famous skyline. Unfortunately it was very misty/smoggy so the skyline was obscured a little but it was still nice to take a stroll down the river and look at all the huge buildings. The skyline has changed since we were last here as there is a new building called the Shanghai Tower which is being built. Despite it being incomplete it is already bigger that the other skyscrapers so its going to be massive!

On the second day we decided to go on a City Sightseeing bus for a bit of a whistle stop tour of the main sights in Shanghai. Although all the main destinations were visited by the bus, the commentary was a bit disappointing because the bus driver was driving so fast that the GPS activated commentary would be half way through some information when the next place of interest would be reached ahead of time and you would only get half a story before a new bit of info started! The price of the ticket was very cheap though so I guess you get what you pay for! It was nice to sit and look out the window after all the walking we had done the day before. I think some of the Chinese tourists found it a bit too relaxing because they slept the whole way around!

Our next train journey was from Shanghai to Xining (high altitude town on the way to Tibet) and it was crucial that we got on this train as tickets are extremely scarce for this route and we were on a very tight schedule for arriving in Lhasa on the day our tour of Tibet started. Since we would be travelling to the train station at rush hour, we toyed with the idea of a taxi to take us from our hotel to the train station but instead plumped for the metro in an attempt to save money.....never again! The metro train pulled into the station and the doors opened to reveal a wall of people that were flush with the door. A few people somehow seemed to ping out from the depths of the train onto the platform but the space was quickly consumed by the passengers on the train so the people on the platform were having to just shoulder barge their way onto the train. It looked brutal!! We decided to wait for the next train in the hope it would be quieter....it wasn't. Despite setting off from our hotel way earlier than what we thought was necessary, time was knocking on and we were starting to worry we might not make it in time to get our train to Shanghai so it was time to do as the locals do and summon up the old survival of the fittest behaviour. When the next train pulled up we were ready! The doors opened and we gritted our teeth and pushed and squeezed until we were both on. I thought our rucksacks would hinder us but actually they were perfect for bashing people out of the way......I got on first and a simple (though rather bumpy!) 180 degree turn was enough to wipe out a few people to clear a space for Nigel :) Stopping at the metro stations was fun too. We had secured ourselves a good spot at the central pole on the train so when the doors opened it was just a case of holding on as tightly as possible to make sure you didn't get sucked out onto the platform! We both agreed it was maybe not the best idea to travel with all our luggage at rush hour but it was certainly an experience we won't forget!