After the rickety, sedate carriages of the Trans-Siberian, we soon agreed that the bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai is the only way to travel by rail. Our sudden arrival into modernity was not complete by the time we left the railway station though; for we had arrived in Shanghai; the former treaty port foreigner's paradise, now financial powerhouse of modern China, via the birthplace of the CCP. We dumped our bags in our hostel and set off for East Nanjing Street, the main shopping street and gateway to the Bund.

The Bund promenade is an architectual smorgasbord, with the old counting houses of colonial banks competing with five star hotels, none of which would look out of place on London or Paris (but for the Chinese flags crowning them all) and all challenged by the bold upstarts across the river; the skyscrapers of the Pudong skyline. Something I had been very keen to do was to take a trip up the World Financial Centre and take in the lights of the city from the 100th floor, but after hearing about the steep Y150 fee (per person) we decided to seek alternatives. One immediately jumped out us. So thats how we found our way to the 789 Nanjing Lu bar in Le Hotel Meridien on the 67th floor, with a view down Nanjing Road, over the Bund and to Pudong across the river. Initially we had planned to scope out the bar for the evening as we rocked up in our walking boots, but as the sun began to set over our first cocktail, we resolved to see it through, and ordered a few more. The lights were breathtaking (not to mention the best Singapore Sling I've ever tasted!) and watching the city come to life was fantastic. Apparently the Ozone Bar in Hong Kong compares favourably; we shall see.

Shanghai is a city light on culture but heavy on eating and drinking. We found a great resturant in the French Concession (fish fried pork? delicious! And they let us take our dim sum home.) and some lovely bars around Tianzifang, including a bar serving draft Erdinger Weissbeer, a rare treat in a city beginning to find a new love of German beer. Cafe/Bar Kommune also availed us of the cheapest (and delicious) bottle of wine in the city, as well as a pint of creamy hot chocolate, another rarity in China, which pleased Philippa as much as the cheap wine pleased me, and the draft weissbeer pleased us both!

In our hostel we had a a real stroke of luck. We had been stuck with T101,000 in Mongolian Togrot (about GBP50, a whole day's budget!) after leaving Ulaanbaatar without getting the chance to change it back, and had resigned ourselves to having lost that money. When people tell you tat you can't take Mongolian Money out of the country, what they mean is that when it leaves Mongolia, it stops being money. However, we happened to meet a very friendly British/Mongolian couple on their way to Ulaanbaatar to sort out some documents, who took our togrot off our hands for a tasty Y450! We couldn't believe our luck, and let loose with the cocktails that evening.

As you may have guessed, we thoroughly enjoyed Shanghai, and can recommend it as a perfect counterpart to Beijing. After you are bloated by duck and palaces, a cocktail on the 65th floor is the perfect relief.

The final highlight was actually on our way to the airport. I thought that the bullet train was the perfect way to travel. After hitting 430 km/h on the Pudong Maglev train, I had to revise that assessment.

After paying farewell to our Shanghai adventure with a final Long Island Ice Tea in the airport (lesson: don't trust a Chinese barman if you are in a hurry) we set off for the Chinese interior to Panda paradise: Chengdu, Sichuan Provinvce. More to follow...

(PS As usual excuse the unrelated photo, the upload process is a pain)