He says: What a difference a day makes. Tokyo and Shanghai are like night and day. Gone was the order and courtesy we had grown accustomed to during our time in Japan. From the moment we stepped off the plane into China, it was chaos. We took the world's fastest train, the Maglev (top speed of 421km/h) to a subway station - we reached 301km/h. It was like a really smooth roller coaster ride and was super fun. The subway ride to near our hotel was full of teenagers with babies, people with scabs everywhere and the realization we weren't in Kansas anymore.

We tried unsuccessfully to hail numerous cabs, the only people willing to offer us a ride were the three wheel tuck-tuck drivers. Knowing full well it was a terrible idea to place our combined body weight and bags onto the tiny piece of machinery, we pressed on and were on our way. The machine was clearly not made to haul so much and when we reached a bridge with a small incline the vehicle began to have trouble moving. We both looked at each other and almost instinctually knew what was coming next. Almost on cue, Shauna let out a piercing scream as our tuk-tuk tipped over and we luckily exited before either of us were hurt. The driver, clearly startled, drove the vehicle over the rest of the bridge without us and then proceeded to take off into the night like nothing had happened. Welcome to China!

Shortly after we managed to get a road worthy cab that dropped us off at our hotel. The shot of adrenaline from our tuk-tuk mishap was wearing off and extreme fatigue was setting in. However, there was no time to waste as our old Red Pine Camp friend, and current Shanghai resident, Drake Masters was waiting for us in the lobby. It was nice to see a familiar face, especially one who is fluent in Chinese.

After dropping our bags off, we were off to explore the most scenic area of Shanghai - the Bund. It's lit up like a Xmas tree at night and one side of the river is full of incredibly tall skyscrapers, while the other are old heritage buildings left over from the European settlement. Drake took us to the rooftop patio of the luxury hotel The Peninsula. It had a great view and was perfect for catching up.

The next day we were treated to a breakfast of champions at the hotel (it was a great old hotel called The Astor House which is near the Bund). Drake was kind enough to meet up with us again in the morning I take us around the city. Despite only having eight hours before having to leave to get to the airport for our flight to Sydney, we saw a lot of Shanghai. Drake took us to a few markets, one of which had water snakes for sale to eat. I avoided this booth. It may have been the muggiest day I've ever felt and we were all sweating through our clothes as we walked the city. The air in Shanghai is terribly polluted, so it takes a little getting used to. It's definitely an interesting city with a lot of history, fascinating architecture, and good food.