We took a United direct flight over; the plane was almost empty, as you can take a look-see here. We had the aisle seat empty, though my brother who is more motion sick than a drunk flamingo would not let me move so we were stuck still squished in our seats.

In Shanghai, we stayed with one of our mother's old college friends and her husband in her 13th floor apartment just inside the Inner Circle. This is the view from her balcony, and as is typical, clothes hang dry in lieu of dryers. If one city in China really needs dryers, it would be Shanghai around storm season, when essentially you're breathing vapor.

Nevertheless, Shanghai is China's New York City, beautiful waterscape and all. We went down to see the cityscape at night and it was amazing. Haagen Daz had a shop right down by the waterfront, and as already one of the most expensive ice-cream brands in China, I didn't even dare wonder what the price was on actually going to the 'restaurant'.

Left: My favorite building in Shanghai and also one of its newer ones. It also happens to be the tallest one at the moment in the city, though I never did get to go in and do the wide-eyed tourist thing inside. Right: street singer with a beautiful voice.

The aunty we were staying with totally explained all the buildings to me but honestly, I didn't catch their Chinese names well enough to store and memorize, nevertheless think of translating. Maybe sometime before I try to attend the expo I'll do more research and catch up on my empty bucket of knowledge, but for now, enjoy the view.

On Sunday, our third and final day in city in July, another one of mom's old friends came and took us to Old Shanghai, more tourist-trap than anything truly authentic. Nevertheless, the vibe was still great.

China should look like this everywhere.

We went to Yu Yuan, a small garden in Old Shanghai and dined at a quiet restaurant.