Jun 09 2009
Shanghai – on the fast track to modernization
Well, I didn’t make it to Nanjing yet. I think I will have to wait until I return to Shanghai at the end of the month. This afternoon, I’m headed to Xiamen – it is located across the strait from Taiwan. Here are a few pictures of the trip so far:
Before we were able to get off the plane in Shanghai, the health inspectors came on board and took the temperature of every passenger. If you have a fever, you are placed in quarantine until they confirm that you do not have the H1N1 virus. Thankfully, I didn’t have the swine flu!
I took the Maglev from the airport to the subway. It’s the first commercial high-speed maglev line in the world. The train is so smooth that when it reached its top speed of 431 kph (268 mph), it didn’t seem any faster than driving down the interstate!
A few days ago, I took a trip to QiBao, an ancient town that has maintained many of the historic things that Shanghai has done away with. It has a lot of canals and small shops to buy food and drinks.
I had to buy a yezi (coconut) and look completely like a tourist!
These students were walking home from school in QiBao. Most of the middle school students in China wear the same uniforms with red scarves. Aren’t you glad we don’t have school uniforms?
