With our whirlwind tour of China coming to a close, the last city we flew into was one of the biggest and most modern – Shanghai. From the very modern airport to the massive skyscrapers, the city reminded me a lot of what I remember Hong Kong was like, except that we happened to have a lot more space.

It felt like we were only here for about a day and a half, and part of which we had almost a six hour dining experience at the very exclusive Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet that included not only a fantastic food but a completely immersive sensory experience. I don’t have the time to write about it now but I will be sure to blog about it on the other blog.

Instead, we had a few trips around the different parts of Shanghai including the tallest building that also happens to double for a bottle-opener look-a-like. The Shanghai World Financial Centre sits amid a number of other sky-reaching buildings although is definitely the most striking (and probably most well designed for merchandising).

We got an absolutely gorgeous view of the rest of the city and its landscape including the Shanghai TV tower and the surrounding area. Apparently we really struck it lucky with the weather because we have very clear skies and reasonably temperate conditions.

Our touring included a local family visit, a trip to the City Museum and the very well kept, albeit touristy Yuen’s Gardens and surrounding markets conveniently very close to our hotel.

Our final evening finished off with an impressive show of Chinese acrobatics that ended with a finale involving eight or nine motorbikes loaded up inside a steel cage on stage. You can tell from the world brands that the city is a lot more developed and has a lot more of the appetite for Western style but who knows how long that will last for.