Shanghai Nights (3)

Yogi was to leave Shanghai on an afternoon flight so after the morning training session Jasmine took us to the area near the Maglev Station at Longyang Road for lunch prior to Yogi catching the Maglev to the Airport. The Maglev trip to the Airport is non-stop and takes just 8 minutes to cover 30 kilometres. It reaches a maximum speed of 430 km/h for about 2 minutes before slowing down. One way trip cost is 40 RMB (Yuan) (about $AU6.50) if you have a 'today' airline ticket, 50 RMB without an airline ticket, and baggage is screened before you can proceed to the platform.

In the evening I wandered down Dongfang Road from the hotel and around the corner into Weifang Road where there are several restaurants. There is also a McDonalds but it would go against the grain include that as a 'restaurant'. I chose a nice looking place that wasn't overcrowded and settled back to enjoy a simple chicken dish along with a bottle of Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon. At about 80 RMB ($AU13.50) for the bottle it was not a bad drop. I offered to share it with a German guy sitting at the table behind me but he didn't take up the offer so I was 'forced' to finish it alone. Ah me!

Here are a couple of shots of Dongfang Road taken from my 23rd floor hotel room window. The traffic was fairly light but even so, the frequent lane changes can be seen quite easily with the headlight and tail-light tracks.

Dongfang Road at night

The lit up building just left of centre is a hotel and directly across the street from that, beside the St Regis but separated by a side street, is a Holiday Inn. This shot is a bit blurry because of the long exposure time and it was taken without a tripod.

Another shot of Dongfang Road at night

Behind the buildings directly across the road, and extending to the right, is a school. The empty area which is partially visible through the darkness is a series of basketball courts and there are more of these to the right also. 'Ghost' buses can be seen heading from left to right on the other side of the roadway.