Another ride through the future World Expo site... at night.

Of all the places to ride in Shanghai, the most interesting is through the construction sites of what will eventually be the World Expo center. At night, the security is limited, and it's filled with people working. There are sparks from welders going off everywhere. Giant cranes and dumptrucks and tractors work through the night. Once you get into the area, they just assume you are a worker on bike. The site itself is an area about the size of New Yorks Central Park.


In this area, there are lots of interesting old buildings. Every time I come back one or two keep disappearing. This was a great one that could be gone the next time I return.









I estimate there to be about 25 structures being built that are about this size. Like a fireworks show, this would erupt with welder sparks every second from a different part of the structure. While I waited for this slow shutter speed shot, I had three workers come out of the dark and sit behind me, wondering what I was doing. When I finished this shot, I showed it to them. One of them said "hao" which means 'good.' With a fresh sense of approval I rode off.



As there was drinking involved, Rebecca fell into a pit of fresh cement. She probably had to remove these jeans with a chisel.


After the ride we went to one of the greatest convenience stores in Shanghai, which doubles as a bar. The owner is incredibly kind and accommodating. We had several drinks, and the total bill was probably around $7.



After drinks we went to a very 'local' noodle shop at around 2 am. I had beef noodles and 'Reeb' beer ('beer' backwards).

I return to Nanjing, a wiser, hairier man.

Late Friday night Ian, Dominic and I decided to hop on a train the next morning for a weekend in Nanjing. 'Nan' means south and 'Jing' means capital. This city used to be China's major capital before Beijing ('Bei' means north). So there is a lot of rich history in this city, and it's about a 2 hour train ride away from Shanghai. Below are a few pics of Nanjing's ancient shipbuilding center. This ship is a recreation (frankly a very un-authentic one, but it still gets the point across). Supposedly China at one point had a fleet of 10,000 of these, at a time when the rest of the world hardly knew how to navigate the seas.







It was constructed to look like a floating dragon. A large fleet of these would have been a scary site to anyone in its way.



This guy was flying a bird shaped kite that was about a mile away. He was flying it around and in between a distant apartment complex. The people in the apartments would have had no idea where the controller of the bird was. It was very impressive.




A shot of a construction site near the base of the hotel we were staying in.


We visited the 'observatory' at the top of purple mountain. All these observatories are non-operational, but the view was great.


Lazy people took the chair lifts in the distance to get to the top of the mountain. We, being real men, walked up it.





Obama's image is as prevalent here as it is in the states.



Then we spotted what would be the highlight of the day. A trandem bike. For about $3 we rented this for an hour and rode it around Nanjings lake. Just getting this thing in motion was an ordeal every time. And when things were going smoothly, the two in back would always do whatever we could to make it difficult for the person steering, including not pedaling or leaning left and right when they weren't looking. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.






In the middle of the lake (on an island) was a creepy carnival of half-working rides.







Bon appefeet.



The original city of Nanjing was surrounded be a very impressive, highly-fortified wall. We stumbled on a walkway to it during our stroll.