Shadowy Shanghai

It's 5:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon here in Shanghai. It's not really shadowy. It's actually hazy, and if we were still in Hanoi I could have said "Hazy Hanoi", but we're in Shanghai. You see the problem. So, actually, there are no shadows. In fact there's been a distinct paucity of shadows most of our time here. It's vaguely apocalyptic. If it were raining I would be put much in mind of "Bladerunner". Fortunately, it's not raining.

Getting to Shanghai was effortless. We're staying with our friend Ben. His driver picked us up at the airport and we drove the 22 miles into the city. The contrast with Hanoi could not be more striking. It was freeway all the way in. On the freeway there were no motor bikes. Even on city streets there are far more cars and far fewer motor bikes and bicycles than we've seen heretofore. This part of Shanghai, at least, is utterly modern -- a different world, really, from where we've been.

Ben lives at the top of a tower on the edge of a park. Here's the view.

In the center of the photo is a park with a lake. Here's a better view of that.

At the left side of the lake is Xin Tian Di. Here's a better view of that.

Xin Tian Di was Ben's first project in China, although not by any means his last. It was the first project of it's kind in China and has been enormously successful. At http://www.gluckman.com/XinTianDi.html you can read a great little article about Xin Tian Di and Ben.

Here are a few photos of Xin Tian Di I took that first evening.

And here are a few from the street nearby.

Eventually, we met Ben at his bar, the DR Bar, where we got to meet some of his friends and business associates. A few drinks later we lurched off to the most exquisite meal I've ever had. It was Wagyu beef, beautifully presented.

Ben did the ordering which meant Nancy had her first glass of single malt scotch. You can see it in the photo with it's perfectly spherical piece of ice. I had a couple glasses myself.

I don't actually remember a lot about the rest of the evening, although I'm quite sure we had a great time. I was definitely a three aspirin evening. Hmm, perhaps I should rename this post. Snockered begins with an "s".